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Research Commons is the University of Waikato's open access research repository, housing research publications and theses produced by the University's staff and students.
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Publication To care and be cared for: Co-designing healthcare with caregivers of children with bleeding disorders(Thesis, The University of Waikato, 2024)This thesis investigates the experiences of caregivers of children with bleeding disorders in New Zealand, focusing on the co-design of healthcare services to enhance caregiving outcomes. Bleeding disorders such as haemophilia and von Willebrand’s disease present significant challenges for caregivers, including emotional, financial, and social burdens. Grounded in a Community Psychology framework, this research employs an Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) methodology to centre caregivers' lived experiences, enabling the identification of key areas for healthcare service improvement. Drawing on literature concerning chronic illness, relational healthcare, and social determinants of health, the study situates caregiving experiences within a broader socio-cultural and historical context. Particular attention is given to the implications of New Zealand’s Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022, which mandates collaborative healthcare design involving consumers and their whānau. Through a participatory process utilising one-on-one experience-based co-design workshops with caregivers, focussing on their experiences of children from 0-2 years of age, and integrating perspectives from healthcare professionals, this study identifies systemic barriers and opportunities for creating more inclusive, supportive healthcare services. The findings highlight the critical role of relational factors in healthcare, the influence of cultural identity on caregiving experiences, and the potential of EBCD approaches to inform policy and practice under the Pae Ora’s co-design requirements. This research underscores the need for culturally competent, relationally-centred care models and offers practical recommendations for enhancing caregiver engagement in healthcare co-design.Publication Indo-Sri Lanka relations: Change and continuity in the context of China’s increased involvement in Sri Lanka(Thesis, The University of Waikato, 2024)Against the backdrop of China’s continuous engagement with Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2019, Indo-Sri Lanka relations have exhibited constant fluctuations featuring drastic ups and downs. As a geo-strategically located small island state, Sri Lanka has juggled its relations with China and India, the two regional giants, in the face of mounting Sino-India strategic competition in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). This thesis poses twin questions related to the above phenomenon: How does China’s engagement with Sri Lanka affect the Indo-Sri Lanka relations, and how does Sri Lanka conduct its relations with India, the immediate neighbour and the most powerful regional actor, in the wake of China-India parallel involvement in Sri Lanka? To address these questions, the study first analyses the impact of China’s robust engagement with Sri Lanka on Indo-Sri Lanka relations. Secondly, it analyses Sri Lanka’s foreign policy toward China and India in the backdrop of their parallel involvement in Sri Lanka. In doing so, the study focuses on how Sri Lanka, as a small state in the IOR, serves as a critical site for strategic competition between the two regional powers. The findings reveal that Indo-Sri Lanka relations fluctuated considerably from 2005 to 2019 amidst the growing involvement of China in Sri Lanka as the civil war with the Tamil Tigers came to an end, and in the face of post-war reconstruction imperatives coupled with war crime allegations by the west. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Sri Lanka’s participation in it meant an increased Chinese presence in Sri Lanka, leading India to react by making various policy choices in relation to ethnic conflict resolution and acting as a development partner of Sri Lanka. The choices India opted for had an adverse impact on Indo-Sri Lanka ties despite Sri Lanka’s efforts to achieve a balanced foreign policy strategy. In essence, an extensive Chinese presence brought on heavy pressure from India on Sri Lanka, which, in turn, caused Indo-Sri Lanka relations to fluctuate. The thesis makes two major contributions: First, it provides a nuanced insight into the literature on foreign policy strategy by capturing the largely unobserved foreign policy behaviour dynamics of small states, apart from the contribution to strategic rivalry literature. Secondly, hedging is a double-edged sword requiring judicious balancing of relations when dealing with two competing rivals in order to extract benefits out of their competition, it shows the foreign policy community of Sri Lanka how hedging should be employed more effectively in ways that make its cooperation balanced and valuable for both China and India while reducing the cost of compromising political autonomy of either country. The study concludes that among the dynamics of Indo-Sri Lanka relations from 2005-2019, cycles of change and continuity figures prominent. While the Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) government favoured China over India for economic and political cooperation, the Maithreepala Sirisena (NUG) government shifted to preferring India over China in these areas. It is change and continuity in Indo-Sri Lanka relations which has been the predominant trend in the two states’ bilateral relationships from 2005 to 2019. The Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) regime (2005-2015), during its first tenure pursued a policy of active hedging between China and India whereas it deployed passive hedging between China and India during its second term. In contrast, the National Unity Government (NUG) (2015-2019) that followed the MR regime initially balanced India against China, but later it resorted to maintaining an equal distance from the two countries administration initially balanced India against China, but later it resorted to maintaining equidistance between the two.Item Anti-racism allyship amongst psychologists and students in psychology training in Aotearoa New Zealand(Journal Article, New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists, 2025)Racism is a well-established social determinant of health, impacting Māori, Pacific, and Asian communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, few scholarly studies have focused on racial justice allyship in Aotearoa, particularly within the psychology discipline. This study examines demographic and attitudinal factors associated with anti-racism allyship among psychologists and students in psychology training amidst escalating racist rhetoric and opposition to Māori self-determination in Aotearoa. Drawing data from an online anonymous survey (n = 280), we assessed participants’ responses on three scales: 1) Attitudes towards aspects of Māori (taha Māori); 2) Attitudes towards acknowledging the existence of racism and settler colonialism 3) Anti-racist allyship. Certain demographic groups (Pākehā, Asian, older-aged, male, or those who entered training decades ago) scored lower on these scales, indicating the need for targeted training. Regression analyses showed both ‘Attitudes towards taha Māori’ and ‘Attitudes towards racism and colonisation’ scales were significantly correlated with anti-racist allyship. Our findings call for a sustained investment in training anti-racist psychologists who are competent in providing culturally safe care and capable of challenging racial injustices. Future research is required on the development of a racial justice allyship model across all institutions that train, employ and regulate psychologists in Aotearoa that is informed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi.Item Two decades after Siaan Nathan’s (1999) study: Revisiting the responsiveness of professional clinical psychology programmes(Journal Article, New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists, 2025)Clinical psychology training programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand are predominantly monocultural and centred on perspectives from Western Europe and North America. Several initiatives have sought to address the monocultural dominance of Western psychology in training programmes, with limited sustainability. We surveyed clinical psychology programme directors (N=6) to assess the progress of programmes towards meeting Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations across five key domains (Māori representation across programme staff and students, advisory group, admissions process and programme content). Promisingly, progress regarding the inclusion of Māori-focused content and faculty representation was identified. However, all directors reported that the increase in Māori student representation was slow, with half (n=3) reporting the number of tauira Māori applicants to programmes was an ongoing concern. The limited progress towards ensuring increased Māori representation was thought to reflect system constraints. The findings highlight the pressing need for clinical psychology training to fulfil Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations to support tino rangatiratanga for Māori that leads to transformative change. Notably, equity for Māori was identified as a priority through the provision of sufficient and sustainable resourcing for kaupapa Māori psychologies.Publication Protecting the deep: The combined impact of climate change and bottom trawling on VME indicator taxa in New Zealand and implications for management(Thesis, The University of Waikato, 2025-08-24)The deep sea remains one of the least explored ecosystems on the planet, with 95% still uncharted. From what is known, it harbours critical habitat-forming species like cold-water corals and sponges that sustain extraordinary biodiversity and provide key ecosystem services, including supporting fisheries. These fragile ecosystems face escalating threats from climate change and bottom trawling, yet the extent of their impacts remains poorly understood. This PhD addresses these gaps by examining how these stressors influence Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME) indicator taxa in New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone and explores implications for conservation. The research explores (i) climate change impacts and potential refugia, (ii) the added pressure of bottom trawling, and (iii) management strategies with policymakers and fishery regulators to fast-track spatial protection measures in the New Zealand region. In Chapter 2, species distribution models were used to predict the spatial distribution of density for several deep-water VME indicator taxa under present-day environmental conditions and two future climate scenarios (SSP2-4.5 and SSP3-7.0) projected by the end of the 21st century. Results showed a significant decline in both the density (54%) and spatial extent (61%) of all assessed taxa under future conditions compared to the current day. However, the models also identified potential climate refugia: areas where certain taxa may persist despite changing environmental pressures, representing crucial conservation targets. This and previous research, however, indicate that existing spatial management measures with respect to bottom trawling may be insufficient to protect VME indicator taxa now and into the future. This suggests that present-day densities, even within potential climate refugia areas, may have already declined due to this activity. Chapter 3 examines the impact of bottom trawling by estimating the density loss of VME indicator taxa in high-density areas, particularly climate refugia, in New Zealand waters over the past 30 years. Bottom trawling was predicted to have reduced the current density of all assessed taxa across the study region, with the most pronounced reductions in taxon density and habitat extent (up to 10% loss) occurring in areas predicted to be climate refugia. Such declines may undermine the ability of taxa to form ecologically functional habitats in the future if these impacts persist. The interplay between climate change and bottom trawling presents a complex multi-stressor scenario for VMEs and their indicator taxa. Addressing these cumulative impacts requires integrated approaches that simultaneously consider ecological and social dimensions to provide the scientific knowledge required to support management decisions. Chapter 4 introduces a social-ecological perspective by combining density-based spatial analysis of VME indicator taxa distributions under multiple stressors (e.g., climate change and bottom trawling) with participatory methods, including interviews and group elicitation with policy regulators and fishery experts. This approach aimed to assess risk perceptions, inform potential management actions, and identify barriers and solutions for effective conservation in the New Zealand region. Findings revealed that presenting additional scientific evidence and engaging a diverse group of stakeholders in discussions enhanced their risk perceptions and confidence about the impacts of climate change and bottom trawling on VME indicator taxa. Additionally, stakeholder engagement helped refine potential strategies for implementing spatial management measures. By adopting a social-ecological approach, this PhD thesis integrated ecological modelling, spatial impact analysis, and participatory methods to provide insights into the multiple effects of climate change and bottom trawling on VME indicator taxa and their effective management. The findings that originated from this work can contribute to the development of climate-resilient marine spatial planning strategies aimed at strengthening the long-term protection of deep-sea VMEs as well as from additional impacts such as bottom trawling. Moreover, the thesis identifies key scientific knowledge gaps, including the need for connectivity analyses and recovery following disturbance from local stressors such as bottom trawling. This information can be useful to enhance the predictive power of species distribution models and the importance of broader stakeholder involvement—particularly the fishing industry—to facilitate the implementation of management initiatives in a socially just and equitable manner.
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