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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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He Pikinga Waiora Kimi Ora lifestyle programme: Case study of a successful community-based indigenous diabetes intervention
(Pasifika Medical Association Group (PMAG), 2021) Masters-Awatere, Bridgette; Cassim, Shemana; Tamatea, Jade; Scott, Nina; Simpson, Chae; Paekau, Cherie
AIM: To co-design and implement a whānau-centred, community-based lifestyle programme (Kimi Ora) intended to ensure no worsening of HbA1c and to improve wellbeing for Māori whānau and communities with diabetes or pre-diabetes. METHODS: Māori healthcare providers, community members, research advisors and wider stakeholders used a co-design process underpinned by He Pikinga Waiora to collaboratively develop and implement Kimi Ora Control group comparisons and participants were recruited from Te Kōhao Health. Multi-method monitoring and collection captured individual, whānau and community data. RESULTS: Kimi Ora was run in two communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. In total, there were 35 participants who took part in an eight-week programme offered five times alongside a comparison group comprising 21 participants. Kimi Ora resulted in significant improvements on all biomedical measures compared to baseline, and participants had gains relative to the comparison group for variables including weight, BMI, blood pressure and waist measurement. Of particular note was the 100% retention rate and sustained community support for Kimi Ora. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes from Kimi Ora demonstrate this programme, which was actively tailored for and worked with Māori communities in a responsive and flexible manner, resulted in successful biomedical outcomes, high engagement and high retention.
The alienation of the Opuatia block: A GIS case study report written for Counting our Tūpuna
(Te Ngira: Institute for Population Research, the University of Waikato, 2021) Whitehead, Jesse
This report provides an analysis and visualisation of the fragmentation and alienation of the Opuatia block (Opuatia hereafter), as well as changes in its ownership and geographic structure since 1866. The three main aims are to quantify the amount of Opuatia remaining in Ngāti Tiipa ownership at the end of each decade, identifying critical moments in time, and highlighting the processes through which Opuatia was alienated and fragmented. These questions are addressed through a bespoke method that was developed to link data from several sources. These include (but are not limited to) historic records of land alienation, held by the Māori Land Court, and geospatial information available through Land Information New Zealand. The key findings show that approximately 94% of the original Opuatia has been alienated, with only small parcles of land remaining in Ngāti Tiipa ownership. The late 1890s and early 1900s were a criticial period where over 80% of alienations were carried out. The results inidcate that the Crown was a key driver of this process, directly alienating more than 18,000 acres from Opuatia, much of which was taken on a single day in 1896. Individual settlers were responsible for most other alienations, and some of the same names appear several times in the historical record as settler families alienated clusters of land to build up significant stakes in the area. Finally, another result of this report is the method itself, which outlines an approach for tracing a defined block of land through the Native Land Court and linking this information to geospatial datasets. The limitations of this report include the poor interoperability of key data sources, and the barriers that this presents to other hapū or organisations who may want to replicate this work. A more detailed investigation of archival records is required to examine the specific reasons behind why each parent block, and the subdivisions with them, was alienated from Ngāti Tiipa ownership.
The development of community orchestras in the Waikato
(The University of Waikato, 2025) Fletcher, Olivia; Moffat, Kirstine; Lodge, Martin
Orchestral music in the Waikato has a long and rich history, although to date there has been little exploration of this. Indeed, research about musical growth and development in New Zealand is sparse and fragmented in terms of both time and geography. By focusing on a particular region that has yet to receive any attention, the thesis aims to redress this gap and also make a wider contribution to understandings of the transportation to and development of western music in New Zealand. In tracing the growth of an orchestral tradition in this region the thesis places this musical evolution within the context of a developing settler society that valued community music making as both a form of community cohesion and a valuable means of local fund raising and entertainment. In considering the development of orchestral music in the Waikato, the thesis is divided into two main parts, treating each as a case study but also drawing on the methodologies of ethnomusicology, history from below, microhistory, and oral history. Part One is devoted to the years 1864-1914 and in analysing this foundational period of musical development considers a large geographical area enclosed by Huntly, Raglan, Te Awamutu and Te Aroha. Part Two provides a detailed examination of one specific orchestra and community, the Te Aroha-Morrinsville Community Orchestra (TAMCO) which began as an idea in 1974 and continued for thirty years. Each part of the thesis draws on a range of archival materials. Part One relies on extensive use of Papers Past (1), as well as resources from local museums and Archives New Zealand. In contrast, the case study of TAMCO has myriad sources, including interviews with key figures, photographs, recordings, and minute books, and is used to test the hypotheses generated in the first half. While each part of the thesis is distinct, there are also similarities and connections, with the case study of TAMCO confirming many of the findings of Part One. My findings all lead to the conclusion that in order for an orchestra to develop and flourish over several years it requires a locally respected charismatic person as leader, generally but not always the conductor, supported by a team of volunteers convinced of the importance and value of the enterprise. Beyond this the orchestra needs to be relevant to its community, who then support it. This could be relevance in terms of fundraising for a specific cause, or from programming music that is accessible and relevant to that local audience. In this way the orchestra becomes an integral part of the community. By focusing on one region through the lens of two case studies, a nuanced and layered understanding of the development of orchestral music in the Waikato is revealed, an understanding that has parallels with other community musical groups in New Zealand and other settler societies. (1) Papers Past is a resource from digitised newspapers and magazines published in New Zealand from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
An investigation of wellness retreat tourism experiences: a mixed-methods study from perceived value perspective
(The University of Waikato, 2025-12-01) Mai, Xuan Tai; Ryan, Chris; Cheryl, Cockburn-Wootten
In recent years, wellness tourism has developed into a rapidly growing segment of the global tourism industry, particularly driven by increasing public interest in achieving and maintaining physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. Despite this growth, wellness retreats—a distinctive and transformative subsector of wellness tourism—remain underexplored in academic literature. Grounded in the increasing urgency of mental health as a global development priority (United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being), this study investigates how wellness retreat experiences foster tourists' holistic wellbeing and their loyalty to the destination through the lens of customer perceived value. Drawing on Sheth, Newman, and Gross (1991)’s theory of consumption values and supported by the concept of Transformation Economy (Pine & Gilmore, 2011), and multidimensional wellness frameworks, this study aims to (1) explore the dimensions of perceived value in wellness retreat experiences, (2) develop and validate a multidimensional measurement scale of perceived value of wellness retreat experiences, (3) investigate the association between tourists’ perceived value and destination loyalty, and (4) identify combinations of value dimensions that foster high levels of destination loyalty. An exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach was employed, incorporating qualitative thematic analysis of 936 qualified reviews of wellness retreat visitors on TripAdvisor and Google Maps Reviews, followed by quantitative surveys of 159 wellness retreat attendees at the Resolution Retreats, New Zealand. To analyse the collected quantitative data, this study employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) as a symmetrical analysis method and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) as an asymmetrical technique. This integration served to strengthen the findings and construct a composite picture of customer perceived value dimensions on the destination loyalty of wellness retreat attendees. The findings of the Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed five dimensions of perceived value: Nutritional, Functional, Emotional, Social and Educational, and Ecological Healing. PLS-SEM results confirmed that perceived value significantly drives destination loyalty, while customer-employee interaction negatively moderates this relationship, challenging prior assumptions about the role of interpersonal engagement in tourism and hospitality contexts. Moreover, fsQCA identified five distinct configurations of value dimensions that are sufficient for high loyalty, demonstrating that different combinations can lead to similar positive desired outcomes, depending on visitor experiences and value propositions. Theoretically, this research advances the wellness tourism literature by differentiating wellness retreats as a distinct niche, thereby deepening the conceptualisation of eudaimonic value within tourism experiences. Furthermore, it applies the consumer perceived perspective to enhance the prediction of tourists’ decision-making processes. This study also addresses the existing methodological gaps by demonstrating the transformative potential of mixed-methods approaches within the tourism and hospitality discipline. By integrating PLS-SEM and fsQCA to capture both linear and non-linear patterns in visitor behaviour, this study underscores how methodological advancements can improve our understanding of complex research phenomena. Practically, the research provides a robust measurement instrument for assessing wellness retreat experiences and offers strategic guidance to wellness managers, tourism developers, and policymakers on designing and promoting transformative tourism products. It also emphasises the need for wellness-focused governance frameworks, workforce protection, and community engagement to ensure equitable and sustainable development in wellness tourism.
Shifting the learning culture of a secondary school in Aotearoa New Zealand: An analysis of enacting a shared vision
(The University of Waikato, 2025) Greenhill, Deborah; Wright, Noeline; Cook, Sheralyn F.
Educational leadership frameworks and organisational literature have extensively documented successful leadership approaches, practices, change processes, and reform models. However, the literature lacks a nuanced understanding of how individual leaders, particularly middle leaders, make sense of and respond to implementing school-wide change. This study centres on how curriculum (middle) leaders in a traditional secondary school in Aotearoa New Zealand (AoNZ), interpret and translate a school vision into practice to shift their school's learning culture. This interpretive study uses one school as a case study and six participants, five of whom are middle (curriculum) leaders and one senior leader participant. The findings are drawn from their transcripts from semi-structured interviews and associated documents they submitted for analysis. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to generate authentic insights into their lived experiences. Key findings revealed that vision enactment involves a complex interplay between contextual realities and professional agency. While inclusive vision development fostered collective ownership, curriculum leaders were crucial intermediaries, having to translate aspirational language into concrete, student-centred strategies. Their agency was enabled through structured frameworks but constrained by contextual factors, including external performativity pressures and internal entrenched traditions. The study identified specific enablers (collaborative structures, embedded professional development, external expertise) and inhibitors (inadequate change management support, limited cross-faculty collaboration) affecting vision enactment. These findings demonstrate that meaningful educational change requires not only distributing leadership but also providing robust support systems that recognise the pivotal role of curriculum leaders as bridges between vision and sustainable learning culture change. The study contributes to the field by offering insights into how curriculum leaders interpret a school vision and exercise professional agency to translate aspirational statements into classroom practices while navigating the complex contextual factors that enable and constrain their efforts.