Hauora is a Māori philosophy of health unique to New Zealand. It comprises taha tinana, taha hinengaro, taha whanau, and taha wairua.

It provides broad public health perspectives and skills necessary to assume effective leadership in public health practice, reflecting the three domains of health improvement, health protection and health service quality. All students are expected to gain core competence in the three domains.

The three domains, health improvement, health protection, and health services, are inter-related with a common core (Figure 1).

Māori health expert Sir Mason Durie developed Te Whare Tapa Whā as a model of health and wellbeing in 1982. This model encapsulates a Māori view of health and wellness. It has four dimensions: taha wairua (spiritual health), taha hinengaro (mental health), taha tinana (physical health) and taha whānau (family health).

The concept of Te Wheke, the octopus, is to define family health. The head of the octopus represents te whānau, the eyes of the octopus as waiora (total wellbeing for the individual and family) and each of the eight tentacles representing a specific dimension of health.

STRONGER FOR TOMORROW

Te whare tapa whā is a model of the 4 dimensions of wellbeing developed by Sir Mason Durie in 1984 to provide a Māori perspective on health. The 4 dimensions are: taha tinana (physical wellbeing) taha wairua (spiritual wellbeing) taha whānau (family wellbeing).

1997

The Meihana model describes how the kaupapa (purpose of the encounter) can extend standard history taking to give a broader understanding of Māori patients’ presentations. It has also been specifically developed for use by both non-Māori and Māori health practitioners.

Te Pae Māhutonga is a model for Māori health promotion conceived by Dr Maui Pomare in the 19th Century and developed by Sir Mason Durie in the 20th Century.

The ‘Hui Process’ applies traditional principles of greeting, introducing, starting a relationship and closure of an encounter to the setting of a medical consultation.

Mason Durie

The Whare Tapa Whā was developed as a response to a piece of research by the Māori Women’s Welfare League in the late 70s. Rapuora, the piece of research which had uncovered health issues and barriers amongst Māori, including a lack of spiritual recognition and issues of structural racism.

A state of physical well-being is not just the absence of disease. It includes lifestyle behavior choices to ensure health, avoid preventable diseases and conditions, and to live in a balanced state of body, mind, and spirit. You’ll find articles on this topic in the Wellness Milestones index.

Physical fitness can be defined in two categories: health related and motor related. The health related components of physical fitness are of great importance because they make an individual fit, functional and productive for everyday living.

Researchers investigating happiness have found the following factors enhance a person’s wellbeing:

• Happy intimate relationship with a partner.
• Network of close friends.
• Enjoyable and fulfilling career.
• Enough money.
• Regular exercise.
• Nutritional diet.
• Enough sleep.
• Spiritual or religious beliefs.