Asian communities' well-being in Aotearoa during Covid-19: The mitigating role of sense of belonging in the relationship between racism and life satisfaction

INTRODUCTION: Anti-Asian racism was a feature of the social response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and its impact on the well-being of Asian communities warrants closer examination. The current study aimed to gauge whether the sense of belonging mitigated the adverse effects of racism on life satisfaction for self-identified Asian New Zealanders.METHODS: This analysis included 1341 responses to a cross-sectional online survey conducted in 2021. Descriptive analyses outline how components of a sense of belonging were distributed among participants and those who experienced racism during the Covid-19 pandemic. We used linear regression to examine the role of a sense of belonging as a potential pathway variable in the association between experiencing racism and life satisfaction.FINDINGS: In this survey, four out of 10 participants reported experiencing racism in the first 18 months of the pandemic. Participants' life satisfaction decreased slightly since January 2020 (p<0.001). Experiencing racism was associated with decreased life satisfaction. All the components of sense of belonging reduced the magnitude of this negative association between racism experience and life satisfaction, in particular, expressing one's own ethnic identity and belonging in Aotearoa.CONCLUSIONS: Given that anti-Asian racism is currently a feature of life and a significant stressor during the pandemic, this study provides empirical evidence of the protective role of a sense of belonging against anti-Asian racism. This study focused on Asian members in Aotearoa New Zealand, but its practical implications have the potential to support other minoritised ethnic communities who also experience racism during the pandemic and beyond.

Mental Health Client Experiences of Telehealth in Aotearoa New Zealand During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons and Implications.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns disrupted mental health service delivery worldwide, accelerating the adoption of telehealth services to provide care continuity. Telehealth-based research largely highlights the value of this service delivery method for a range of mental health conditions. However, only limited research exists exploring client perspectives of mental health services delivered via telehealth during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to increase understanding of the perspectives of mental health clients around services provided via telehealth over the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in Aotearoa New Zealand. METHODS: Interpretive description methodology underpinned this qualitative inquiry. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 21 individuals (15 clients and 7 support people; 1 person was both a client and support person) to explore their experiences of outpatient mental health care delivered via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand. A thematic analysis approach supported by field notes was used to analyze interview transcripts. RESULTS: The findings reveal that mental health services delivered via telehealth differed from those provided in person and led some participants to feel they need to manage their own care more actively. Participants highlighted several factors affecting their telehealth journey. These included the importance of maintaining and building relationships with clinicians, the creation of safe spaces within client and clinician home environments, and clinician readiness in facilitating care for clients and their support people. Participants noted weaknesses in the ability of clients and clinicians to discern nonverbal cues during telehealth conversations. Participants also emphasized that telehealth was a viable option for service delivery but that the reason for telehealth consultations and the technicalities of service delivery needed to be addressed. CONCLUSIONS: Successful implementation requires ensuring solid relationship foundations between clients and clinicians. To safeguard minimum standards in delivering telehealth-based care, health professionals must ensure that the intent behind telehealth appointments is clearly articulated and documented for each person. In turn, health systems must ensure that health professionals have access to training and professional guidance to deliver effective telehealth consultations. Future research should aim to identify how therapeutic engagement with mental health services has changed, following a return to usual service delivery processes.

The Research Imagination During COVID-19: Rethinking Norms of Group Size and Authorship in Anthropological and Anthropology-Adjacent Collaborations

This article explores some of the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has served as a collective critical event for anthropologists and other social scientists, examining how it has promoted new configurations of the research imagination. We draw on our own experiences of participating in a team of 17 researchers, hailing from anthropology and anthropology-adjacent disciplines, to research social life in Aotearoa/New Zealand during the pandemic, examining how our own research imaginations were transformed during, and via, the process of our collaboration. When our project first began, many of us had doubts reflective of norms, prejudices and anxieties that are common in our disciplines: that the group would be too large to function effectively, or that it would be impossible to develop an approach to authorship that would allow everyone to feel their contributions had been adequately recognised. In practice, the large group size was a key strength in allowing our group to work effectively. Difficulties with authorship did not arise from within the group but from disconnects between our preferred ways of working and the ways authorship was imagined within various professional and publishing bodies. We conclude that large-scale collaborations have many points in their favour, and that the research imaginations of funders, journals, universities and professional associations should be broadened to ensure that they are encouraged, supported and adequately rewarded. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Reframing well-being: Lessons from Aotearoa New Zealand's first wave COVID-19 response

Well-being is increasingly being promoted and used to describe social progress. However, tension exists between framings that focus on enhancing individual well-being (living well) and societal or collective framings of well-being (living well together). Well-being is central to Aotearoa New Zealand's COVID-19 response and recovery. The COVID-19 pandemic reopened debates about what kind of society people want to live in. Our research explored the ‘shared typical' or commonality of experiences of the first wave of COVID-19 response in Aotearoa New Zealand. Semi-structured interviews provided insights into a wide range of concerns participants faced and what that meant for their well-being and the well-being of Aotearoa New Zealand. We found that well-being is both multidimensional and hierarchical, and while people talked about their own well-being, it was often in the context of broader social well-being. These findings support research showing that well-being is relational. We suggest that Indigenous models of well-being are well placed to inform policy strategies enabling holistic well-being, but this needs to be done in ways that pair Indigenous and Western knowledge, rather than integrating or assimilating this knowledge into Western science approaches. © 2023 The Authors. Asia Pacific Viewpoint published by Victoria University of Wellington and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Kiwis and COVID-19: The Aotearoa New Zealand Response to the Global Pandemic

This fast-moving global COVID-19 pandemic caught many nations unprepared and has exposed numerous flaws in global health, public health, and economic and social welfare infrastructures. It may seem premature to write about responses, but there are lessons to be learned from the response of Aotearoa New Zealand. Although its geopolitical situation as an island nation meant that it had late exposure to COVID-19, NZ has been commended because it closed its borders (to non-nationals);lockdown;traced;tested contacts;told people to pick a ‘bubble' (immediate and usual family or household) and stay within that bubble;and promoted clear public messages. Government assistance was available for employers to retain staff, and additional support was provided for businesses and individuals. A strong and empathetic prime minister communicated regularly with the public and developed a sense of common national purpose. However, COVID-19 still exposed the impact of social inequalities. Implications for the next steps of recovery are considered in the paper.

Islands, remoteness and effective policy making: Aotearoa New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic

Aotearoa New Zealand has been identified, by several measures, as being one of a few developed countries that have weathered the COVID-19 pandemic in the best possible way. This outcome is generally attributed to strict but effective public health measures that included – besides very high vaccination rates – national and regional lockdowns, as well as total closure of the border except for returning citizens (who were subject to mandatory quarantining). Concurrent fiscal and monetary policies contributed to economic outcomes that remained remarkably buoyant. In this paper we assess the importance of public interventions in New Zealand triggered by the pandemic relative to the mitigating effects of the country being an island nation with a small population scale, low population density and remote location. We summarize the recent international literature, estimate simple but representative cross-country regression models, and provide a qualitative evaluation of the public policy response. We find that the favourable effects of low average population density, remoteness and the absence of land borders have indeed been of great benefit. Geography assisted in the effectiveness of the elimination strategy which was only abandoned in favour of a mitigation strategy once the less severe but highly contagious Omicron variants arrived in early 2022. Hence, while a remote and peripheral location is generally seen as economically disadvantageous, during a pandemic it delays the spread of a viral disease and provides the opportunity to focus on interventions to maintain economic activity, develop effective public health responses and learn from the experience of less remote nations. © 2023 The Authors. Regional Science Policy & Practice published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Regional Science Association International.

A Survey of Screen Media Access and Use in Primary School Children's Households.

Our primary aim was to gain a better understanding of current technology availability and use in the homes of primary school children. The online-accessible questionnaire was made available for families with a child enrolled at primary school, with over 300 families participating. The results suggest that it is common for children to be introduced to screen media early in life and that they watch a wide range of content. While many families have rules regarding their children's technology use, screen media is a significant part of their lives, with many children exceeding the recommended two hours of viewing per day. Future research could investigate whether media access and use differ between ethnic and socio-demographic groups, and whether changes have occurred as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Health Response to Family Violence in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Qualitative Study.

COVID-19 pandemic planning and response has resulted in unprecedented upheaval within health systems internationally. With a concern for increasing frequency and escalation of family violence, the so called "shadow pandemic," we wondered how health system violence intervention programs were operating during this time. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Ministry of Health Violence Intervention Program (VIP), using a systems approach, seeks to reduce and prevent the health impacts of family violence and abuse through early identification, assessment, and referral of victims presenting to designated health services. In this qualitative descriptive study, we explored how the VIP program was impacted during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Forty-one VIP coordinators and managers representing 15 of the 20 New Zealand District Health Boards and the National VIP Team participated. Across 12 focus groups (8 face to face and 4 via Zoom) and 7 individual interviews (all via Zoom) participants shared their experience navigating systems to support frontline health providers' responsiveness to people impacted by family violence during the pandemic. In our reflexive thematic analysis, we generated 3 themes: Responding to the moment, valuing relationships, and reflecting on the status quo. Our findings demonstrate the dynamic environment in which participants found creative ways to adapt to the uncertainty and engage with communities to re-shape interventions and ensure continued implementation of the program. At the same time, challenges within the system prior to the pandemic were brought into view and highlighted the need for action. These included, for example, the need for improved engagement with Maori (Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand) to address long-standing health inequities. Having quality essential services for those impacted by family violence that engages with local knowledge and networks and routinely copes with uncertainty will strengthen our systems to minimize risk of harm during emergencies.

Food in tourism in a time of critical shift: four reflexive case studies in Aotearoa New Zealand

Purpose: This study aims to explore the values, resilience and innovation of four food businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic and their responses to the chaotic environment they find themselves in. It also evaluates whether there is evidence of a thriving food in tourism environment propelling these businesses forward within an innovative regenerative tourism system. Design/methodology/approach: A descriptive and comparative case study approach is used using a holistic design with four in-depth interviews for each business over 18 months. A thematic analysis of the qualitative data provides answers to the key research questions and informs our understanding of the ecosystems in which food businesses reside. Findings: The findings indicate that an internal business ecosystem with a strong value base and effective networks across a range of stakeholders enhances resilience. The crisis refocused and stimulated a variety of innovations. Practical implications: An ethos of collaboration and cooperation for food businesses provides opportunities for a shared future where it is implemented. Social implications: A values-based food in tourism system that gives back to communities potentially creates an external environment that better supports small food businesses;however, the place of food in tourism and the food story of Aotearoa New Zealand continues to lack clarity. Originality/value: The exploration of four food businesses in the time of crisis provides new insights into the multidirectional inter-related factors that either drive success or hinder it. © 2022, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Psychological predictors of COVID-19 vaccination in New Zealand

Is it possible to predict COVID-19 vaccination status prior to the existence and availability of COVID-19 vaccines? Here, we present a logistic model by regressing decisions to vaccinate in late 2021 on lagged sociodemographic, health, social, and political indicators from 2019 in a sample of New Zealand adults aged between 18 and 94 (M-age = 52.92, SD = 14.10;62.21% women;N = 5324). We explain 31% of the variance in decision making across New Zealand. Significant predictors of being unvaccinated were being younger, more deprived, reporting less satisfaction with general practitioners, lower levels of neuroticism, greater levels of subjective health and meaning in life, higher distrust in science and in the police, lower satisfaction in the government, as well as political conservatism. Additional cross-sectional models specified using the same, and additional COVID-19-specific factors are also presented. These findings reveal that vaccination decisions are neither artefacts of context nor chance, but rather can be predicted in advance of the availability of vaccines.

Ableism, Human Rights, and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Healthcare-Related Barriers Experienced by Deaf People in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected global healthcare access and exacerbated pre-pandemic structural barriers. Literature on disabled people's experiences accessing healthcare is limited, with even less framing healthcare access as a human rights issue. This study documents and critically analyses Deaf people's healthcare access experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eleven self-identified Deaf individuals participated in semi-structured videoconferencing interviews. Discourse analysis was applied to participant narratives with discourses juxtaposed against a human rights analysis. Barriers influencing healthcare access included: (1) the inability of healthcare providers to communicate appropriately, including a rigid adherence to face mask use; (2) cultural insensitivity and limited awareness of Deaf people's unique needs; and (3) the impact of ableist assumptions and healthcare delaying care. Barriers to healthcare access represent consecutive breaches of rights guaranteed under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Such breaches delay appropriate healthcare access and risk creating future compounding effects. Action is required to address identified breaches: (1) The CRPD should also underpin all health policy and practice development, inclusive of pandemic and disaster management responsiveness. (2) Health professionals and support staff should be trained, and demonstrate competency, in Deaf cultural awareness and sensitivity.

Elder Agency: How Older New Zealanders Played Their Part in Aotearoa New Zealand's COVID-19 Response

At higher risk of both contracting COVID-19, and suffering ill effects from it, older people have figured prominently in accounts of the pandemic. In Aotearoa, government messaging enjoined the population to protect older people, who became the implicit subjects of the widely shared appeal to 'stay home, save lives'. Drawing on interviews with 35 people aged 62 and older, we explore how older New Zealanders imagined their own risk, resilience, and relationships - and in doing so their membership in the imagined community of this island nation. While some of our participants did feel vulnerable to COVID-19 and adjusted their lifestyles accordingly, others felt strong and healthy even as they acknowledged that age was a risk factor that theoretically applied to them. Furthermore, many of the people we spoke to expressed concern for other members of society, asserting a form of agency through solidarity and recognition that went unacknowledged in the dominant social discourse about what it meant to be old in the context of COVID-19. Through these reflections, participants often directly considered how old age figured in political messaging around the pandemic, in some cases feeling cared for and recognised and in others feeling as if age itself had become a political tool. We argue that 'older' New Zealanders are a more diverse group than was acknowledged at the time and also a more agentive one, playing a critical contributing role in the pandemic response rather than merely acting as a rationale for public health measures.

Experiences of New Zealand public health messaging while in lockdown.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to greater societal divides based on alignment with vaccine mandates and social distancing requirements. This paper briefly lays out the experiences of individuals in Aotearoa New Zealand related to public health messaging. METHODS: Adults in Aotearoa New Zealand participated in a mixed-methods study involving a survey (n=1,010 analysed results) and then semi-structured interviews with a subset of surveyed participants (38 participants). Results were thematically analysed. RESULTS: Participants highlighted two key areas related to public health messaging, these related to message consistency and the impact of messaging on wellbeing. Conclusions and public health implications: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and further disrupts health service delivery and normal societal functioning, forward planning is needed to deliver more targeted messaging.

Regenerative tourism futures: a case study of Aotearoa New Zealand

Purpose>This case study urges the future of visitor economy to rely on regenerative tourism to make tourism systems resilience in the long run.Design/methodology/approach>The paper draws on published research and industry reports to discuss the future visitor economy and its impact on all dimensions of well-being focused on the case of Aotearoa New Zealand.Findings>Results show that post-pandemic tourism transformation must protect and promote local identities, and enhance and enrich visitor experiences with a focus on cultural and natural heritage.Originality/value>The recovery of tourism must not implement regenerative tourism as a new specific type of tourism but as a holistic understanding of tourism futures that encompasses communities and the environment, and where visitors are committed to preserve and protect our natural and socio-cultural environment.

Aggression in martial arts coaches and sports performance with the COVID-19 pandemic in the background-a dual processing analysis

Background and Study Aims: Considering the dual processing model, human behaviour is guided by implicit and explicit processing. Implicit or automatic processing is essentially a spontaneous processing that occurs in the absence of conscious control. Coaches' aggression can be, therefore, assessed both explicitly and implicitly. The aims of our research were to identify what is specific for successful martial arts coaches, considering aggression and whether implicit aggression is a better predictor of sports performance than explicit aggression. Material and Methods: Sixty-two martial arts coaches took part in the study. For assessing explicit aggression, Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire and the Romanian adaptation of the Makarowski's Aggression Questionnaire were used. Implicit aggression was measured through a test derived from the Implicit Associations Test (IAT) for self-concept measurement, using the 20+40 trials subdivision and the classic 7-block version. Results: Coaches with international and national performances associated aggression (measured IAT) with others at a stronger level (M = 0.46 +/- 0.010), compared to novice coaches, at the beginning of their career (M = 0.38 +/- 0.08). The average value for verbal aggression is significantly higher [t(60) = 2.12, p = 0.038] in successful coaches (which obtained a slightly above average score) compared to beginners/ young coaches (below average score). The effect size index (Hedge's g = 0.51) shows a moderate difference between the results (for verbal aggression) of successful coaches and coaches at the beginning of their career. The binomial logistic regressions are statistically significant (p < 0.05;"Omnibus test - Model"). The logistic regression models were statistically significant: VA -chi 2(1) = 4.48, p < 0.05;IAT -chi 2(1) = 10.29, p < 0.005. In the case of martial arts coaches, implicit aggression test is a better predictor of sports performance than explicit (verbal) aggression. Conclusions: In the case of martial arts coaches, implicit aggression represents a better predictor of sport performances than explicit (verbal) aggression. The study results are also increasing awareness regarding the level of manifestation of different factors of aggression in successful coaches, thus preventing violent and unethical behaviours, with negative impact on well-being of young athletes (mainly). The study offers valuable resources for novice martial arts coaches (and not only), sports psychologists and researchers eager to better understand the role of indirect measures in sports performance.

A New Direction? The Arts and Central Government Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2017-2020

Artistic work in Aotearoa has long been underpaid and undervalued. In this paper, we examine policy statements made by the New Zealand government from September 2017 until November 2020 about the nature and value of artistic work. Early statements appear to challenge the economization of the arts, and to suggest alternative ways the arts might be valued, including for their inherent connection to well-being and social justice. However, rather than moving the arts away from commercial imperatives, we argue that government initiatives have been implicitly equipping artists and arts organizations to deliver their own economization.

Kiwis and COVID-19: The Aotearoa New Zealand Response to the Global Pandemic

This fast-moving global COVID-19 pandemic caught many nations unprepared and has exposed numerous flaws in global health, public health, and economic and social welfare infrastructures. It may seem premature to write about responses, but there are lessons to be learned from the response of Aotearoa New Zealand. Although its geopolitical situation as an island nation meant that it had late exposure to COVID-19, NZ has been commended because it closed its borders (to non-nationals);lockdown;traced;tested contacts;told people to pick a ‘bubble’ (immediate and usual family or household) and stay within that bubble;and promoted clear public messages. Government assistance was available for employers to retain staff, and additional support was provided for businesses and individuals. A strong and empathetic prime minister communicated regularly with the public and developed a sense of common national purpose. However, COVID-19 still exposed the impact of social inequalities. Implications for the next steps of recovery are considered in the paper. © 2020 SAGE Publications.

Nobody cares about us: COVID-19 and voices of refugees from Aotearoa New Zealand

Aotearoa New Zealand’s pandemic communication approach amidst the COVID-19 (C19) has been applauded around the world. The New Zealand government’s border controls and other measures in response to C19 impacted refugees at the margins and prevented people from accessing support services and healthcare. The sanctioned power to ‘care’ thus became a performative form of power for silencing through the dismissing of voices of refugees as being irrelevant. Experiences of refugees at the margins are constructed amid the erasure of community voices in dominant approaches to health. What was missing from the dominant discourses was the voice of the refugees, who had gone through painful experiences of displacement and resettlement. How did the refugee communities at the margins of Aotearoa New Zealand navigate through the prevailing structural impediments to health during the pandemic? In this study, we use a culture- centred analysis to centre the structural context of disenfranchisement during the COVID-19 lockdown. Drawing on in-depth interviews with refugee participants, we attend to how health is negotiated in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown response at the margins. Infectious diseases such asC19 lay bare the structural determinants that create health and well-being challenges among refugee communities in New Zealand. The narratives point out that the one-size-fits-all approach of the government left behind refugees at the margins during the C19 in the public health efforts. © 2021 Australian and New Zealand Communication Association.

Performative Control and Rhetoric in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Response to COVID-19

This article analyses how specific nodal points of performative control developed and consequently structured the discourse on Aotearoa New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies these points by adopting a rhetorical-performative approach to uncover three particular performances of control that articulated the pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand, from the diagnosis of the first COVID-19 case in the country in February 2020 through to October 2020. This period of analysis covers the emergence, subsequent nationwide lockdown, elimination, and re-emergence of the virus. There are three distinct nodal points that unfold as key to the nation’s ability to control COVID-19: the hegemonic “us”;iwi regionalism;and the rhetoric of kindness. A mixed approach of content analysis of government data, Facebook data, and key imagery is employed to constitute these nodal points’ relevance and how they structured the performative control that threaded through the nation’s initial response as a whole. The article demonstrates how Aotearoa New Zealand, considered by popular assessment to have been successful in its response to COVID-19, managed to eliminate the virus twice in 2020, but not without aspects of the antagonisms that have beset other nations. These include the exacerbation of internal dichotomies and questions about the legality of Government mandates. As the country’s response to COVID-19 is traced, the employment of a rhetorical-performative framework to identify the key nodal points also highlights how the framework could be applied to Aotearoa New Zealand’s continuing response as the pandemic endures. Copyright © 2021 Gilray.

Culturally centring digital inclusion and marginality: A case study in Aotearoa New Zealand

The dominant approach to digital inclusion positions technology as a ‘fix’ to the challenges experienced by marginalized communities. Largely erased are the broader structures of marginalization, the role of technology in relationship to structures and the cultural contexts within which technologies are negotiated. In this essay, we culturally centre digital inclusion to offer insights into the ways in which technologies play out within the margins, drawing from ethnographic fieldwork, including 60 initial interviews, group meetings and 25 interviews carried out amidst the lockdown in response to COVID-19 in Aotearoa New Zealand. We argue that the pandemic offers a window into the relationship between inequalities and technologies, rendering structural contexts of these inequalities visible. We highlight how technology adoption produces marginality in service delivery, situating technology amidst the ecologies of everyday life and the interplays of culture, structure and agency. © The Author(s) 2022.