Samoan doctoral student hopes her study can 'bolster' Pasifika support services for women

Hundreds of Samoan women are expected to take part in a study that's will hopefully "bolster'" Pasifika support services for women.

Samoan doctoral student Sarah Mclean-Orsborn is completing her PhD studies at the University of Auckland, centered around the Covid-19 experiences of 200 Samoan women.

"It makes sense to be working with my own community, just cultural competency wise, I'm not an expert in terms of cultural nuances or understanding lived experiences of anything other than being a Samoan woman living in New Zealand.​"

She hopes her questionnaire will help understand how Covid-19 is impacting Samoan women, outside of the expected outcomes of Covid-19, "because we know that finance, education and health are big things".​​

"Being Samoan there are other things that come into play such as Fa'alavelave (cultural-related incidents) and how does that impact our families."​

Mclean-Orsborn says once her study is complete she wants to collaborate with mental health and social service organisations.

"To see how they can use this information to bolster their support services and how we can better support our women in a time of crisis.

"Looking at what supports have helped us thus far and perhaps find gaps where we can begin to either look at where funding should be funneled into or an area where new resources could come into play."

She says her ultimate goal is to make something tangible out of her research.

"I want to make it accessible for our communities to understand and engage with.

"Whether it is coming up with a programme myself or just being able to work with organisations that our women are working with currently.​"

 

Photo PMN News