Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti
2 hours ago
Jeffery Adams is a Postgraduate Health Science Lecturer at EIT Auckland.
Supporting age-friendly communities and improving health access for rainbow people are key parts of an EIT Auckland lecturer’s research.
Jeffery Adams, Postgraduate Health Science Lecturer at EIT Auckland, says that he has undertaken research and programme evaluation across a number of health areas and settings – including physical activity, alcohol, gambling, mental health and wellbeing, workforce issues, volunteering, and community development/community action.
A recent research project has been an evaluation of the Office for Seniors age-friendly fund. Jeffery is working with Stephen Neville from Te Pūkenga, who is the lead researcher.
“We are looking at this funding scheme that the Office for Seniors offers and trying to work out how effective it has been in helping councils and communities either develop an age friendly plan or to implement age friendly projects.”
“It’s a New Zealand-wide sample with more than sixty different projects that have been funded. We are trying to make a determination about the fund as a whole as to whether it’s achieving outcomes and contributing to communities to be more age friendly.”
Another project that Stephen and Jeffery are involved in is the validation of an age-friendly survey tool. This is a partnership between the researchers, the Office for Seniors, and the Napier City Council and in association with The Hague University of Applied Sciences. The tool has been successfully trialled by Napier City Council with the aim of rolling it out for use in other communities in New Zealand.
There are eight domains for determining an age-friendly city – community and health care, transportation, housing, social participation, outdoor spaces and buildings, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, and communication and information. For the Napier study, validation process involved receiving feedback from a consumer panel in Napier.
Jeffery says that while New Zealand has areas of age-friendliness, there’s a growing interest among some councils and communities to create more age-friendly environments.
He says that one difficulty for cities is striking a balance between meeting the needs of everybody, while also ensuring older people’s specific needs are met.
“An example is that many places have short time limits on their parking, but this can make it more difficult for older people to go out and shop and attend appointments.”
Another focus area for Jeffery is the health and wellbeing of rainbow people (an umbrella term used to describe people of diverse sexualities, genders, and variations of sex characteristics). This research has included studies focused on mental health, alcohol consumption, HIV and sexual health promotion, and Asian gay men. It has been funded by a number of agencies including the NZ AIDS Foundation, Ministry of Health and the Health Promotion Agency and is characterised by engagement with community organisations and employment of community members as research team members.
Jeffery’s most recent project is examining data from the New Zealand Health Survey to ascertain the healthcare experiences and health behaviours of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. This work was funded by Massey University and is set to be published soon in New Zealand and Australian publications.
Last year Jeffery and Stephen Neville wrote an article entitled Rainbow health in Aotearoa New Zealand – finally getting the attention it deserves? which was published in the Journal of Primary Health Care.
The authors wrote that the health of rainbow people had until now largely been ignored in government health policy.
“However this has changed with the release by Te Whatu Ora and Te Aka Whai Ora of Te Pae Tata: Interim New Zealand Health Plan, which details priority areas to improve health outcomes and equity for all New Zealanders.”
“Te Pae Tata promises a ‘new health system’ and improved health outcomes for rainbow people. Although this plan provides welcome recognition of inequity, it offers a limited, generalised view on how to improve health for rainbow people. More specific and detailed action plans on how equity might be achieved are required.”
