title: Applying A human rights-based approach to healthcare

authors: Sterling, Rogena

subjects: Human rights; Rights-based approach; Right to health; Intersex people; Ill-treatment

abstract: Human rights are discussed in many areas but not as often is it discussed in light of medical care and services. When a government announces “rights-based approach to health care for intersex children and young people”, then question becomes what does such a statement mean? Anecdotally, medical professionals often dismiss human rights as though they are not relevant to them in the general work in the general day-to-day medical practice. However, that is not necessarily the case as noted in the case study of ill-treatment of intersex people in the medical setting. This is a statement intersex advocates often hear. To understand what the human right to health is, the Article expounds first the foundation of human rights and then goes on to explain the right to health. The Article then sets out the application of human rights in the health care setting and the obligations of the state and the health sector and industry in general with the key elements of respect, protect and fulfil. Without the right to health, intersex people will fail to develop in dignity, and thus, a violation of human rights by both the health profession and the state who holds ultimate
responsibility

text: Applying A human rights-based approach to healthcare Human rights are discussed in many areas but not as often is it discussed in light of medical care and services. When a government announces “rights-based approach to health care for intersex children and young people”, then question becomes what does such a statement mean? Anecdotally, medical professionals often dismiss human rights as though they are not relevant to them in the general work in the general day-to-day medical practice. However, that is not necessarily the case as noted in the case study of ill-treatment of intersex people in the medical setting. This is a statement intersex advocates often hear. To understand what the human right to health is, the Article expounds first the foundation of human rights and then goes on to explain the right to health. The Article then sets out the application of human rights in the health care setting and the obligations of the state and the health sector and industry in general with the key elements of respect, protect and fulfil. Without the right to health, intersex people will fail to develop in dignity, and thus, a violation of human rights by both the health profession and the state who holds ultimate
responsibility

year: 2023-08-18

title: Potential Lake Rotorua scenarios

authors: Gibbs, Max M.

abstract: Lakes need weeds, good ones (native species) not bad (invasive exotic species), although even exotic species are better than no weeds. Without aquatic macrophytes, a lake can become phytoplankton dominated with low clarity and high chlorophyll concentrations, a condition from which it is difficult to recover. The challenge is to manage the macrophytes to the advantage of the lake to obtain the highest practical water quality that is acceptable to lake users, within the financial constraints of a rates-based budget.
Lake Rotorua has sufficient surface area and depth that macrophytes, by themselves, are not likely to control water clarity and phytoplankton growth. However, their management may be a critical factor in the restoration of Lake Rotorua. In this talk I look at potential scenarios associated with managing aquatic macrophytes in Lake Rotorua. With the availability of a weed harvester dedicated to the Te Arawa/Rotorua lakes, there are a number of options that can be applied to Lake Rotorua that would be beneficial to the lake and the people who use the lake. For example, the weed harvester can be used to mow
the weed beds to remove part of the nutrient load from the lake and thus improve the lake water quality. The Lake Rotorua Action Plan is looking to reduce the N load on the lake by an additional 50 t y-1. Weed harvesting has the potential to achieve this. Removal of the tops of surface-reaching macrophyte beds around some stream mouths may improve
trout fishing for anglers while maintaining the habitat that the trout need in shallow water. Clearance of boat ramps and maintenance of lake access are obvious applications. So is the mowing of the large areas of macrophyte beds adjacent to Rotorua city lake front to reduce plant break-off in wave action and thereby reduce the incidence of macrophytes washing ashore. These are just some of the potential Lake Rotorua scenarios.

text: Potential Lake Rotorua scenarios Lakes need weeds, good ones (native species) not bad (invasive exotic species), although even exotic species are better than no weeds. Without aquatic macrophytes, a lake can become phytoplankton dominated with low clarity and high chlorophyll concentrations, a condition from which it is difficult to recover. The challenge is to manage the macrophytes to the advantage of the lake to obtain the highest practical water quality that is acceptable to lake users, within the financial constraints of a rates-based budget.
Lake Rotorua has sufficient surface area and depth that macrophytes, by themselves, are not likely to control water clarity and phytoplankton growth. However, their management may be a critical factor in the restoration of Lake Rotorua. In this talk I look at potential scenarios associated with managing aquatic macrophytes in Lake Rotorua. With the availability of a weed harvester dedicated to the Te Arawa/Rotorua lakes, there are a number of options that can be applied to Lake Rotorua that would be beneficial to the lake and the people who use the lake. For example, the weed harvester can be used to mow
the weed beds to remove part of the nutrient load from the lake and thus improve the lake water quality. The Lake Rotorua Action Plan is looking to reduce the N load on the lake by an additional 50 t y-1. Weed harvesting has the potential to achieve this. Removal of the tops of surface-reaching macrophyte beds around some stream mouths may improve
trout fishing for anglers while maintaining the habitat that the trout need in shallow water. Clearance of boat ramps and maintenance of lake access are obvious applications. So is the mowing of the large areas of macrophyte beds adjacent to Rotorua city lake front to reduce plant break-off in wave action and thereby reduce the incidence of macrophytes washing ashore. These are just some of the potential Lake Rotorua scenarios.

year: 2015

title: Māori men's positive and interconnected sense of self, being and place

authors: Rua, Mohi

subjects: Maori men, interconnected self, pluralistic identities, relational health

abstract: Māori  men are on the wrong side of the ledger when it comes to illness and crime rates. Correspondingly, there is a significant amount of research into issues such as abuse and premature death involving Māori men, who are also often characterised in public discourse as inarticulate, deviant and incapable of maintaining positive relationships. There is very little research on positive practices among Māori men who are caring and expressive, and who do not harm their partners, families, and communities. This thesis explores how Māori men negotiate a positive sense of self, relationships and a place in our society, which is awash with negative characterisations of Māori men. I document how Māori men's identities are pluralistic and on-going projects. These identities are negotiated within the settler society through interactions with other people and media characterisations. These identities are also negotiated within the Māori world through interactions with whānau (immediate and extended family) and participation in cultural rituals, including tangihanga (traditional Māori death ritual/funeral process). This research involves two separate, yet interrelated studies, and is guided by kaupapa Māori research, Māori cultural concepts, Māori relational understandings of being and health, and relevant social science theory and research. Study one explores Māori men’s relationships with other men, their families and media depictions of men in the settler society. The participants from study one are working class men who were also part-time members of a Territorial Army unit within which Māori and Pākehā  men come together through mutual interests and negotiate meaningful relationships, and various cultural similarities and differences. Study one drew upon an ethnographic orientation that included direct observations, narrative interviews, media diaries and photo elicitation projects to understand the everyday lived realities of participants’ in settler society. Study two explores the constructive engagement of working class ex-Army Māori men back in their communities of origin in order to investigate key aspects of their identities and relationships as men within the Māori world. An ethnographic approach was also used in study two and involved direct observations, participation in shared practices and narrative interviews. Overall, findings from these studies demonstrate how Māori men construct a positive sense of self that extends beyond the deficit-orientated characterisations offered by academic research and mainstream media depictions. In constructing understandings of themselves and their place in the world, my participants emphasise their meaningful relationships with partners, children, colleagues, friends and communities. These men invoke a positive sense of self through accounts of belonging, reciprocity, dialogue, intimacy, and care for themselves, their whānau, and traditions. Participants’ positive Māori self-constructions are fundamentally interconnected with other people, cultural traditions, physical and symbolic places, and shared practices. My research sheds light on Māori men’s ways of belonging and being that span, but manifest in unique ways within, the settler society and the Māori world. This research also contributes to scholarship on men that takes a strengths-based approach by considering the valuable everyday functions men serve within their families and communities.

text: Māori men's positive and interconnected sense of self, being and place Māori  men are on the wrong side of the ledger when it comes to illness and crime rates. Correspondingly, there is a significant amount of research into issues such as abuse and premature death involving Māori men, who are also often characterised in public discourse as inarticulate, deviant and incapable of maintaining positive relationships. There is very little research on positive practices among Māori men who are caring and expressive, and who do not harm their partners, families, and communities. This thesis explores how Māori men negotiate a positive sense of self, relationships and a place in our society, which is awash with negative characterisations of Māori men. I document how Māori men's identities are pluralistic and on-going projects. These identities are negotiated within the settler society through interactions with other people and media characterisations. These identities are also negotiated within the Māori world through interactions with whānau (immediate and extended family) and participation in cultural rituals, including tangihanga (traditional Māori death ritual/funeral process). This research involves two separate, yet interrelated studies, and is guided by kaupapa Māori research, Māori cultural concepts, Māori relational understandings of being and health, and relevant social science theory and research. Study one explores Māori men’s relationships with other men, their families and media depictions of men in the settler society. The participants from study one are working class men who were also part-time members of a Territorial Army unit within which Māori and Pākehā  men come together through mutual interests and negotiate meaningful relationships, and various cultural similarities and differences. Study one drew upon an ethnographic orientation that included direct observations, narrative interviews, media diaries and photo elicitation projects to understand the everyday lived realities of participants’ in settler society. Study two explores the constructive engagement of working class ex-Army Māori men back in their communities of origin in order to investigate key aspects of their identities and relationships as men within the Māori world. An ethnographic approach was also used in study two and involved direct observations, participation in shared practices and narrative interviews. Overall, findings from these studies demonstrate how Māori men construct a positive sense of self that extends beyond the deficit-orientated characterisations offered by academic research and mainstream media depictions. In constructing understandings of themselves and their place in the world, my participants emphasise their meaningful relationships with partners, children, colleagues, friends and communities. These men invoke a positive sense of self through accounts of belonging, reciprocity, dialogue, intimacy, and care for themselves, their whānau, and traditions. Participants’ positive Māori self-constructions are fundamentally interconnected with other people, cultural traditions, physical and symbolic places, and shared practices. My research sheds light on Māori men’s ways of belonging and being that span, but manifest in unique ways within, the settler society and the Māori world. This research also contributes to scholarship on men that takes a strengths-based approach by considering the valuable everyday functions men serve within their families and communities.

year: 2015