title: Ūloa: Rethinking mental health provision in Pacific Island communities

authors: Vaka, Sione

abstract: Modern mental health services fail to effectively cater for migrant Pacific Island communities, which have different worldviews and ways of knowing. At the University of Waikato, Associate Professor Sione Vaka has developed the ūloa model of care, which draws inspiration from traditional research methods and ways of life. The ūloa model offers Pacific-centred mental health services with cultural appropriateness and equitable outcomes.

text: Ūloa: Rethinking mental health provision in Pacific Island communities Modern mental health services fail to effectively cater for migrant Pacific Island communities, which have different worldviews and ways of knowing. At the University of Waikato, Associate Professor Sione Vaka has developed the ūloa model of care, which draws inspiration from traditional research methods and ways of life. The ūloa model offers Pacific-centred mental health services with cultural appropriateness and equitable outcomes.

year: 2025

title: Refining personal and social presence in virtual meetings

authors: Dean, Jesse

subjects: virtual meeting

abstract: Virtual worlds show promise for conducting meetings and conferences without the need for physical travel. Current experience suggests the major limitation to the more widespread adoption and acceptance of virtual conferences is the failure of existing environments to provide a sense of immersion and engagement, or of ‘being there’. These limitations are largely related to the appearance and control of avatars, and to the absence of means to convey non-verbal cues of facial expression and body language. This paper reports on a study involving the use of a mass-market motion sensor (Kinect™) and the mapping of participant action in the real world to avatar behaviour in the virtual world. This is coupled with full-motion video representation of participant’s faces on their avatars to resolve both identity and facial expression issues. The outcomes of a small-group trial meeting based on this technology show a very positive reaction from participants, and the potential for further exploration of these concepts.

text: Refining personal and social presence in virtual meetings Virtual worlds show promise for conducting meetings and conferences without the need for physical travel. Current experience suggests the major limitation to the more widespread adoption and acceptance of virtual conferences is the failure of existing environments to provide a sense of immersion and engagement, or of ‘being there’. These limitations are largely related to the appearance and control of avatars, and to the absence of means to convey non-verbal cues of facial expression and body language. This paper reports on a study involving the use of a mass-market motion sensor (Kinect™) and the mapping of participant action in the real world to avatar behaviour in the virtual world. This is coupled with full-motion video representation of participant’s faces on their avatars to resolve both identity and facial expression issues. The outcomes of a small-group trial meeting based on this technology show a very positive reaction from participants, and the potential for further exploration of these concepts.

year: 2014

title: Racism and bullying as correlates for considering ending psychology training in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Tan, Kyle K. H.

abstract: Despite global calls to enhance culturally safe care for Indigenous and minoritised groups, little attention has been given to exploring students’ experiences in psychology training programmes to meet these needs. A series of chi-square tests was performed to examine group differences for participants in the Kia Whakapapa Pounaumu survey (n = 107) in their consideration of ending their training and their decision to seek professional help. Over half (55%) of students reported having considered ending their psychology training. Our findings show that students who have experienced or witnessed forms of injustice such as institutional racism, microaggressions, and bullying, encounter additional barriers in completing their training. If psychology bodies wish to redress the harm caused to Indigenous and minoritised groups in the discipline of psychology, they must ensure the training programmes themselves do not perpetuate harm.

text: Racism and bullying as correlates for considering ending psychology training in Aotearoa New Zealand Despite global calls to enhance culturally safe care for Indigenous and minoritised groups, little attention has been given to exploring students’ experiences in psychology training programmes to meet these needs. A series of chi-square tests was performed to examine group differences for participants in the Kia Whakapapa Pounaumu survey (n = 107) in their consideration of ending their training and their decision to seek professional help. Over half (55%) of students reported having considered ending their psychology training. Our findings show that students who have experienced or witnessed forms of injustice such as institutional racism, microaggressions, and bullying, encounter additional barriers in completing their training. If psychology bodies wish to redress the harm caused to Indigenous and minoritised groups in the discipline of psychology, they must ensure the training programmes themselves do not perpetuate harm.

year: 2025