This pilot aimed to uncover themes experienced by parents and whänau managing their children’s asthma and interacting with healthcare providers, for informing the interview structure for a planned 2-year in-depth qualitative assessment. The main project will use an Interpretative Phenomenological Approach to acknowledge the social and cultural context of participants and will use a semi-structured interview based on the predefined themes identified in the pilot. A grounded-theory approach, using a Kaupapa Mäori perspective which is culturally, spiritually and tribally based, was used in the pilot and in-depth interviews were conducted with parents identified through a Mäori asthma provider. The interviews were taped and transcribed and constant comparative analysis was used to develop themes. Those that emerged included difficulties recognising asthma symptoms and identifying triggers, asthma care at school, appropriate asthma education, discontinuity of healthcare provision and economic issues. The authors hope that their project will enable the ‘voices’ of whänau to be heard and thereby transform how systems respond to, engage with, and treat Mäori.
