Whiria te Muka Tangata: Anti-Racism Systems Change

Whiria te Muka Tangata is a preliminary systems change model that provides an organisational and system-level blueprint for anti-racism action in health. It is important to reflect on where we are now and be guided by evidence and research to inform where we need to be.

Whiria te Muka Tangata weaves together the insights and recommendations outlined in the three literature reviews developed as part of phase one of Ao Mai te Rā. This includes:

• The definitions for racism and anti-racism drawn from the Stage One Literature Review – Evolution of Racism and Anti-Racism
• The key levers for change drawn from the Stage Two Literature Review – Best Practice Approaches to Addressing Racism
• A model that draws on the concept of maturity as a basis for diagnosis and integrates system thinking and critical theory as mechanisms for anti-racism transformation drawn from the Stage Three Literature Review – Anti-Racism Maturity Models.

The Whiria te Muka Tangata model includes four dimensions – kawa (structural), tikanga (institutional), ritenga (interpersonal) and putanga (visible outcomes) – which provide an explanatory chain that allows the health system to explore anti-racism action in its broadest sense. The four dimensions incorporate a suite of key levers for change that are essential for shifting the conditions that hold racial and ethnic health inequities in place.

Whiria te Muka Tangata also includes an implementation guide, an anti-racism benchmarking rubric and visual aids to support individuals and organisations to better understand where they are now and how they can make progress over time. Whiria te Muka Tangata helps us to discover and understand what racism is and how we can take practical evidence-informed steps to tackle racism in health moving forward.

You can learn more about this initiative at Ao Mai te Rā | The Anti-Racism Kaupapa.

A disclaimer applies to the suite of documents published during phase one of Ao Mai te Rā: the Anti-Racism Kaupapa:

• Disclaimer for suite of Ao Mai te Rā phase one publications