Engaging Māori and marginalised communities

H2R Research and Consulting engages directly with “hard to reach” communities. We believe people change because they want to change, and the key to transforming communities is to inspire and rebuild hope. We support hard to reach communities to design, develop and deliver initiatives and services for themselves – because they know best what will work for them.

Who is hard to reach?

‘Hard to reach’ whānau have endured intergenerational disadvantage, and through lack of access to services and trauma have developed a low trust in authority and become alienated from mainstream society. Lifestyles are characterised by high levels of risk-taking, including smoking, drinking, gambling, violence, and dangerous driving. This leads to a greater likelihood of offending, marginalisation, and poor health, including premature death. Social exclusion has become entrenched over multiple generations and unresolved trauma can be passed down to tamariki and mokopuna. The failure of public services to effectively engage these whānau and policies and practices that disproportionately harm already vulnerable groups compound disadvantage. However, a definition for hard to reach is ‘social exclusion by policy intent’, because no one is impossible to reach if we really want to reach them.