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Cameron Lacey image 2020Professor, Māori Indigenous Health Innovation (MIHI)
Professor, Department of Psychological Medicine

MB ChB PhD FRANZCP

Email cameron.lacey@otago.ac.nz

About Cameron Lacey

Dr Cameron Lacey (Te Atiawa), is Head of Department of the Māori Indigenous Research Innovation, and is a Professor and Psychiatrist within the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch. Cameron is also the Clinical Director of Research for Te Whatu Ora, Waitaha.

His research has a focus on improving equity of access and outcomes for Māori, with a strong track record of clinical and research experience working with Māori and whānau.  His research focuses on Hauora Māori (Māori Health) and mental health and indigenous medical education.

Cameron is Principal Investigator on four Health Research Council (HRC) funded projects investigating Māori and mental illness. His former roles include a Psychiatrist in old age psychiatry and the Medical Director for West Coast District Health Board.

Teaching

Undergraduate medical curriculum

Postgraduate short courses

  • MIHI 501 RANZCOG
  • MIHI 501 Health Professionals

Other teaching responsibilities

  • Consultation Liaison Psychiatry
  • Māori Mental Health

Research interests

  • Hauora Māori
  • Neuropsychiatry of Epilepsy and Parkinson's Disease
  • Psychosomatic Medicine

Professional activities

  • Rural Psychiatry – West Coast
  • Neuropsychiatry

Summary of past work history

Cameron began psychiatry training in Christchurch and after being awarded a Ministry of Health Henry Rongomau Bennett Scholarship worked with Te Korowai Atawhai. He completed advanced training in neuropsychiatry in Melbourne as the Lundbeck Neuropsychiatry Fellow. He completed a PhD on the psychiatric comorbidity in patients with epilepsy. He returned to Christchurch in 2008 to work with MIHI and West Coast DHB. His Hauora Māori research includes the Hauora Manawa Community Heart Study and the determinants of wellbeing and healthy ageing for Māori in a longitudinal cohort study.

Publications

Ellison-Loschmann, L., Jeffreys, M., McKenzie, F., Lockett, H., & Lacey, C. (2024). Advancing mental health and addiction research in Aotearoa New Zealand. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 58(2), 101-103. doi: 10.1177/00048674241228047

Keelan, K., Pitama, S., Wilkinson, T., & Lacey, C. (2023). ‘It’s about having that knowledge, tino rangatiratanga!’ Understanding structural barriers to accessing aged residential care services among older Māori in New Zealand. Kōtuitui. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/1177083X.2023.2284132

Keelan, K., Pitama, S., Wilkinson, T., & Lacey, C. (2023). It's not special treatment… That's part of the Treaty of Waitangi! Organisational barriers to enhancing the aged residential care environment for older Māori and whānau in New Zealand. International Journal of Health Planning & Management. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1002/hpm.3734

Tennant, M., & Lacey, C. (2023). No fixed abode: A case report highlighting the complexities of schizophrenia and homelessness in the context of diminishing access to psychiatric rehabilitation. New Zealand Medical Journal/Te ara tika o te hauora hapori, 136(1585), 109-111. Retrieved from https://journal.nzma.org.nz/

Clark, M. T. R., Manuel, J., Lacey, C., Pitama, S., Cunningham, R., & Jordan, J. (2023). ‘E koekoe te Tūī, e ketekete te Kākā, e kuku te Kererū, The Tūī chatters, the Kākā cackles, and the Kererū coos’: Insights into explanatory factors, treatment experiences and recovery for Māori with eating disorders: A qualitative study. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/00048674231207583

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