Contact Details
- Phone
- +64 3 479 4328
- talai.mapusua@otago.ac.nz
University Links
- Position
- Va’a o Tautai Acting Deputy Co-Director and Lecturer in Pacific Health
- Qualifications
- BA in Education, PGDip of Public Health, Master of Indigenous Studies in Education
- Research summary
- Talai has an interest in Pacific peoples health and particularly Pacific women's health outcomes.
- Teaching
- Convenor PACH201
- Convenor PACH301
- Academic Lead for Pacific and Global Health major
Additional details
A proud daughter of the pearl of the Pacific, Samoa, Talai Nabalagi undertakes a new role at the Va’a o Tautai as the Acting VOT Deputy Co-Director and proudly carries her culture with her.
As a lecturer in Pacific Health and as the Academic Lead for the Pacific and Global Health major, taught under the Bachelor of Health Sciences degree, Talai is leading the development and delivery of the Pacific Health curriculum in this space. She utilises stories and traditional perspectives to teach Pacific knowledge to her students, enabling them to have better cultural understanding and sensitivities when dealing specifically with Pacific patients and communities.
Talai is passionate about connecting Samoan youth in Dunedin to their aganu’u (culture) through the art of Siva Samoa and the rich oral traditions of storytelling. It is from this passion that Talai has developed a Siva Samoa Programme known as ‘Penina o le Moana’ for young girls in Dunedin, as well as ‘So’oula o Samoa’ a Samoan cultural group that works to provide opportunities for young Samoans living in Dunedin to learn Samoan customs and traditions through a series of workshops and through Siva Samoa.
Publications
Kremer, L. J., Smith, A., Tahitahi, K.-A., Mapusua, T., Anwar, M., Rutherford, G., Cho, H., & Guy, W. (2024). Ko au tēnei: This is me. Exploring the lived experience of underrepresented groups with pharmacy services to inform the development of pharmacy case-based learning. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching & Learning, 16, 167-173. doi: 10.1016/j.cptl.2023.12.019 Journal - Research Article
Kokaua, J., Kolose-Pulefolau, B., Ruhe, T., Aldridge, F., Foliaki, S., Kokaua, L., Mapusua, T., Dacombe, J., Richards, R., Blakelock, R., & Bowden, N. (2023). Is parent education a factor in identifying autism/takiwātanga in an ethnic cohort of Pacific children in Aotearoa, New Zealand? A national cross-sectional study using linked administrative data. Autism. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/13623613231217800 Journal - Research Article
Wainiqolo, I., Isno, L., Mapusua, T., Seiuli Kam, A., Burgess, N., Tafaaki, J., Leurquin, L., Tafuna'i, L., & Richards, R. (2022, November). The amazing race: Rumble, resilience and rebound in a teaching space. Verbal presentation at the COVID-19’s Impact on Teaching and Learning at the University of Otago: Lessons Learned Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Mapusua, T., & Richards, R. (2022). 'Fofola le fala': Inviting everyone on to the mat: Embedding Pacific pedagogies and culture into the Pacific & Global Health major at the University of Otago. In E. Heinrich, A. Jolley & L. Rowan (Eds.), Proceedings of the Tertiary Education Research in New Zealand (TERNZ) Conference. (pp. 54-55). HERDSA Aotearoa/New Zealand. [Abstract] Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Symon, V., Richards, R., Norris, P., Mapusua, T., & Hale, L. (2021). The needs of Pacific families affected by age-related cognitive impairment in New Zealand: Interviews with providers from health-care organisations. Journal of Primary Health Care, 13(4), 317-322. doi: 10.1071/hc21082 Journal - Research Article