Jessie Lagaluga Hutchings (Avatele/Niue), a doctoral student from the University of Auckland’s School of Pharmacy, is preparing for an exciting journey. She will barely have time to celebrate submitting her PhD thesis before embarking on a three-month fellowship in Finland at the end of March.
This opportunity comes after being awarded the prestigious Sir John Logan Campbell Medical Trust travel scholarship. “I still can’t believe this is happening but I will only have just submitted my PhD before I have to pack my bags and get on a plane,” says the qualified pharmacist.
PhD Research: Addressing Pacific Heart Health Equity
Hutchings’ PhD research, funded by Manawataki Fatu Fatu for Achieving Cardiovascular Care for Equity StudieS, the Pacific Medical Association Knowledge Hub, and the New Zealand Pharmacy Education and Research Foundation, focuses on the role of community pharmacists in promoting Pacific Heart Health Equity in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
“We know that cardiovascular disease is on the rise and that Māori and Pacific peoples are unfairly over-represented. We also know from lots of research that community pharmacies tend to be places that people find the most accessible for health care,” she explains.
Her early findings highlight the crucial role of positive relationships between pharmacists and Pacific communities. “You don’t have to book an appointment, and you may have a relationship with your pharmacist. So I was really interested in seeing how community pharmacists were engaging with Pacific communities. If these relationships are positive, the healthcare system becomes a lot more accessible,” says the 25-year-old Auckland resident.
With the increasing prevalence of heart disease, Hutchings believes expanding the role of community pharmacists could significantly improve outcomes for Pacific patients. “When patients have repeat prescriptions, they’re always going back to a community pharmacist at some point. If we are able to manage things better in the community and take a more preventative focus, then that will surely have a knock-on effect at reducing ED admissions or the length of time that people spend in hospital.”
Finland Fellowship: Collaborating with WHO and Tampere University
The three-month fellowship is a collaboration between the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Tampere University in Finland, a WHO Collaborating Centre on Health in All Policies and Social Determinants of Health.
“This is such an exciting opportunity and I’m looking forward to working closely with the researchers and collaborators once I get there,” says Hutchings, who has long dreamed of working for the WHO.
The fellowship focuses on advancing health equity through the dissemination and implementation of the World Report on Social Determinants of Health Equity (SDHE). This report, expected to launch in April 2025, aims to provide evidence-based recommendations to address global health inequities. The fellowship will be supervised by Dr. Sudhvir Singh, Head of the Equity and Health Unit (EH) at WHO.
“This is an opportunity to get my foot in the door, to build knowledge and gain experience in policy and systems reform,” she says.
Gratitude and Artistic Reciprocation
Hutchings acknowledges her doctoral supervisors, Dr. Trudi Aspden, Dr. Corina Grey, and Dr. Karen Brewer, as well as her family, for their support. She has also gone the extra mile to reciprocate the contributions of her research participants.
“I wanted to give something back that would honour their taking part,” she explains. She created an artwork to gift to them, which will be exhibited in a group show at an Auckland gallery later this year. “Creating the artwork shows the importance of their participation and hopefully will also serve as a reminder every time they see it that this research has been made possible because of their contribution.”
