Award brings dream job a step closer

Jessie Lagaluga Hutchings will barely have time to celebrate submitting her PhD thesis as she prepares for a three-month fellowship in Finland at the end of March.

Hutchings (Avatele/Niue) from the University of Auckland’s School of Pharmacy says she’s thrilled to have been awarded the Sir John Logan Campbell Medical Trust travel scholarship. However, she will have just crossed the finish line submitting her thesis, the culmination of three years of research funded by Manawataki Fatu Fatu for Achieving Cardiovascular Care for Equity StudieS, the Pacific Medical Association Knowledge Hub with an additional grant from the New Zealand Pharmacy Education and Research Foundation.

“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.

The 25 year-old's research looks at the role and contribution community pharmacists make towards 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.”

One of her early findings has shown the important role of relationships between pharmacists, the Pacific communities and its people.

“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 Auckland based doctoral student.

With an increase in heart disease prevalence she says expanding the role of community pharmacists could see better 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.”

Hutchings says the three month programme is a collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Tampere University in Finland, a WHO Collaborating Centre on Health in All Policies and Social Determinants of Health.

As a high school student, she saw two pathways for herself, the creative arts and the other was science. However it had always been a dream to one day work with the WHO.

“This is such an exciting opportunity and I’m looking forward to working closely with the researchers and collaborators once I get there.”

The fellowship focuses on advancing health equity through the dissemination and implementation of the World Report on Social Determinants of Health Equity (SDHE).

The report aims to provide evidence-based recommendations to address health inequities globally, and a significant global response is anticipated following its launch, expected in April 2025. 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.”

Hutchings acknowledged her doctoral supervisors Dr Trudi Aspden, Dr Corina Grey and Dr Karen Brewer and her family. She has gone the extra mile to reciprocate the contribution of her research participants, having created an artwork to gift to them, it will be exhibited in a group show at an Auckland gallery later this year.

“I wanted to give something back that would honour their taking part, 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.”