Category: Tertiary Education

Source: University of Otago

After undergoing cancer treatment, many survivors deal with a range of psycho-social and physical issues but support for them is limited, new University of Otago research shows.
The study, published in the international journal BMC Health Services Research and funded by the Cancer Society Research Collaboration, focuses on the provision of supportive care services and programmes for cancer survivors post-treatment in Aotearoa.
Dr Jerram Bateman.
Lead author Dr Jerram Bateman, of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, says the support available for survivors is often “fragmented and inequitable” due to limited resources.
“Consequently, it is likely many cancer survivors have unmet needs once they have finished their treatment.”
Dr Bateman and fellow researchers interviewed 47 healthcare providers involved in care for survivors after treatment, including supportive care providers, clinical and allied health providers, primary health providers, and Māori health providers.
“Participants in this study described a range of psycho-social-spiritual and physical issues cancer survivors face after they have finished active treatment, but there are very few services that specifically support people in this situation,” Dr Bateman says.
“This is very much a systems and resourcing issue. The people working in cancer treatment and supportive care are doing their absolute best to support survivors.”
Understandably, resources in cancer care are focused on “front of the pathway” measures like prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment, so post-treatment care is an extra on top of already stretched workloads and resources, he says.
There is also a lack of clarity around whose responsibility post-treatment care is.
That means survivors who seek support are often “shoehorned” into services that are primarily designed for people who are at the early stages of cancer care.
“For example, a survivor seeking emotional support post treatment might end up in a support group primarily catering to people newly diagnosed or going through treatment.”
Dr Bateman says post-treatment care should be established as a distinct phase of cancer care.
A group or organisation taking leadership in the cancer survivorship space would give patients a clearer referral pathway and help make this care less fragmented and more equitable.
“That isn’t to say that one organisation needs to provide all the support needed by people post-treatment, rather that they would facilitate it.”
However, this is just one of many options. Implementation of a survivorship model of care and use of survivorship care plans would also help, he says.
“I think the key thing is to try and improve continuity of care right through the cancer journey – just making sure people know who to contact if they do require support post-treatment.”
Dr Rachael Hart, Chief Executive of the Cancer Society of New Zealand, welcomes the research saying it is affirming to see the issues faced by the Society’s Supportive Care teams around Aotearoa being experienced within the broader sector.
“We agree that more could be done to link cancer survivors to services after treatment. This is one of the key drivers of our new model of supportive care. This paper’s recommendations will support us as we hone that piece of work.”
Publication details
‘Survivorship care is one big gap’: a qualitative study of post-treatment supportive care in Aotearoa New ZealandJerram Bateman, Richard Egan and Karyn Maclennan (all University of Otago)BMC Health Services Research
For more information, contact:
Dr Jerram BatemanCancer Society Research CollaborationDepartment of Preventive and Social MedicineUniversity of OtagoEmail jerram.bateman@otago.ac.nz
Associate Professor Richard EganCancer Society Research CollaborationDepartment of Preventive and Social MedicineUniversity of OtagoEmail richard.egan@otago.ac.nz
Jessica WilsonAdviser Media EngagementUniversity of OtagoMob +64 21 279 5016Email jessica.wilson@otago.ac.nz
Maria De CortSenior Communications AdvisorCancer Society of New ZealandMob +64 21 991 952Email maria@cancer.org.nz

Source: University of Otago

Variety of knitted Yum cha foods, Bev Moon – Fortune. Photo credit: Richard Ng.
A lockdown project turned intricate homage to ancestors – the Hocken Collections latest exhibition is a true feast for the eyes.
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland-based artist Bev Moon’s mixed media work, Fortune (a knitted yum cha for my mother’s 90th birthday) forms the centrepiece of the show, which opens on 12 August.
During Auckland’s lockdown in late 2021, Moon began knitting a yum cha banquet to mark what would have been her late mother Yip Sue Yen’s 90th birthday in March 2022, and to honour her grandmother Lee Choy Kee, whose skills of knitting and cooking were passed down the generations.
“While others perfected sourdough, binged on TV series, or went for walks in lockdown, I experimented and did my best to source just the right yarn shades, weights and textures online to create patterns for various wrappers and shapes.
“I folded and stuffed them the way mum taught me when I helped make yum cha with her, all those years ago. Slowly the number of dishes grew into a feast, and I realised it was an homage of sorts not only to my mother, but my grandmother as well.”
Hocken Librarian Catherine Hammond says Fortune will also include archival material from Hocken Collections, the New Zealand Chinese Heritage Charitable Trust Collection, held in the Presbyterian Research Centre Archives at Knox College, and private collections.
“We are so pleased to be able to bring Bev Moon’s beautiful creation to Dunedin, and are grateful for the support we have received from the Trust and the Otago Southland Chinese Association.”
Hope Wilson, Hocken Collections Curator Art, says some interesting pieces have been found, including a stunning, 5.8 metre-long embroidered banner, gifted to the Hanover Street Baptist Church around 1900 by a Chinese Sunday School class.
“Some of the key themes we are interested to investigate with this exhibition are connections over time between families and communities, and knowledge and skills passed down by generations.”
The Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust is helping fund a national tour of Moon’s work and she says it is “really important” for her to bring Fortune to Ōtepoti Dunedin and the South Island.
Bev Moon – Fortune. Photo credit: Dianne Thomson Photography.
Born and raised in Wellington, Moon is descended from Taishanese men who first arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand in the 1880s.
“My great grandfathers on both sides of the family arrived and settled in the Otago region – it was where they first set foot on Aotearoa soil.
“Relatives on my father’s side stayed and made Dunedin their home, including my father’s first cousin Dr Jim Ng, general practitioner and historian. Jim’s archives documenting the early Chinese settlers are now held in both the Hocken and the Presbyterian Research Centre at Knox College,” she says.
While the knitted yum cha may look appealing, Moon says behind it is the little-known story of the 500 Chinese women and children permitted into New Zealand as refugees between 1939 and 1941.
“In China they faced years of poverty, isolation and uncertainty separated from the men who had settled in New Zealand years earlier, and it was only the breakout of the Sino-Japanese War that opened the door for these lucky 500 to join their husbands and fathers on the other side of the world.
“I hope that people visiting the exhibition will learn more about the Chinese poll tax and the lives of the early Chinese settlers – the hardships they faced, the effort, sheer hard work and resilience it took to make their lives in a new land.”
Guest speaker, former Chair of the Dunedin Shanghai Association and current Chair of the Dunedin Chinese Gardens Trust, Malcom Wong, will open the exhibition, at which members of the Otago Southland Chinese Association will perform a lion dance.
A public paper lantern and fortune cat workshop will also be held at the Hocken on Saturday, August 12, from 10am to 12 noon. This workshop is free and open to all ages.
Exhibition details:
Fortune
On from 12 August to 21 October 2023, Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 3pm, at the Hocken Gallery, 90 Anzac Ave, Ōtepoti DunedinTel +64 3 479 8868Web www.otago.ac.nz/hocken
For more information, please contact:
Ellie RowleyCommunications AdviserUniversity of OtagoMob +64 21 278 8200Email ellie.rowley@otago.ac.nz

Source: University of Otago

Researchers have revealed the unique ‘cheating’ strategy a New Zealand insect has developed to avoid being eaten – mimicking a highly toxic species.
In nature, poisonous species typically advertise their toxicity, often by producing high contrast colours such as black, white and yellow, like wasps and bees.
Along similar lines, New Zealand’s cyanide-producing stonefly, Austroperla cyrene, produces strong ‘warning’ colours of black, white and yellow, to highlight its threat to potential predators.
In a new study published in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago Department of Zoology researchers reveal that an unrelated, non-toxic species ‘cheats’ by mimicking the appearance of this insect.
Lead author Dr Brodie Foster says by closely resembling a poisonous species, the Zelandoperla fenestrata stonefly hopes to avoid falling victim to predators.
“In the wild, birds will struggle to notice the difference between the poisonous and non-poisonous species, and so will likely avoid both.
“To the untrained eye, the poisonous species and its mimics are almost impossible to distinguish,” he says
The researchers used genomic approaches to reveal a key genetic mutation in a colouration gene which distinguishes cheats and non-cheats.
This genetic variation allows the cheating species to use different strategies in different regions.
Similar ‘warning’ colouration of the non-toxic mimic Zelandoperla fenestrata stonefly (left), and cyanide-producing Austroperla cyrene (right).
However, co-author Dr Graham McCulloch says the strategy, known as Batesian mimicry, doesn’t always succeed.
“Our findings indicate that a ‘cheating’ strategy doesn’t pay in regions where the poisonous species is rare,” he says.
Co-author Professor Jon Waters adds cheating can be a dangerous game.
“If the cheats start to outnumber the poisonous species, then predators will wake up to this very quickly – it’s a bit of a balancing act,” he says.
The Marsden-funded team is assessing how environmental change is driving rapid evolutionary shifts in New Zealand’s native species.
Publication details
ebony underpins Batesian mimicry in melanic stonefliesBrodie J. Foster, Graham A. McCulloch, Yasmin Foster, Gracie C. Kroos, Tania M. King, Jonathan M. WatersMolecular Ecology
For more information, contact
Dr Graham McCullochDepartment of ZoologyUniversity of OtagoEmail graham.mcculloch@otago.ac.nz
Professor Jonathan WatersDepartment of ZoologyUniversity of OtagoEmail jon.waters@otago.ac.nz
Ellie Rowley   Communications AdviserUniversity of OtagoMob +64 21 278 8200Email ellie.rowley@otago.ac.nz