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The social, cultural and medicinal use of Kava for twelve Tongan born men living in Auckland, New Zealand
Investigator(s) / AuthorsVili Nosa and Malakai Ofanoa
| Principal contact | |
|---|---|
| Name | Dr Vili Nosa |
| v.nosa@auckland.ac.nz | |
| The research | |
| Summary | The aim of this paper is to discuss and examine the social, cultural and medicinal kava use amongst twelve Tongan born men living in Auckland, New Zealand. |
| Objectives | Kava consumption is a very popular practise amongst Pacific people especially amongst the Tongan communities. The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the key cultural, social and medicinal elements of kava use amongst Tongan men. Twelve face to face interviews in this study were undertaken. The paper argues that kava drinking is strongly linked to many of the ceremonial, social and cultural obligations that are deeply embedded within the Tongan culture. The positive uses of kava include medicinal purposes, male bonding, alternative to alcohol consumption, reaffirming and establishing relationships amongst other Tongan men, The men also stated negative uses of kava such as it made them lazy, tired so they were not able to go to work, a lack of sexual activities by being too tired have sex with their partners and very expensive to buy in New Zealand. |
| Study design | Methods: The study used qualitative methods, specifically individual interviews were conducted in Tongan or English. Participants were recruited through community networks in Auckland. A number of Tongan churches, Tongan medical clinics such as Langimailie, and kava clubs were approached to recruit participants. The open ended interview schedule covered themes such as access, quantity, frequency, and problems associated with kava use. The interviews were conducted by a Tongan researcher either in English or Tongan. All interviews were translated and transcribed into English. A thematic analysis based on multiple readings of the transcripts was used. The analysis identified commonalities and differences. The study was granted ethical approval by the University of Auckland Human Subjects Ethics Committee in December 2004. Interviews were conducted at the beginning of 2005. Interviews were undertaken in a place where the participants felt comfortable. Interview times were arranged at a time convenient for the participants. All participants were given information sheets prior to interviews, and participants were asked to sign consent forms before the interviews commenced. These forms were provided in Tongan and English versions. Most of the interviews ranged between one to three hours. Interviews were audiotaped, and confidentiality was maintained throughout the research. Participants: Twelve men were interviewed. All participants were Tongan men born and raised in Tonga. The ages of men ranged between 30 and 75 years. Most of the men had been residing in New Zealand for over 30 years, although some men had only been in New Zealand between 2-18 years. Most of the men were employed and a few had retired from work. Most of these men also belonged to a church. All of the men who participated were married. |
| Methods | Qualitative |
| Results | The findings of this research suggest several key implications. There is a need to increase awareness of the health impact of kava consumption. Very little is known about the health impact of kava drinking, including among health professionals and among kava drinkers. Kava was strongly linked to friendships and status. These positive aspects need to be considered when undertaking further research. It may be useful to further investigate some of the traditional cultural features in the kava drinking environment and to see how these traditional practices could be maintained in other ways. One area that can have a greater impact is the role of policy implications of identifying key areas of developing educational awareness of the health effects and medicinal uses of kava. Public health programmes could explore the health related impacts of heavy kava use. Further research is needed to explore these topics among New Zealand Tongan born men and the views of Tongan women. |
| Conclusions | This study does not represent all Tongan born men living in Auckland but it is an exploratory study so further research is still needed. We acknowledge that the sample size of twelve men is very small. A number of issues were also not fully explored such as the political issues back home in Tonga and the biological effects of kava. Although a small part of the paper highlights some of the medicinal impacts of kava further work is still required in this area |
| Key Descriptors | Symptoms |
| Disciplines | Multi disciplinary |
| Settings | Community |
| Diagnostic Categories | Other |
| Populations | Male, Pacific |
| Other Keywords | |
| Ethics approval | Yes |
| Academic led | Yes |
| Service led | No |
| How were service users involved | No involvement, No involvement |
| Publication in peer review journal | Yes |
| Supporting information | |
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Page last updated: 7 November 2008