Adjusting protocols in clinical research: finding the point of cultural/clinical fusion.

the Hauora Manawa/Heart Health: Community Heart Study is a research project currently being undertaken at the University of Otago, Christchurch. The purpose of this study is to identify the prevalence of cardiovascular risk within three cohorts: a rural Maori (Wairoa, Hawkes Bay), an urban Maori (Christchurch) with an ageand gender-matched non-Maori cohort (Christchurch). Participants (aged 20–64 years) were randomly selected through the electoral roll and invited to take part in a 1.5–2-hour cardiovascular screening clinic (undertaken in Wairoa in 2007, Christchurch in 2008) then to participate in a 20-minute follow-up visit two years later to further measure and monitor any changes to their cardiovascular risk.