New Zealand annually accepts approximately 750 quota refugees from overseas for resettlement in New Zealand. The humanitarian nature of the quota composition consists of those who are determined by the United Nations refugee agency to be in high need of immediate protection, a large proportion of medical and disability cases, and women and children at risk. Quota refugees arrive in six intakes each year and participate in assessment and orientation for the first 6 weeks at the national Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre. This paper describes the findings of screening for refugees with a history of torture during 2007–2008. There were 144 arriving refugees or 19.2% of the total found to have histories of torture during this period. The implications for future research, and follow-up care of people who have survived torture are discussed.

We surveyed 31,459 Year 10 students’ attitudes towards the tobacco industry in New Zealand to determine if there was an association with smoking behaviour or susceptibility to smoking. We found that students who expressed tolerant attitudes towards the tobacco industry had a higher risk of being smoker or starting to smoke. Given the results of this survey there is clearly a need to reach teenagers at risk of taking up smoking and continuing to smoke with an effective counter-industry campaign.

Green Prescription (GRx) is a referral from a health professional for a patient to become more physically active. In Auckland, GRx is delivered either on the telephone or face-to-face. A comparison of the two modes of delivery (telephone vs. face-to-face) was conducted. This evaluation involved staff interviews, patient interviews and analysis of GRx records for the 2007 calendar year. Results indicated that the modes of delivery were similar in terms of costs as well as outcomes. However, the face-to-face mode of delivery was more popular with Maori and Pacific peoples. Providing a choice of GRx mode of delivery allows participants to choose based on their personal and cultural needs.

This article examines the experiences of students enrolled in Health Sciences First Year. Past and present students were interviewed to determine the similarities and differences in their experience. Students perceived the programme as stressful and demanding. The competitive nature of the programme limited students’ involvement in other university activities. Students learned the benefits of work/life balance.

Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction is a programme developed in the US by neurobiologist Jon-Kabat Zinn, originally to help people with difficult to manage health problems. It is taught as 8 weekly classes and a full day retreat in which people to learn more about stress and how best to manage this. It involves various exercises to develop mindfulness (living in the moment without judgement) including a lying down relaxation/meditation, meditation sitting in a chair and simple stretching exercises. This research, one of the first studies in New Zealand, aimed to find out how effective this approach is for New Zealanders. The study demonstrated that MBSR helps people not only cope with their chronic health problems but also improves their wellbeing.

This study aimed to investigate how common comorbidity was in a cohort of patients with bowel cancer in NZ; to identify factors associated with high levels of comorbidity in this group and to assess the extent to which comorbidity affects outcomes from bowel cancer. We used data from the NZ Cancer Registry to identify those with cancer and from hospitalisations to identify comorbid conditions. We found that nearly a third of bowel cancer patients had a least one comorbid condition. Comorbidity increased with increasing age as expected, and was more common among Maori and Pacific people, and those living in more deprived areas of NZ. We also found that comorbidity had a strongly negative effect on survival, and increased length of hospital stay.

GPs and specialists, whilst supportive of screening, are not convinced that there is the capacity in New Zealand to introduce a colorectal screening programme. A shortage of colonoscopists in New Zealand means that there is already a long waiting-list for people accessing colonoscopies in the public service. GPs are often in the position of advocating screening to patients and they are unconvinced about the value of the test which is likely to be used for screening (faecal occult blood test) feeling that there will be a number of false positives These will then require colonoscopic follow-up which will mean unnecessary anxiety will be engendered amongst their patients.