The effectiveness of uloa as a model supporting Tongan people experiencing mental distress

This article is based on a larger research project, which investigates the effectiveness of a culturally appropriate model, namely uloa, when working with Tongan people. Uloa is a communal method of fishing in Tonga, which includes all members of the community. A previous paper described the three phases of uloa: presenting the concept to health providers and community groups; phase two amended the model based on phase one. This paper reports on phase three and findings related to the increased awareness of uloa model within the mental health services and to raise awareness of how to work with Pacific people and adjust the health service to suit the needs of this population to test its effectiveness. Using reflexive thematic analysis, results highlighted a number of patterns both across the groups, described as napanapangamalie (harmony, balance), ngaue fakataha (working together/oneness), and toutai (fisher). These findings continue to support that the conventional biomedical approach employed in the mental health services overlooks elements of Tongan constructions of mental illness and the intersections between Tongan and biopsychosocial themes. Care that is based only on the 'medicine' rather than bringing the spiritual aspect into care planning (fake leaves) will not serve the needs of the Tongan community.