Therapeutic connections enhance patient experience and outcomes after neurological injury or illness. While we have some understanding of the components necessary to optimise therapeutic connections, these have developed from western-centric ideals. This study sought to explore the perspectives of Māori brain injury survivors, and their whānau (wider family and community), to develop more culturally informed understandings of what matters most for Māori in the development and experience of therapeutic connection.

A bicultural approach underpinned by principles of Kaupapa Māori Research was used. Whānau views and experiences were gathered through wānanga (focus groups). These perspectives were analysed drawing on Māori methods of noho puku (self-reflection), whanaungatanga (relational linkage) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship).

Three wānanga were held with 16 people – 5 brain injury survivors and 11 whānau members. The phrase ‘therapeutic connection’ did not resonate; instead, people spoke of meaningful connections. For rehabilitation encounters to be meaningful, three layers of connection were acknowledged. The elemental layer features wairua (spirit) and hononga (connection) which both underpinned and surrounded interactions. The relational layer reflects the importance of whānau identity and collectivism, of being valued, known, and interactively spoken with. Finally, the experiential layer consists of relational aspects important within the experience: relationships of reciprocity that are mana-enhancing and grounded in trust. These layers are interwoven, and together serve as a framework for meaningful connections.

Meaningful connections in neurorehabilitation are underpinned by wairua and hononga; are multi-layered; are enabled through interactions with people, practice, process and place; are inclusive of whānau and resonate with Māori worldviews. The primacy of wairua and whānau within an interconnected view of health, challenges individualistic notions inherent in western health models and deepens existing understandings of meaningful connections in neurorehabilitation which can guide future rehabilitation research, teaching and practice.

治疗联系增强了患者在神经损伤或疾病后的体验和结果。虽然我们对优化治疗联系所必需的组成部分有所了解，但这些都是从以西方为中心的理想发展而来的。本研究旨在探讨毛利人脑损伤幸存者及其 whānau（更广泛的家庭和社区）的观点，以便对毛利人在治疗联系的发展和体验中最重要的事情有更多的文化知识理解。

采用了以 Kaupapa Māori Research 原则为基础的双文化方法。Whānau 的观点和经验是通过 wānanga（焦点小组）收集的。这些观点是根据毛利人的 noho puku（自我反省）、whanaungatanga（关系联系）和 kaitiakitanga（监护）方法进行分析的。

举行了三场 wānanga，共有 16 人——5 名脑损伤幸存者和 11 名 whānau 成员。“治疗联系”这个词没有引起共鸣。相反，人们谈论的是有意义的联系。为了使康复相遇变得有意义，承认了三层联系。元素层的特点是 wairua（精神）和 hononga（连接），它们都支持和包围相互作用。关系层反映了 whānau 身份和集体主义的重要性，以及被重视、了解和互动交流的重要性。最后，体验层由体验中重要的关系方面组成：互惠关系，可以增强法力并以信任为基础。这些层相互交织，共同作为有意义的连接的框架。

wairua 和 hononga 支持神经康复中的有意义的联系；是多层的；通过与人、实践、过程和场所的互动来实现；包含 whānau 并与毛利人的世界观产生共鸣。在相互关联的健康观中，wairua 和 whānau 的首要地位挑战了西方健康模型中固有的个人主义观念，并加深了对神经康复中有意义的联系的现有理解，这些联系可以指导未来的康复研究、教学和实践。