A pioneering physiotherapist who has had a major impact on Pacific health in Samoa and Aotearoa New Zealand will be celebrated by the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka this weekend.
Aseta Redican (MNZM) became the first Pacific person to qualify as a physiotherapist in Aotearoa when she graduated from Otago’s School of Physiotherapy in 1964.
She will receive an Honorary Doctor of Science at Otago’s graduation ceremony on Saturday.
After initially thinking the letter informing her of the degree was a mistake, Mrs Redican says she feels extremely honoured and humbled by the recognition.
“I was overwhelmed and in total disbelief – still am,” she says.
“Someone, or some people, must have recommended me and whoever they are, I am eternally grateful.”
Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson says Mrs Redican is a trailblazer in Pacific health and many of the initiatives she introduced are still used today.
“After dedicating her career to improving the health and wellbeing of others, it is only right that we take the time to celebrate her,” he says.
Born in Samoa, Mrs Redican moved to Aotearoa as a 13-year-old when she was awarded a scholarship by the Samoan government to attend a boarding school in Stratford, near New Plymouth.
She spoke very little English and could only return home every three years, so credits this experience with developing the perseverance she drew on throughout her career.
Arriving at Otago in 1961 was overwhelming, so she threw herself into extracurricular activities.
“As it turned out, our class was full of keen athletes so we featured in all the sporting activities and competitions, often dominating the inter-faculty competitions,” she says.
“Our class was also well-represented in Capping activities. This gave me more confidence in myself and my studies.
“It enabled me to form valuable relationships across not just my physiotherapy colleagues, but others through the University. Those relationships have carried on over the past 60-odd years.”
She created strong bonds with other Pacific students and local Samoan families who become her “home from home”.
“My time in Dunedin taught me resilience and the value of relationships which have been invaluable in my journey throughout life,” she says.
After graduating, Mrs Redican returned to Samoa and established the first physiotherapy department at Apia General Hospital, which gave paraplegic patients, people affected by poliomyelitis and muscular dystrophy, and post-operative cases access to care.
A few years later, she brought her expertise back to Aotearoa, developing the physiotherapy department at the Masonic Hospital in Auckland.
She later transitioned from clinical work to health leadership.
Mrs Redican established the Pacific Heartbeat programme at the New Zealand Heart Foundation, creating a model that trained Pacific people to work in their own communities rather than distributing printed material to them. This was considered radical at the time and has since been used across the healthcare sector.
Her leadership within the Northern Regional Health Authority (North Health) saw the establishment of a number of Pacific primary healthcare providers and community partnerships that still exist today.
Later, as General Manager of Pacific Health with the Auckland District Health Board, she established the Pacific Family Support Service at Starship Hospital, two Pacific Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) and ensured that Pacific health was included as one of the organisation’s strategic priorities.
Mrs Redican is a founding member of PACIFICA Inc, a national organisation for Pacific women living in Aotearoa which she represented on the committee monitoring the implementation of the Cartwright Inquiry recommendations. She is also a founding member of the National Council of Samoan Women in New Zealand.
In 2020, she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours for her pioneering services to health and Pacific peoples.
“My life has come around full circle back to physiotherapy when I was made a Life Member of Physiotherapy New Zealand, as well as Patron of the Pasifika Physiotherapy Association in New Zealand,” she says.
Although she retired in 2009, she continued to represent Pacific people on the boards of the Heart Foundation, Fred Hollows Foundation and Spectrum Care Trust.
