Retaining Pacific cultural values in modern health systems.

The adoption of bureaucratic management systems in Pacific health care systems has been without much effort to accommodate Pacific cultural values and practices. Some features of Pacific culture fit well with the common features of bureaucracy, while others do not. Pacific cultural values of support for the individual by extended families have the potential to enhance the health system. We contend that the Pacific nations ought to develop management systems that will accommodate bureaucratic needs or organisation and the cultural needs and strengths of the people who work within them and use them.