Sheehy, BeckyWepa, DianneCollis, Julie M2026-02-232026-02-232025-10-27Disability and Rehabilitation, ISSN: 0963-8288 (Print); 1464-5165 (Online), Taylor and Francis Group, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 1-14. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2025.25778760963-82881464-5165http://hdl.handle.net/10292/20668PURPOSE: Culturally safe rehabilitation must be informed by service user perspectives, including those of Indigenous people. However, little is known about Māori patient experiences of rehabilitation in Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly in hand therapy. This study explored Māori experiences and their proposed solutions to enhance culturally safe hand therapy services. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted using exploratory, semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Fifteen adult Māori hand therapy patients were interviewed. Five themes were generated that describe Māori experiences of hand therapy and incorporate participants' suggested solutions for improving cultural safety. Participants emphasised the importance of strong initial connections with staff, the positive atmosphere of hand therapy, the value of therapeutic relationships, the need to integrate Māori practices and culturally appropriate interventions, and the provision of holistic care. CONCLUSIONS: Māori experiences in hand therapy offer valuable insights into culturally safe rehabilitation. Findings highlight the roles of connection, cultural responsiveness, enabling participation in culturally relevant occupations and clinician reflexivity in fostering culturally safe practice. Embedding Māori practices and holistic approaches are tangible steps towards normalising positive rehabilitation experiences for Māori in hand therapy and other rehabilitation settings.© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.Hand therapyIndigenousMāoriNew Zealandcultural safetyqualitative researchrehabilitation4201 Allied Health and Rehabilitation Science4203 Health Services and Systems42 Health SciencesRehabilitationPhysical Rehabilitation7.1 Individual care needs11 Medical and Health Sciences32 Biomedical and clinical sciences44 Human societyJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1080/09638288.2025.2577876