Hauora Rangatahi

Hauora Rangatahi is a culturally grounded digital education initiative designed to engage rangatahi through a mobile-accessible interactive environment focused on hauora. Commissioned by Te Kapehu i te Kainga - a marae-based recovery kaupapa - and Hauora Hokianga, a Māori health provider, it responds to real health challenges facing young people through a medium they are more likely to engage with voluntarily, using Fortnite Creative / UEFN to embed kaupapa-driven health education within gameplay, narrative, and interactive decision-making.

The experience is intended to address issues such as vaping, substance harm (including alcohol and methamphetamine), anxiety, peer pressure, and relationships, while promoting reflection, positive action, and stronger hauora-based choices - reframing health messaging as an immersive, replayable experience usable at kura, marae, community events, or online.

The core challenge is that traditional youth health-education formats do not always match the environments where rangatahi are most attentive, so the experience needs to be relevant, accessible, culturally resonant, and able to hold attention. In 2023/24, 11.1% of people aged 15 and over were daily vapers, rising to 28.8% among Māori adults (Ministry of Health, 2024), and youth-focused monitoring such as the ASH Year 10 Snapshot Survey reaches around 20,000–30,000 students each year (Action for Smokefree 2025, 2024).

• Scoped Deliverables: Custom UEFN level aligned to hauora goals; narrative and learning objectives tied to real health challenges; multiplayer for up to 50 plus single-player; cross-platform access; two rounds of revisions and bug-fixing; facilitator/educator support documentation
• Audience: Rangatahi in kura, marae, community, and online settings; facilitators and educators delivering hauora kaupapa
• Format: Fortnite-based digital education experience - multiplayer and single-player
• Timeframe: ~16-week (4–5 month) development window (scoped)
• Key Requirements: Cultural grounding and resonance, accessibility across devices, engagement that does not feel didactic, reusability with no ongoing costs, designed to remain operational for at least two years
• Service Connection: Unreal Engine and UEFN, Immersive Design, Cultural storytelling, Educational resources, Strategic Communication

The scoped solution is a narrative-led hauora experience in which rangatahi encounter and think through real-world issues inside the game world rather than receiving health information as static content, with positive messages and healthy responses embedded in the gameplay itself. The level is designed in UEFN / Fortnite Creative with Māori-informed visual elements, culturally respectful messaging, and story mechanics intended to resonate with the communities it serves.

It is built for multi-context delivery - single-player for classrooms and events, or multiplayer for up to 50 - and scoped to run across console, PC, and supported mobile devices, with Epic confirming Fortnite compatibility across major console, PC, and mobile ecosystems (Epic Games, n.d.). Positioned as a reusable, one-off build with no ongoing costs and a usability period of at least two years, it is designed less as a single engagement than as a foundation for a longer-term digital hauora resource for rangatahi.

Intended Outcomes

• Increase rangatahi engagement with hauora education through an interactive, culturally grounded digital experience
• Support stronger awareness and decision-making around vaping, substance harm, anxiety, peer pressure, and relationships
• Create a reusable education tool activatable across kura, marae, community events, and online settings
• Establish a scalable digital foundation expandable into future hauora modules such as mental health, identity, and resilience

Broader Impact

• Responds to a significant health issue in Aotearoa, where daily vaping among Māori adults (28.8%) is far above the national rate (11.1%) (Ministry of Health, 2024)
• Contributes to a wider evidence base showing that serious games for adolescent health promotion can be engaging and pedagogically effective when well designed and tied to clear learning outcomes (Andrew, Schumann & Hesslinger, 2022)
• Demonstrates how immersive design and kaupapa Māori storytelling can be combined to support meaningful social and health outcomes for rangatahi

• Additional hauora modules focused on mental health, resilience, identity, and relationships
• Tailored versions for specific kura, iwi, marae, or regional health providers
• Integration with facilitator packs, workshops, or wider campaign rollouts
• Ongoing topic-based updates built from the same digital foundation, toward a longer-term digital hauora ecosystem for rangatahi

• Action for Smokefree 2025 (ASH). (2024, December 12). ASH 2024 Year 10 survey methodology. https://www.ash.org.nz/ash_2024_year_10_survey_methodology
• Andrew, L., Schumann, L., & Hesslinger, M. (2022). Serious games for health promotion in adolescents: A systematic scoping review. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9638273/
• Epic Games. (n.d.). What platforms or devices are compatible with Fortnite? https://www.epicgames.com/help/en-US/c-Category_EpicGamesStore/c-egs_Mobile_Troubleshooting/what-platforms-or-devices-are-compatible-with-fortnite-a000090675
• Manatū Hauora - Ministry of Health. (2024, November 19). Trends in smoking and vaping: New Zealand Health Survey 2023/24. https://www.health.govt.nz/statistics-research/surveys/new-zealand-health-survey/publications/202324-survey-publications/trends-in-smoking-and-vaping