{"id":106572,"date":"2019-11-19T16:32:42","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T02:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=106572"},"modified":"2021-03-31T16:57:25","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T02:57:25","slug":"waimanalo-health-research-publications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2019\/11\/19\/waimanalo-health-research-publications\/","title":{"rendered":"Waim\u0101nalo health-research project success due to community participation"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Waim\u0101nalo Learning Center at the 东精影业<\/abbr> College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A health research project connecting Waim\u0101nalo community members with public health and food-system researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa<\/a> has proven successful because of strong community participation, according to two new publications. Rooted in relationship building, participatory research and Native Hawaiian values, the Waim\u0101nalo Pono Research Hui (WPRH<\/abbr>) could serve as a model for other research efforts, according to the authors.<\/p>\n

“There is a long history of ‘helicopter research’ by scientists considered outsiders to communities that has led to exploitation and ethical breaches,” said Jane Chung-Do<\/strong>, co-founder of WPRH<\/abbr> and associate professor in the Office of Public Health Studies<\/a> in the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The WPRH<\/abbr> has provided a space for academics to learn how to listen to the community and appreciate the wealth of cultural knowledge that shapes the experiences of that community,” added Samantha Keaulana<\/strong>, current PhD<\/abbr> student in public health and a WPRH<\/abbr> member.<\/p>\n

Building capacity and relationships<\/h2>\n

In one of the studies, Chung-Do and her co-authors described the development of WPRH<\/abbr> in the predominantly Native Hawaiian community of Waim\u0101nalo. Established in 2017, the hui built on a decade-long relationship between Chung-Do and a community leader from Waim\u0101nalo, Ilima Ho-Lastimosa<\/strong>. Ho-Lastimosa is the 东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources\u2019<\/a> community coordinator at the Waim\u0101nalo Learning Center<\/a>, which hosted the early WPRH<\/abbr> meetings and continues to serve as a venue for the group.<\/p>\n

Through a series of community gatherings, WPRH<\/abbr> identified three interconnected priorities: lāʻau<\/span> lapaʻau<\/span> (traditional medicine), ʻai<\/span> pono (healthy eating) and limu (seaweed) restoration. These priorities have since evolved into several community-driven initiatives, and today the hui has more than 50 active members.<\/p>\n

In the new paper, published in the American Journal of Community Psychology<\/em><\/a>, the researchers identified trust building, creation of shared values and spaces, self-reflection and a focus on families as critical to this success.<\/p>\n

Protocol to support pono research<\/h2>\n

In the other study, Keaulana and her co-authors described how they created protocol to support transparent research efforts within the hui. A collaborative process between academic and community participants helped to develop a research proposal and determine data ownership.<\/p>\n

The researchers noted that their work resonated with research approaches in other indigenous communities. The paper was published in a special issue of the British Journal of Social Work<\/em><\/a> that focused on indigenous peoples and the social determinants of health and featured community-academic and inter-disciplinary research. The issue included studies that used participatory methods that wove indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing with contemporary innovations. Lana Kaʻopua<\/span>, formerly a professor with Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work, was a guest editor on this special issue.<\/p>\n

“The history of Waim\u0101nalo’s colonization and militarization is shared by Native Hawaiians statewide and indigenous people globally. Every step in the development of the WPRH<\/abbr> and its protocol and rules of engagement aimed to be pono,” Ho-Lastimosa said.<\/p>\n

All co-authors on the studies are members of WPRH<\/abbr> and include Ho-Lastimosa, Phoebe Hwang<\/strong> and Theodore Radovich<\/strong> of 东精影业<\/abbr>; Kenneth Ho Jr<\/abbr>. of the University of Southern California; and Luana Albinio, Ikaika Rogerson, LeShay Keliʻiholokai<\/span> and Kirk Deitschman of Ke Kula Nui O Waim\u0101nalo.<\/p>\n

—By Theresa Kreif<\/em><\/p>\n

\"entrance
Waim\u0101nalo Learning Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A research project connecting the Waim\u0101nalo community with public health and food-system researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa has proven successful because of strong community participation, according to two new publications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[212,951,1363,1314,241,449,158,73,596,9],"class_list":["post-106572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-food","tag-manoa-research","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-public-health","tag-public-health-sciences","tag-publication","tag-sustainability","tag-myron-b-thompson-school-of-social-work","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106572"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110380,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106572\/revisions\/110380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}