{"id":186133,"date":"2023-10-31T14:46:16","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T00:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=186133"},"modified":"2023-10-31T14:48:16","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T00:48:16","slug":"pasifika-based-pathways-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2023\/10\/31\/pasifika-based-pathways-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Pasifika-based pathways to mental health, well-being"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/manoa-pasifika-mental-heatlh.jpeg\" alt=\"Woman with plants on her head\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-186141\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/manoa-pasifika-mental-heatlh.jpeg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/manoa-pasifika-mental-heatlh-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/manoa-pasifika-mental-heatlh-130x73.jpeg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The focus on mental health has grown exponentially in recent years, especially that of students. Results from a brief survey conducted by mental health experts at the <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/\">University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> at M&#257;noa<\/a> in fall 2023 boiled down the most pressing stressors impacting some Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander-identifying haum&#257;na (students).<\/p>\n<p>Top 5 stressors<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Financial stress (73&#37;)<\/li>\n<li>Transportation issues (37&#37;)<\/li>\n<li>Friendship drama (35&#37;)<\/li>\n<li>Social media stress (31&#37;)<\/li>\n<li>Work-related stress (30&#37;)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To help meet mental health and well-being needs of K&#257;naka <span aria-label=\"Oiwi\">&#699;&#332;iwi<\/span> (Native Hawaiian) and Pasifika haum&#257;na at <abbr title=\"东精影业\">东精影业<\/abbr> M&#257;noa, <a href=\"https:\/\/kwaahila.org\/\">Ka Malu a <span aria-label=\"Waahila\">Wa&#699;ahila<\/span><\/a> was launched in 2022 to provide free individual therapy (virtual or in-person), monthly k&#363;k&#257;k&#363;k&#257; (discussion) and group support sessions. The program hosts in-person sessions once a week at the <abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> M&#257;noa <a href=\"http:\/\/www.manoa.hawaii.edu\/counseling\/\">Counseling and Student Development Center<\/a> inside the Queen <span aria-label=\"Liliuokalani\">Lili&#699;uokalani<\/span> Center for Student Services.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Related <em><abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> News<\/em> story:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/08\/23\/native-hawaiian-mental-health-program\/\">Free mental health program for Native Hawaiian students, August 23, 2022<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&ldquo;Many of our students juggle multiple roles beyond that of being a student, including working, taking care of children or younger siblings or k&#363;puna (elders),&rdquo; said Jillian Freitas, program director at Ka Malu a <span aria-label=\"Waahila\">Wa&#699;ahila<\/span>. &ldquo;The pandemic also shifted the ways in which we connect and relate to one another, and many of our students have expressed challenges with friendships, and building community, even after resuming in-person activities.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Freitas works alongside a team of licensed behavioral health clinicians who identify as Indigenous Pasifika and work to cultivate a therapeutic space for students. The program\u2019s name, Ka Malu a <span aria-label=\"Waahila\">Wa&#699;ahila<\/span>, refers to the protection or shelter of <span aria-label=\"Waahila\">Wa&#699;ahila<\/span>, which is the mountain ridge that casts a shadow over M&#257;noa.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For our K\u0101naka <span aria-label=\"Oiwi\">&#699;&#332;iwi<\/span> and other Indigenous students, there is an underlying presence of historical trauma from colonization that continues in various forms today, and has impacted the overall health and wellbeing of our peoples,&rdquo; Freitas said. &ldquo;Many of us are familiar with this trauma narrative, however, we also have a beautiful resilience narrative too.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Deep-rooted resiliency<\/h2>\n<p>Freitas added that the program\u2019s foundation and approach to integral pathways of healing stems from strength and wisdom garnered through generations of their cultural ancestors. They infuse established therapeutic methods with <span aria-label=\"ike\">&#699;ike<\/span> (knowledge) derived from Native Hawaiian legends, <span aria-label=\"moolelo\">mo&#699;olelo<\/span> (stories) and history, and language and cultural revitalization efforts.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We hear a lot about the importance of self-care in Western circles. But we ask our students to conceptualize what self-care looks like for them, and what it might look like from an Indigenous perspective,&rdquo; said Freitas. &ldquo;For us, self-care that is rooted in kai&#257;ulu (community), rooted in kuleana (responsibility) and purpose, rooted in values, uplifts the entire l\u0101hui (nation) and can never be selfish.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Ka Malu a <span aria-label=\"Waahila\">Wa&#699;ahila<\/span> was developed at the request of the <abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> M&#257;noa <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/kualii\/indigenizing-manoa\/\"><span aria-label=\"KUalii\">K&#363;ali&#699;i<\/span> Native Hawaiian Advisory Council<\/a> and funded by the <abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> M&#257;noa <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/provost\/\">Office of the Provost<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ka Malu a <span aria-label=\"Waahila\">Wa&#699;ahila<\/span> provides free individual therapy, discussion  and group support sessions for Pasifika-identifying students at <abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> M&#257;noa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1146,1501,1157,242,9],"class_list":["post-186133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-counseling","tag-csdc","tag-mental-health","tag-native-hawaiian-health","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\/186133","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=186133"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186178,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186133\/revisions\/186178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}