{"id":216766,"date":"2025-05-29T14:17:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T00:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=216766"},"modified":"2025-06-13T13:55:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T23:55:37","slug":"uh-alumna-mental-health-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/05\/29\/uh-alumna-mental-health-support\/","title":{"rendered":"东精影业<\/abbr> alumna launches initiative to improve mental health support"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>
\"Sagapolutele
Sagapolutele in Waʻa<\/span> Collective community workspace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health<\/a> alumna Noe Sagapolutele is making a meaningful impact on mental health in Hawaiʻi<\/span> through the Waʻa<\/span> Collective<\/a>, a network of local private practicing therapists focused on culturally rooted and community-based care.<\/p>\n

Sagapolutele\u2019s journey began at 东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa during her internship at Kalihi-Palama Health Center, where she witnessed both the struggles and strengths of mental health support in local communities. That experience shaped her mission to bring accessible, relatable mental health support to the people of Hawai\u2018i.<\/p>\n

“One of my founding ʻōlelo<\/span> noʻeau<\/span> (proverb) is ‘aʻohe<\/span> hana nui ke alu ʻia<\/span>,’ which means no task is too big when shared together,” Sagapolutele said. “The more we hui (unite) together, the greater the impact.”<\/p>\n

Mental Health Awareness Month<\/h2>\n

As Mental Health Awareness Month comes to an end in May, Sagapolutele\u2019s Waʻa<\/span> Collective aims to break long-standing stigma around mental health in Hawaiʻi<\/span>, especially in situations where people are often taught to stay silent about personal struggles.<\/p>\n

“Most of us were groomed not to share our problems or be a burden,” Sagapolutele said. “But mental health conversations need to happen year-round, not just during Mental Health Awareness Month.”<\/p>\n

She also emphasized the importance of visibility and representation in mental health services.<\/p>\n

“How do you know you can be a doctor unless you\u2019ve seen a doctor who looks like you?” Sagapolutele said.<\/p>\n

Learn more about other outstanding 东精影业<\/abbr> alumni.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Waʻa<\/span> Collective works to improve mental health services in Hawaiʻi<\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[90,679,596,9],"class_list":["post-216766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-recognition","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\/216766","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=216766"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":217445,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216766\/revisions\/217445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}