Aloha,
Hawai‘i was hit by several disasters this year including a false ballistic missile alert, back-to-back flash flooding events in Kaua‘i and East Honolulu and lava outbreaks on the Big Island. Although many faced tremendous emotional and financial challenges as a result of these events, one thing is evident: our island state continues to be united by the spirit of aloha. At the Hawai‘i Public Health Institute, we are driven by our mission to improve the quality of life for the people of Hawai‘i. Inspired by the tireless commitment of our advocates and partners, we will continue to fight for solutions that advance health and health equity in our state; much of that fight happens at the state legislature. While news outlets focused attention on a few big and sometimes controversial issues, our 2018 Legislative Recap shined a light on a number of major health and health-related issues that you may not have heard about. In partnership with 15 state organizations, we also created our first public health agenda, featuring 20 public health priorities, to help lawmakers and advocates prepare for and understand key public health issues in the 2018 legislative session. We hope our communities found these pieces informative and that they inspired you to be an engaged, active participant in the legislative process.
This year included some other firsts: we held our first statewide e-cigarette conference and Summer Social event. Other highlights include engaging with Community Health Workers across the state, kicking off the start of the Hawaiʻi Oral Health Coalition, holding a healthy beverage summit, conducting a policy and advocacy training, launching an e-cigarette counter-marketing campaign, planning 10 Perspectives on Community Health trips, educating more than 1,500 students on the harms of e-cigarettes, and continuing to convene our stakeholders throughout the year. Of course, we did not do any of these activities and events alone. Our funders, partners and advocates help to make all of our work possible. Thank you all for your help and support in our work!
With Aloha,
2018 Goals
2018 Highlights
HIPHI expands staff and board retreat to neighbor islands. HIPHI’s annual board and staff retreat shifted from Oʻahu to the neighboring islands for the first time in January this year. Kilauea Military Camp at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, providing the ideal setting for our team to reflect upon and revitalize passion for our work and gear up for a busy 2018.
Youth Council advocates for tobacco-free zones and wins awards. This yearʻs Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaiʻi (CTFH) Youth Council advocated for a bill that would create tobacco-free school buffer zones by prohibiting sales of tobacco products within 500 feet of a school. While SB 2304 ultimately failed, the Youth Council’s Kick Butts Day event at the legislature drew more than 60 youth advocates from six islands, part of a national youth movement to stand up to Big Tobacco. Sara Kay, one of our CTFH youth council members won the Advocate of the Year Award from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), and was honored at the national meeting in Washington, D.C. in May.
Kickstarted the Hawaiʻi Oral Health Coalition. Following oral health town hall meetings in 2017, a statewide planning meeting was held in May, gathering over 100 partners representing stakeholders, state agencies, oral health providers, and community members to share feedback, determine additional needs, and begin to work on next steps. A major outcome included agreement on the need to form a statewide oral health coalition.
First HIPHI Summer Social celebrates public health bills. This year brought HIPHI’s very first Summer Social event, where more than 80 public health leaders and advocates gathered at the Pacific Club in Honolulu to celebrate the more than three dozen public health bills that prevailed in the 2018 legislative session and receive the first copies of the 2018 Legislative Recap.
Hawaii’s first-ever Electronic Smoking Device (ESD) Conference sells out. On October 30, 2018, the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawai‘i, along with the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and the State Department of Health, hosted the state’s first-ever Electronic Smoking Device (ESD) conference, ‘Clearing the Cloud’. Over 200 participants from various sectors, including education, law enforcement, state and city attorneys, and public health champions gathered to learn from national speakers and local experts to address the growing prevalence of youth vaping in elementary, middle, and high schools.
Expanded 808NOVAPE counter-marketing campaign. As use of electronic smoking devices and vaping continued to soar among teenagers in Hawaiʻi, HIPHI’s Youth ESD Prevention Project launched a ‘by-youth, for-youth’ counter-marketing campaign to promote health and ultimately reverse this disturbing trend. The 808NOVAPE campaign expanded its efforts from 12 public schools across the state to 18 with ‘Breathe Aloha’ murals, and three youth-produced video PSAs shown at theaters and on Snapchat and Instagram. Over 79,000 youth were engaged via the social media campaign, or 57 percent of youth (between the ages of 13 and 21) using social media in Hawai‘i.
Supported Community Health Workers (CHWs). HIPHI was privileged to support the work of Hawaii’s CHWs and held a facilitated strategic planning session with 15 CHWs from across the state, in partnership with the State Department of Health and Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association, with a goal of starting discussions around a shared definition of CHWs (for Hawaiʻi) and the potential to start an association.
Held healthy beverage summit. HIPHI, in partnership with the State Department of Health convened a statewide healthy beverage summit that focused on the results of the Harvard CHOICES project which examined the impact a Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) fee would have in Hawaiʻi. Two speakers who successfully worked on the SSB campaign in Berkeley shared their experience and lessons learned.
New Programs: Maui Coalition for Drug-Free Youth and Hawai‘i Public Health Training Hui
Maui Coalition for Drug-Free Youth (MCDFY). HIPHI was fortunate to welcome the Maui Coalition for Drug-Free Youth (MCDFY) under our fiscal umbrella. MCDFY, which has been fighting for and engaging youth on Maui since 2013, is a local community coalition of partner organizations and individuals committed to reducing underage alcohol use and youth substance use in Maui County.
Hawai‘i Public Health Training Hui (PHTH). HIPHI also formally welcomed the Hawai‘i Public Health Training Hui (PHTH) to our ‘ohana and, through the Hui, we will continue to support the public health field and expand access to valuable trainings across the state. The PHTH is a member of the Western Region Public Health Training Center and receives HRSA funding for public health training. In addition, the PHTH has a local steering committee and receives local support from the Hawai‘i State Department of Health and partners like Papa Ola Lōkahi.
2018 Board of Directors
Officers
Michael Robinson, Chair
Mark Levin, Secretary
Kent Kasaoka, Treasurer
Members-at-Large
Joy Barua
Forrest Batz
Clifford Chang
Keawe Kaholokula
Kilikina Mahi
Bryan Mih
Rachel Novotny
Catherine Taschner
En Young
Mahalo to Our Donors
Major Funders
Atherton Family Foundation
County of Maui Department of Housing and Human Concerns
Dentaquest Foundation
Harvard University
Hawai‘i State Department of Health
- Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion Division
- Family Health Services Division
- Office of Planning, Policy, and Program Development
Hawai‘i Community Foundation
- Frost Foundation
- Tobacco Prevention and Control Trust Fund
- Ulupono Foundation
Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association
Health and Human Services: Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration
HMSA Foundation
Islander Institute
Kaiser Permanente
Lānaʻi Community Health Center
Papa Ola Lōkahi
University of Arizona
Individuals
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Michael Robinson
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Mark Levin
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Kenneth Nakamura
Joan Takamori
Catherine Taschner
JoAnn Tsark
Donald Weisman
Jessica Yamauchi
Roy Yamauchi
Valerie Yontz
Deborah Zysman
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