Collaboration to bring community voices and priorities to the research enterprise.
The Ola HAWAII (Health And Wellness Achieved by Impacting Inequalities) Community Engagement Core (CEC) aims to address health-related concerns of vulnerable communities by strengthening and sustaining trust-based relationships and beneficial, outcomes-driven engagement with community-led organizations.
HIPHI facilitates CEC activities, streamlining the process of sharing research resources with communities and using statewide networks to build research capacity and ensure meaningful engagement of our Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Filipino populations. HIPHI is recognized as a public health consortium for the state of Hawaiʻi and CEC has greatly benefited from HIPHI’s leadership in advocacy and policy focused on kūpuna (elderly), oral health, tobacco cessation, food and agriculture, physical activity, community health worker mobilization, nutrition, and COVID-19 Prevention.
Background
The University of Hawai‘i’s John A. Burns School of Medicine received a grant to reduce disparities for Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos, and vulnerable populations in Hawai‘i. The Ola HAWAII grant awarded by the NIMHD through the RCMI provides five-year funding. The Community Engagement Core (CEC), one of four cores that make up Ola HAWAII, partners with HIPHI to streamline moving funds to the community for capacity building and resource sharing.
The CEC aims to:
- Nurture trust-based collaborations with communities through capacity building and resource sharing to address community-identified health-related concerns
- Promote and facilitate community participation in all aspects of health disparities research, including dissemination of research outcomes to community, academic and policy partners.
Our strength is our CEC Hui, who give community voice, expertise and perspective to health research. We established and continue to convene and facilitate the CEC Hui (hui means group, association or club in Hawaiian) that comprises community-based researchers and community members. Our 12 dedicated members currently include Native Hawaiian (5), Pacific Islander (2) and Filipino (4) individuals who represent grassroots, scientists, and community-based organizations (CBOs). Members have extensive track records in community organization and community-based participatory research.
Kenneth Ho, PhD
Waimānalo Hawaiian Homestead Association
Munirih Taʻafaki, MS, CCRP
John A. Burns School of Medicine
Dawn Mahi
Consuelo Foundation
Alice Kaʻahanui
Molokaʻi Community Center
LeShay Keliʻiholokai, MA
Ke Kula Nui o Waimānalo
Waimanalo Limu Hui
Ruthsenne Perron, PhD
Cadence Design Systems & Pinerds (Filipino health consortium)
Leah Dowsett, MD
Queen’s Health System
Native Hawaiian Genomics Institute
Sharde Freitas, JD
Queen’s Health System
Jermy-Leigh Domingo, DrPH
HI Primary Care Assn & Pinerds (Filipino health consortium)
Cliff Bersamira, PhD, AM
UHM/TSSWPH & Pinerds (Filipino health consortium)
B. Puni Kekauoha
Kula no na Poʻe Hawaiʻi o Papakōlea, Kewalo, Kalawahine
Davis Rehuher, MPH
Department of Psychiatry, UH Mānoa
Strong Heart Study with Dr. Jason Deen and Dr. Reya Mokiao
On May 4, 2023, 25 health professionals, researchers and community members tuned in to hear Dr. Jason Deen and Dr. Reya Mokiao share about the Strong Heart Study and its relevance to Kanaka Maoli. Dr. Marcus Kawika Iwane, AONK president, opened the session with a tribute to AONK founder, CEC Hui member and hulu kupuna, Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli. The Strong Heart Study launched in 1984 and is the longest ongoing cohort study of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors among American Indian men and women. Their experiences provided insights to addressing cardiovascular disease in Native Hawaiians, and hopefully will spark future collaborations.
Community-Centered Public Health with Dr. Evan Adams
In September 2023, HIPHI hosted a training event featuring Dr. Evan Adams, a Coast Salish physician from Tla’amin First Nation near Powell River, BC, Canada. Dr. Adams highlighted the significant contributions of First Nations communities to public health. He shared insights on traditional perspectives, offering a culturally informed approach to health and well-being.
CEC has a proven history of effectively sharing information, with researchers obligated to discuss and refine research concepts with the CEC Hui, and to share outcomes at community-hosted “Report to the Community” gatherings held in settings where the research took place. These events bring together community members, research collaborators, policymakers, funders, and academic partners. Below is our list of recent community partners who have hosted “Report to the Community” events:
Aloha Medical Mission
On January 23, 2023, Aloha Medical Mission held a “Talk Story” report back to community event at the Kohala Village Hub with the participation of 80 children and families.
Ke Kula Nui o Waimānalo
Ke Kula Nui O Waimānalo partnered with Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute and Ola HAWAII Community Engagement Core staff to implement a Community Report Back event on April 22, 2023. The purpose of the event was to engage researchers and community members in Waimānalo to foster community dialogue about health research among community members and researchers. Emerging Ola HAWAII researchers were invited to report their research findings to the community. Ke Kula Nui O Waimānalo organized, promoted, and coordinated this event as a part of Waimānalo Limu Hui where we also engaged participants in culturally relevant practices of weaving and planting limu lei as well as community advocacy and civic engagement to protect our ʻāina and kai.
Pinerds
Pinerds is a group of researchers dedicated to addressing disparities within the Filipino community residing in Hawaiʻi. The Pinerds hosted a CEC-sponsored event. ‘Araw ng Saliksik’, to showcase the Filipino community’s contribution to health research in Hawaiʻi.
Waimānalo Hawaiian Homestead Association
The Waimānalo Hawaiian Homes Association, founded in 1938, represents 780 lessees and their family members residing on Waimanalo Hawaiian homesteads. Participants were asked if they felt these research projects are benefitting Native Hawaiian communities.
Waimānalo Limu Hui
Waipahu High School Engineering Academy
Professional Development Opportunities for CEC Hui
Alaska Indigenous Research Conference (AKIRP)
Hawai‘i Group at Alaska Indigenous Research Conference. (L-R) Kathleen Corpuz, JoAnn Tsark, Avette Ponce, and May Rose Dela Cruz (right).The Hawai‘i group included (L-R) Kathleen Corpuz, JoAnn Tsark, Avette Ponce, and May Rose Dela Cruz (right). Avette Ponce, Cancer Patient Navigator and Patient Representative at Moloka‘i General Hospital, presented on the success of Kukui Ahi, the cancer patient navigation program on Molokaʻi. Kukui Ahi is an NCI-recognized best practice program.
- Annual Public Health Association
- Annual RCMI Conference
- AAC&U Conference
- Healing Our Spirits Worldwide The Ninth Gathering
- National Public Health Institutes Conference
- U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty & Indigenous Data Governance Summit
Community Engagement Core Newsletter
HIPHI Newsletter
Articles
- Paying Attention to Genomics Research and its Relevance to Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders Communities
- Exploring ʻŌlena: Waimānalo Learning Center Highlights Traditional Knowledge and Community-Relevant Research
- Forging a path to research: Waipahu High School’s Academy of Engineering Paves the Way for K-12 students
Contact Us
May Rose Dela Cruz, DrPH, MPH
[she/her] May Rose joined HIPHI in October 2021 to lead the coordination of internal and external plans that increase awareness of public health research, invite collaboration, and promote local efforts to support structures and processes that improve health. She is an Assistant Researcher at UH Office of Public Health Studies and previously held a role as Co-Director at ʻImi Hale Native Hawaiian Cancer Network, Papa Ola Lōkahi. She received her BA in Psychology, MPH in Social & Behavioral Health Science, and DrPH in Community-Based & Translational Research from UH Mānoa. She enjoys baking cupcakes and cookies, and balances it out by growing her own veggies with her family.