The University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa will study the government’s response to the 2023 Maui fires and its effect on residents’ physical and mental health.
For five years, the university plans to conduct this two-part study funded by the National Institutes of Health. In the study, they said they would investigate how cultural insensitivity and related factors worsen health disparities within the Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Filipino, and Mexican communities in Lahaina. According to Maui Now, the first part of the study has already begun collecting data on the physical and mental parts of the fire.
The second phase will discuss the barriers to health care, the circumstances that led to higher health risks, how healthcare services were utilized before and after the fire, and the relationship with age, ethnicity, residence, and Medicaid eligibility.
Both phases will include a community advisory board representing various Maui-based stakeholders including community and government leaders, state Health Department and emergency service representatives, schools, traditional healers and health providers.
“Our study is really designed with the ultimate goal to strengthen the resiliency of our communities, our families, but also our governmental agencies as well as our emergency health care systems so that we can respond and recover better with future natural and hand-made disasters,” said Joseph Keaweʻaimoku Kaholokula, chair of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at UH’s medical school.
The researchers plan to collect and analyze data with the help of students at UH Maui College.
“I feel like this is a unique opportunity for us to start to address some of the fundamental challenges we face in healthcare to better equip ourselves to serve our communities should a disaster happen in the future,” said Marcus Iwane, JABSOM Clinical Professor/Kaiser Permanente Physician.
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