Oral

Papa Ola Lokahi was authorized by the Native Hawaiian Health Care Act of 1988 to address the healthcare needs of Native Hawaiians. The panel will provide an update on the initiatives undertaken by Papa Ola Lokahi in the past 20 years that strengthened the health of Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander communities through an array of capacity building strategies: workforce, policy, data, services, research, and indigenous collaboration. In the area of workforce, an analysis of quantitative survey data will be presented; in the area of health services, findings and lessons learned will be shared from a community-based participatory study about how best to work with Native Hawaiians with chronic diseases; and in policy, a descriptive analysis will be used to discuss the need to disaggregate Native Hawaiian data on a national level. Papa Ola Lokahi is making significant contributions to address the healthcare needs of Native Hawaiians. While direct provision of healthcare is a critical dimension, Papa Ola Lokahi has taken an ecological approach to target multiple levels of intervention. These include: workforce development; disaggregation of data; programs addressing Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander veterans; the future establishment of an epidemiological center in Hawai`i; research in critical health areas; and collaboration with other indigenous peoples. Providing a comprehensive overview of past, present, and future efforts, this presentation concludes with a look into the future with the two minute video titled “Healing Our Spirit Worldwide” that describes collaborative efforts with indigenous peoples to address substance abuse prevention and treatment.

Session Objectives: 1. Understand the health care needs of Native Hawaiians, 2. Identify three (3) community-based efforts to improve Native Hawaiian health outcomes, and 3. Describe two capacity building initiatives to build sustainable, long term solutions in Native Hawaiian health.