Research, Hula, and Health

The culturally-grounded “Hula Empowering Lifestyle Adaptation (HELA) Study: Benefits of Dancing Hula for Cardiac Rehabilitation,” developed a cardiac rehabilitation program based on learning hula. Classes were taught by esteemed Kumu Hula Māpuana de Silva of Hālau Mōhala ʻIlima. Afterward the completion of the study, the Kumu reflected on important lessons learned, possible directions forward, ways to use the values of hula and Native Hawaiian culture to promote better health, and, of particular significance, key ways to preserve cultural integrity when using hula to treat chronic disease or as an exercise activity. Here she shares her thoughts in a conversation with members of the University of Hawai‘i’s Department of Native Hawaiian Health of the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Linking Hawaiian Concepts of Health with Epigenetic Research: Implications in Developing Indigenous Scientists

Inherent in the traditional native Hawaiian concept of health is the understanding that environmental factors, including nutrition and social behaviors, trans-generationally impact health outcomes in individuals and communities. Epigenetic mechanisms may now explain molecular links between these environmental factors and health outcomes. This article explores the epigenetic concepts present in ancient Hawaiian wisdom of health and highlights this link as a basis for forging a pathway to modern careers in the health sciences to address diseases of health disparities among native Hawaiians and Pacific peoples.

He Lama ‘Ā Ho‘okahi Mele Inoa for Dr. Richard Kekuni Blaisdell

A traditional Hawaiian honorific name chant was composed to recognize the diverse contributions in leadership, education, and research of Dr. Richard Kekuni Blaisdell. Historic and metaphorical references elevate and document his vast influence.

E Ola Mau: Insights on Pathways to Health

Esteemed emeritus medical school founding-faculty member, leader in the Native Hawaiian sovereignty movement, Native Hawaiian health advocate, and revered kupuna Richard Kekuni Blaisdell provides a reflective history of his path into medicine, and insights into establishing health for Ka Lāhui Hawai‘i.

Ki‘eki‘e Lanihuli

Kiʻekiʻe Lanihuli is an oli komo, an entrance chant, which identifies places from the uplands to the sea in the Kona district of O‘ahu.

Kalaupapa, a Place Never Forgotten

After more than a century of hardships in remote Kalaupapa, on the island of Moloka‘i in Hawai‘i a settlement for Hansen’s disease patients and home of two Saints, is the result of perseverance of the patients. Many lessons this history has taught the world from this small isolated yet special place. The vital instructive lessons of cultural sensitivity are taught through the failure of a federal medical research investigation station. The Hawaiian lessons are those that impact us daily: sacrifice, family and love. This chapter provides a brief history of Kalaupapa, its current state, valuable lessons learned, and how Kalaupapa has provided to the world a model of charity, forgiveness, and blessings.

Community and Research Together

Hawaiians have faced historical and cultural traumas leading to modern day inequities in the social, economic and political realms. These inequities contribute to poor health status that many Native Hawaiians experience. Two groups have attempted to improve these health outcomes, Academic researchers and the Native Hawaiian community. However, often times the approaches and goals of these two groups are at odds. Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) is an approach that seeks to combine community goals, action, and priorities with those of academic research. This chapter illustrates the evolution of CBPR in Hawai‘i, and its meaningful principles that have been effective for both the Native Hawaiian and research communities in their promotion of health.

Kākou: Collaborative Cultural Competency

Since 2006, the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at the John A. Burns School of Medicine has worked to develop and implement an innovative, imaginative, and comprehensive cultural competency curriculum for our medical students. Recognizing that understanding culture, society and history is necessary to train future physicians who will work to improve the health of Native Hawaiians and all underserved communities in Hawai'i, our curriculum focuses on self-awareness, traditional healing techniques, effective communication and the social and cultural determinants of health. We expect our students to understand the roots of disparities in health and health care, including cultural historical trauma and colonization. Close consultation with community and cultural experts working with a multidisciplinary teaching team were key to the development of this curriculum, which utilizes didactics, small groups, workshops, simulated patients, service learning, community classrooms and cultural immersion weekends to teach the Native Hawaiian holistic view of wellness to our medical students.

Returning to Health in Hāna, Maui

Health outreach for small, rural communities is often difficult and dependent on developing long-standing relationships. On the eastern side of Maui, a remote Native Hawaiian community of Hāna is the site of many health outreach programs because services are limited and outreach efforts from various Native Hawaiian health organizations are continually seeking to empower the health of Hāna. The author re-discovers Hāna in the context of her health promotion activities, and reconnects to an ancestral home. The journey reconnects her to Hāna through her initial visit and then 12 years later when she returns to initiate more significant activities. What remains consistent is the personal connections made that have endured over time enabling the work to continue and persevere based upon the foundation of trust established upon each visit.

From Kalo to Kauka: Becoming a Native Hawaiian Physician

The Pathway to medicine is difficult. Ancient Native Hawaiian healers, Kahuna Lāʻau Lapaʻau, were identified at early ages and taught the practice of healing by their elders. As the Hawaiian world becomes westernized, the need for Kahuna Lāʻau Lapaʻau and for Native Hawaiian physicians increases. The Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence works to plant the seeds of inspiration and encourages Hawaiʻi’s youth to open their hearts and minds to serving the community with all of the skills they develop whether it is in the western or the Native Hawaiian ways of healing. Our ultimate goal is to improve the health of Native Hawaiians through nurturing students on​ the pathway into health professions, advancing research, and engaging our communities. This chapter provides stories of a few Native Hawaiian physicians as they found their call to healing in the western world.