{"id":137925,"date":"2021-03-26T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T19:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=137925"},"modified":"2021-03-29T10:03:44","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T20:03:44","slug":"waimanalo-community-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/03\/26\/waimanalo-community-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Waim\u0101nalo community health group\u2019s UH<\/abbr> leaders win national award"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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From left, Ilima Ho Lastimosa and Jane Chung-Do. (Photo credit for Ho Lastimosa photo: RWJF Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Program)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two campus leaders who have worked to build a partnership between the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa and the local community have won the prestigious 2020 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community-Campus Partnerships for Health Award.<\/p>\n

Jane Chung-Do<\/strong>, an associate professor with the Office of Public Health Studies<\/a> of the Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health<\/a>, and Ilima Ho Lastimosa<\/strong>, the community coordinator for the Waimānalo Learning Center<\/a> of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources<\/a>, said they were delighted that their project, the Waimānalo Pono Research Hui, was recognized with this award.<\/p>\n

The award is given to recognize partnerships between community and academic institutions that are working together to achieve health equity amid the COVID-19<\/abbr> pandemic, systemic racism and economic collapse.<\/p>\n

“Our hui aims to restore the health of Native Hawaiians,” Chung-Do said. “To do that, we need programming and research that revitalize cultural practices and identity, and recognize the impacts of historical trauma and the existing strengths and resilience of the community.”<\/p>\n

This effort is an example of UH<\/abbr> Mānoa\u2019s goal of Becoming a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), one of four goals identified in the 2015\u201325 Â鶹´«Ã½<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>), updated in December 2020.<\/p>\n

Improving health of Waimānalo community<\/h2>\n

The Waimānalo Pono Research Hui (WPRH<\/abbr>) includes more than 50 community members and academic researchers. The group works to improve the health of the Waimānalo community through education and aloha ʻāina<\/span> (love of the land).<\/p>\n

“The WPRH<\/abbr> is a safe space for community members and researchers to build relationships and initiate programs that are culturally-grounded and community-driven,” said Ho-Lastimosa, who founded the WPRH<\/abbr> and is a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner and recognized community leader. “Our goal is to honor and transfer ʻike<\/span> (knowledge) and the values of our kūpuna (elders) to our keiki (children) through pono (just and balanced) research principles.”<\/p>\n

The WPRH<\/abbr> supports community initiatives that promote health equity and a culture of health that centers community voice and knowledge, Chung-Do said.<\/p>\n

Over the next year, the hui\u2019s goals are to meet the priorities that were identified by the community, which are limu (seaweed) restoration, ʻai<\/span> pono (healthy and nourishing food) and lāʻau<\/span> lapaʻau<\/span> (traditional herbal Hawaiian medicine). The money from the award will be used to continue sustaining and supporting the community programs that have been initiated to meet these priorities.<\/p>\n

“We will continue doing work with the community, by the community,” Ho Lastimosa said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The award recognizes partnerships between community and academic institutions that work together to tackle health equity, systemic racism and economic collapse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[212,598,1465,242,241,449,9],"class_list":["post-137925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-faculty-recognition","tag-manoa-native-hawaiian-place-of-learning","tag-native-hawaiian-health","tag-public-health","tag-public-health-sciences","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t