{"id":219777,"date":"2025-08-07T07:30:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T17:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=219777"},"modified":"2025-08-06T15:02:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T01:02:24","slug":"mauiwes-jama-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/08\/07\/mauiwes-jama-research\/","title":{"rendered":"2 years after Maui fires: Health challenges remain, social support key to healing"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><figure id=\"attachment_191572\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-191572\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/manoa-uhero-maui-wes-wide-shot.jpg\" alt=\"people conducting tests on patients\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-191572\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/manoa-uhero-maui-wes-wide-shot.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/manoa-uhero-maui-wes-wide-shot-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/manoa-uhero-maui-wes-wide-shot-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-191572\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><abbr>MauiWES<\/abbr> recruitment event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Two years after the devastating Maui wildfires, a new University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> study paints a complex picture: the physical and emotional scars of the disaster remain, but strong community ties are proving to be a powerful force for recovery.<\/p>\n<p>The research, published on August 6 in <a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jamanetworkopen\/fullarticle\/2837319\"><em><abbr title=\"Journal of American Medical Association\">JAMA<\/abbr> Network Open<\/em><\/a>, a journal of the American Medical Association, tracked 1,174 adults through the <a href=\"http:\/\/mauiwes.org\">Maui Wildfire Exposure Study<\/a> (<abbr>MauiWES<\/abbr>). It found that while many survivors still report lingering symptoms, those with stronger social support networks experienced better mental health and resilience, even in the face of hardship.<\/p>\n<h2>Key findings<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Persistent health problems:<\/strong> Nearly half of participants (47&#37;) still report symptoms such as fatigue, breathing difficulties and eye irritation more than a year after the fires.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reduced lung function near the burn zone:<\/strong> Among those tested, 22&#37; had below-normal lung function, and residents living within the fire perimeter had lung function nearly 6 percentage points lower than those outside, on average.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mental health burden:<\/strong> Half screened positive for depression&#8212;up from about 30&#37; before the fire&#8212;while 1 in 4 experienced anxiety. Suicidal thoughts, though less common, were reported by 4&#37; of participants.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Crucial role of social support for mental well-being<\/h2>\n<p>Despite these challenges, one clear takeaway emerged: feeling supported matters. Survivors with strong social networks:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Experienced five fewer days of poor health each month on average.<\/li>\n<li>Reported significantly lower depression scores, even among those with high wildfire exposure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&ldquo;Neighbors and family aren\u2019t just a comfort&#8212;they are critical to recovery,&rdquo; said study co-lead Ruben Juarez, <a href=\"https:\/\/uhero.hawaii.edu\/\"><abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> Economic Research Organization<\/a> (<abbr>UHERO<\/abbr>)-<abbr title=\"Hawaii Medical Service Association\">HMSA<\/abbr> Distinguished Endowed Professor of Health Economics. &ldquo;Disaster response must go beyond rebuilding homes. It must strengthen the social fabric that helps people heal.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Social support did not improve lung function, underscoring the need for ongoing clinical care to support physical health.<\/p>\n<h2>What this means for Maui and beyond<\/h2>\n<p>&ldquo;This is a lesson in resilience&#8212;but also in responsibility,&rdquo; said co-lead Alika Maunakea, professor in the Department of Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology at the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa <a href=\"https:\/\/jabsom.hawaii.edu\/\">John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> (<abbr>JABSOM<\/abbr>). &ldquo;Healing after the disaster isn\u2019t just about rebuilding; it means restoring the systems that sustain health. We need long-term investment in biomonitoring, health screenings, and mental health care&#8212;especially for our youth&#8212;to fully understand the fire\u2019s lasting impact and to prevent the emergence of future health challenges.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As climate-driven disasters become more frequent, the Maui experience offers a roadmap: pair long-term health monitoring with culturally grounded mental health and community-based support. The authors call for integrated strategies that link clinical care, social networks and local resilience initiatives.<\/p>\n<p><abbr>MauiWES<\/abbr> is supported by the National Institutes of Health, State of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Community Foundation Maui Strong Fund and Kaiser Permanente. This public impact research project is the result of an ongoing partnership among <abbr>UHERO<\/abbr>, which is housed in the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa <a href=\"https:\/\/socialsciences.manoa.hawaii.edu\/\">College of Social Sciences<\/a>, <abbr>JABSOM<\/abbr> and <a href=\"https:\/\/maui.hawaii.edu\/\"><abbr>UH<\/abbr> Maui College<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?s=mauiwes\">See more <em><abbr>UH<\/abbr> News<\/em> stories on <abbr>MauiWES<\/abbr><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The research tracked 1,174 adults through the Maui Wildfire Exposure Study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":191572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[301,197,31,1467,1363,1597,1157,1600,1026,9,343],"class_list":["post-219777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-college-of-social-sciences","tag-economics","tag-john-a-burns-school-of-medicine","tag-manoa-excellence-in-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-maui-wildfires","tag-mental-health","tag-public-impact-research","tag-social-science","tag-uh-manoa","tag-uhero","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/manoa-uhero-maui-wes-wide-shot.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219777"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219837,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219777\/revisions\/219837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}