Health Promotion – UHealthy Hawaiʻi

Promote Healthier Families and Communities

Champion prevention and wellness activities to improve community and population health; establish a Healthy Aging Initiative; address social and environmental determinants of health and tackle persistent health disparities, including in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations; foster further global health engagement, especially in the Asia-Pacific region; and promote healthy family relationships and social connections that support emotional wellness and resilience.

Submitted multiple grant applications to advance Healthy Aging through Proposals for Community Aging in Place--Advancing Better Living for Elders (CAPABLE) State-based Hub

The CAPABLE model is an evidence-based program to help low-income older adults safely age in place through interprofessional home visits to improve seniors’ function. This innovative approach, developed at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON), brings together a registered nurse (RN), an occupational therapist (OT), and a handyworker to conduct in-home assessments of older adults’ medical and functional needs and the physical aspects of their home environments and to support behavioral and environmental interventions to address those needs.

The UH System, through the UHealthy Hawaiʻi initiative, seeks to become a state-based hub to support the implementation and expansion of the CAPABLE program throughout Hawaiʻi in a culturally competent way. In addition to the Office of Strategic Health Initiatives, UH has multiple engaged partners, including the UH Center on Aging (Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work) and the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene (UH Mānoa), as well as the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health’s Falls Prevention Branch. Community sites that have expressed interest in implementing CAPABLE include Papakōlea (Oʻahu) and Kokua Kalihi Valley Health Center (Oʻahu). Funding is still being sought for these initiatives.

Photo credit: JHUSON’s CAPABLE website

Established and leads the UH System Global Health and Social Justice Work Group, which focuses on Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander health.

For the first time in its history, the University of Hawaiʻi is part of the national Consortium of Universities on Global Health (CUGH). CUGH comprises of 170 academic institutions and other organizations who are engaged in addressing global health challenges through education, research, service, and advocacy.

With members from interdisciplinary UH units across the state, the UH System Global Health & Social Justice Work Group intends to bring increased awareness of the unique health needs and challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region to the global health conversation, particularly for indigenous populations of Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and Asian Americans.

UHealthy Hawaiʻi – The University of Hawaiʻi's Commitment to a Healthier Hawaiʻi and Pacific