A team of University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers are examining the government's response to the 2023 Maui fires and its impact on Lahaina residents.
The study will look at how cultural insensitivities and related factors worsened health disparities in Lahaina’s ethnic communities, which include Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Filipino and Mexican families.
The five-year, $3.8 million study is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
"Our study is really designed with the ultimate goal to strengthen the resiliency of our communities, our families, but also our governmental agencies as well as our emergency health care systems so that we can respond and recover better with future natural and hand-made disasters," said Joseph Keaweʻaimoku Kaholokula, chair of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health at UH's medical school.
There are two phases of the study. The first, which is already underway, seeks to understand the physical and mental health impacts of the fires.
The second phase will focus on the various barriers to health services, circumstances that led to increased health risks, how health care services were utilized before and after the fire, and the relation to age, ethnicity, residence and Medicaid eligibility.
Both phases include a community advisory board of Maui-based stakeholders. The researchers also plan on working with UH Maui college students to collect and analyze data.
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