The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Institute for Community Health Innovation is collaborating with the University of Hawaii on a new project to assist Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander and U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islander veterans. The project is designed to address structural and institutional barriers to improve care for those vets.
Romaldo Kabua is project manager for the UAMS part of the partnership. He's Marshallese and says he grew up between the Marshall Islands and Hawaii, and he's a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. So he says this project is very special to him.
“I really know the importance of bridging these two different components that turn the gears for this whole project together, bridging it together, and really seeing the bigger picture for what it is now and what it can be when everybody participates, especially my brothers and sisters in arms.”
Kabua says understanding possible barriers to receiving care for Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander, or NHPI, vets can mean exploring a variety of potential challenges. There could be geographical or language barriers.
“Why? We want to know why so that eventually we can make better, safer and better health care for them, the veterans.”
The project is in the recruitment and interview phase right now. Kabua says the team assembled for the work is making sure they cast a wide net to learn more about NHPI vets' lives and concerns.
“They've been through a lot of rigorous training because not only do they have to learn about the other cultural lifestyles but also the military lifestyle. So they have to have two different types of training. And on top of that, they have to really dive deep into the VA, or Veterans Affairs, system too, so that when they're doing the qualitative research and their interviews, when they try to get the answers out and all the information out, they have to really know how to dial in to grabbing these little questions.
“Otherwise, you know, me myself as a veteran, people might just ask me a question. I can just say, yeah, sure. And when you don't ask the right question, that's all you're going to get.”
The teams at UAMS and the University of Hawaii will not just conduct interviews with NHPI vets, but work on policy analysis and the development of health care resources. Kabua says this kind of attention for NHP vets is groundbreaking.
“There's never been a project like this before. It's very unique and it's the first of its kind. And I think that's where it's very exciting to see that instead of just concentrating on, you know, health and hunger, maternal or child homelessness, this is where veterans can come together and voice out their concerns.
“We veterans always love to stand strong together and come together. So I'm really looking forward to how this plays out.”
And Kabua says the project is also another opportunity for NHPI veterans to work together and share their experiences to help each other. You can learn more at the UAMS Institute for Community Health website.
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