ABSTRACT
The Community Care Outreach Unit of the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) Medical/Public Heath Branch conducted a survey to gauge the impact, needs, and threats to the health and social welfare of individuals and their families pertaining to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This article presents key findings for the County of Maui (MC) in the state. A mixed-methods framework was utilized for survey distribution and recruitment of participants from across the state. Recruitment strategies included snowball sampling via website and social media, and paper surveys. Descriptive analysis of the data is presented to give a basic overview of the impact of COVID-19 in MC. A total of 883 participants in MC responded to the survey. Approximately one-third reported that they or family members experienced reduced work hours or lost their job because of COVID-19. In all questions related to paying for essential living needs, the percentage of participants who expected to have future problems was higher than the percentage who reported having current problems. Of those preparing for the fall 2020 school semester, expected challenges included lack of funds to purchase school supplies, lack of face coverings, and language barriers. Most participants in MC perceived the severity of COVID-19 to be moderate to very high, and there was a moderate level of knowledge about which groups are more at risk for contracting severe COVID-19. Less than half would know how to provide care for someone in their family with COVID-19. Several resource barriers for caring for a family member with COVID-19 were identified. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a more severe impact on Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander groups compared to others in the county. The results may provide a baseline for understanding the impact, needs, and threats to the health and social welfare of individuals and their families in MC. Local stakeholders can utilize this information to develop priorities, strategies, and programs to address the COVID-19 pandemic response in MC.
ABSTRACT
Hawai'i's Pacific Islander (PI) population has suffered a higher burden of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, hospitalizations, and deaths compared to other groups in the state. The Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency Community Care Outreach Unit conducted an assessment across the state to gain an understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and social welfare of households. Survey data was collected from individuals across the state during a period of 3 weeks (August 12-September 5, 2020). The following are resulting recommendations from the Pacific Island community to mitigate the impact and disparities of the pandemic as immediate and medium-term structural requests: (1) ensure that Pacific Island communities are proactively represented in state and county committees that develop health interventions to ensure that relevant language and culturally tailored communications and strategies are included, (2) provide consistent funding and community centered support to ensure consistent COVID-19 impact services for the Pacific Island families, (3) enhance the capacity of PI health care navigators and interpreters through increased funding and program support, and (4) engage state policy makers immediately to understand and address the systemic structural barriers to health care and social services for Pacific Islanders in Hawai'i. These recommendations were developed to address the generational inequities and disparities that exist for Pacific islanders in Hawai'i which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.