Waimānalo Pono Research Hui: A Community–Academic Partnership to Promote Native Hawaiian Wellness through Culturally Grounded and Community‐Driven Research and Programming

Abstract

Although Hawai‘i is often portrayed as an idyllic paradise and is recognized as one of the healthiest States in the United States, pervasive health disparities exist among Native Hawaiians. Similar to other indigenous populations across the globe, these disparities are linked to unjust social and economic policies rooted in colonization and historical trauma. Western‐centric efforts to address these disparities have yielded limited results. Consequently, indigenous frameworks to decolonize western‐centric research processes have emerged. The Waimānalo Pono Research Hui is an example of a community–academic partnership that uses indigenous methodologies and principles of community‐based participatory research as the foundation to engage Native Hawaiian community members in research. Monthly gatherings are held where community members and academic researchers share a meal and discuss community priorities with the goal of shaping research and programming that are rooted in Native Hawaiian values. A mission for the group has been created as well as protocols for community engagement to ensure all projects that work with the Waimānalo Pono Research Hui are ethically sound and grounded in the community's preferences, cultural knowledge, and lived experiences. Our community members continually report that the Waimānalo Pono Research Hui has positively transformed their perception of and willingness to engage in research. Similarly, university students and academic researchers express how much their knowledge about working with communities has grown and inspired them. Creating spaces for communities and researchers to build authentic relationships and engage in ongoing conversations can promote culturally grounded and community‐driven research and programming.

Community Psychology and Indigenous Peoples

“…We also find examples of engagement with Indigenous communities and partners to conduct research, teaching, or practice to advance a social justice agenda relevant for Indigenous peoples or that incorporates Indigenous knowledge as in the papers by Chung‐Do et al. (), John‐Henderson et al. (), Kading, Gonzalez, Herman, Gonzalez, and Walls (), Parker, Pearson, Donald, and Fisher () and Wendt et al.…”

“…Chung‐Do et al. () describe the development and maintenance of a long‐term community‐academic partnership in support of Native Hawaiian community well‐being in “Waimanalo Pono Research: A Community‐Academic Partnership to Promote Native Hawaiian Wellness through Culturally‐Grounded and Community‐Driven Research and Programming.” The research partnership began with a relationship, and their story highlights how trust is built over the long‐term through shared values and commitment, co‐learning, and a focus on community priorities.…”

“…As Chung‐Do et al. () and John‐Henderson et al. () show how community‐academic partnerships can support Indigenous nation building, that is, increase capacity for community self‐determination, Jacob et al.…”

“…It is this more complex understanding of “communities” that we find revealed through the papers in this special issue. For example, numerous authors in this special issue describe processes surrounding community self‐determination, capacity development, and national building, yet each unique project and community‐academic relationship is highly different, with examples ranging from food and habitat restoration (Chung‐Do et al., ) and suicide prevention (Rasmus, Charles, John, & Allen, ) to language education for teachers (Jacob, Sabzalian, RunningHawk Johnson, Jansen, & Skawennio Morse, ) and art as an evaluation strategy (Straits, deMaría, & Tafoya, ). Gone's () analysis emphasizes the ways in which community psychology can support pluralism, embracing and advancing diversity of Indigenous communities and psychologies.…”

Working Together to Advance Indigenous Interests with Community Psychology

“…Researchers, in considering how to inform intervention work with Indigenous community interests, described intervention development and implementation processes that were distinctive in emphasis on collaboration and consensus‐building to understand local health issues and explore possible solutions. The Waimānalo Pono Research Hui, for example, developed from a partnership between academic researchers and one Native Hawaiian community, met monthly over meals to build consensus and clarity around community priorities for research and intervention programming (Chung et al., ). Engaging in genuine collaboration and consensus‐building can also support Indigenous communities in specifying local, self‐determined understandings and concepts for communicating about health, wellness, and healing to better inform intervention research.…”