Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 12, 1 December 1990 — Grant brings pre-natal care to Puna [ARTICLE]

Grant brings pre-natal care to Puna

Big Island public health nurses received $2.5 million of a $3.5 million grant to provide prenatal care services to Hawaiian, Filipino and Japanese women in the Hilo-Puna district, John C. Lewin, M.D., Director of Health has announced. The other million goes to the University of California, San Francisco for research and data analysis for the oroiect.

Senators Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye provided mueh support in assuring that the research project would be done in Hawai'i. The project involves community-based health care delivered by public health nurses to decrease low birth weight and medical comp!ications of island babies and to increase self care behaviors and utilizations of health services by island mothers. This project represents a mutual partnership with the Big Island Hilo-Puna community to offer

culturally sensitive services to women in respect for their Hawaiian Island heritage and style of living. "This project is especially exciting because it focuses on solutions for two of our most impx)rtant areas of need," Dr. Lewin said. "First, it helps us provide prenatal care to women who haven't been reached well in the past. And, second it will demonstrate how nursing professionals ean enhanee primary care for hard to reach people."

A group of national experts found this model applicable to other islands inthe state of Hawai'i, and to other rural, ethnic populations in the United States. This project is a unique venture between the University of California, San Francisco and the Public Health Nursing Branch, Department of Health, State of Hawaii because of the partnership between research and practice.

Dr. Dyanne Affonso, RN, the pnneiple investigator for the project from University of California at San Francisco was born in Laupahoehoe, raised on Oahu and graduated from the University Of Hawaii at Manoa. Geri Marullo, DOH deputy director for Personel Health Services supported the projectfrom its ineephon to enable the Department of Health to be actively involved in the planning and initiation of the research project within the Health Department.

June Kunimoto, Public Health Nursing Supervisor for Hawaii, will be the Project Director. Consultants and collaborators include faculty from the University of Hawaii at Hilo, University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania and the Nordic School of Public Health in Goteborg, Sweden.