In partnership with the First Insurance Company of Hawai‘i, the College of Social Sciences (CSS) at UH Mānoa has released a series of research papers addressing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its devastating impact on the health and welfare of Hawaii’s families.
The papers focus on understanding and addressing the social implications of COVID-19 in areas including: community resilience and emergency response; health and well-being of communities; economic vitality and recovery; mental health needs; rapid response to academic needs in the community; emergency messaging and behavior; and cultural considerations and implications.
“Our goal is to provide evidence-based social sciences research, so that Hawaii’s leaders can make more informed and compassionate policy and business decisions as our state deals with the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation,” said Jeff Shonka, president and CEO of First Insurance Company of Hawai‘i.
“I commend the researchers for their quick work to bring to light important data and analysis that would otherwise be untold,” said CSS Dean Denise Eby Konan. “I’m especially grateful to our partnership with First Insurance Company, as they compelled us to respond to an urgent gap in knowledge facing our state at this critical time.”
Topics of current papers include:
- Identifying Drivers of Health and Socioeconomic Disparities and its Implications During COVID-19
Wei Zhang, PhD, and Margaret Walkover, MPH, Department of Sociology - COVID-19 Impacts on Homeless Service Provision: Assessing Frontline Workers’ Stress and Barriers to Service Provision
Anna Pruitt, PhD, Department of Psychology - Potential Ramifications of COVID-19 for COFA Migrants in Hawai‘i
Timothy J Halliday, PhD, Department of Economics and UHERO - Exploring Best Practices for Communication Strategies During a Public Health Crisis
Ji Young Kim, Ph.D., School of Communications - Resetting the Table: Keeping and Bringing Back Hawaii’s Restaurants
Lawrence H. Nitz, PhD, Department of Political Science - Workers at the Table – Recommendations for Best Practices for the Hotel Industry as it Recovers from COVID-19
Monisha Das Gupta, PhD, and Richard Cullen Rath, PhD, Department of Ethnic Studies
In collaboration with UNITE HERE! Local 5 and Hawaiʻi Workers Center - Grounding Post-COVID 19 Economic Recovery in ʻĀina Momona (Abundant and Self-Sufficient) Systems
Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor, PhD, Department of Ethnic Studies, Center for Oral History
In collaboration with KUA – Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo - Re-orienting Agriculture in a Post-Pandemic Economy
Krisna Suryanata, PhD, Department of Geography and Environment
Nicole Milne, PhD, The Kohala Center - Examining Best Practices for Virtual Participatory Planning and Policy-Making Processes
Dan Milz, PhD, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution
All papers are circulated to stimulate policy discussion and comment. The views expressed are those of the individual authors.
