How to address vaccine hesitancy? How to combat food insecurity? In March 2021, those two questions drew interested viewers to webinars presented by the College of Social Sciences and First Insurance Company of Hawaiʻi.
On March 22, “Communicating about COVID-19 Vaccinations: Recommendations for Hawaiʻi,” identified four primary types of barriers to vaccination:
- Access: Problems associated with actually getting vaccinated, such as difficulty in traveling to vaccination sites or scheduling appointments, or vaccine shortages.
- Perceived harm: Concerns about the safety or negative impact of the vaccine on health.
- Mistrust: Beliefs that the government, scientists, pharmaceutical companies or medical establishments are not trustworthy and/or that vaccines are neither necessary nor effective.
- Specific beliefs: The premise that the vaccine was developed “too fast” and thus may not be safe.
Researchers looked at data from Hawaiʻi adults who had not yet received the vaccine to identify common barriers and provided communication strategies to address them.
Research team members included:
- Jessica Gasiorek, associate professor, Department of Communicology
- Amy Ebesu Hubbard, professor and chair, Department of Communicology
- Hye-ryeon Lee, professor, Department of Communicology
- Ruben Juarez, professor, Department of Economics and UHERO
- Jack Barile, interim director, Social Science Research Institute; associate professor, Department of Psychology
Researchers suggested specific messages for four groups: those who will definitely get the vaccine; those who will probably get the vaccine; those who will probably not get the vaccine; and those who will definitely not get the vaccine.
Three days later, on March 25, a webinar on “Addressing Hunger and Food Insecurity Among Hawaiʻi’s Families” looked at households that lacked enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.
Six primary barriers to accessing services and food security were identified:
- A lack of public awareness of available services.
- The stigma and embarrassment associated with needing assistance.
- The differing needs and contexts by impacted families, resulting in an ineffective one-size-fits-all approach to services.
- Transportation barriers.
- Housing insecurity.
- The lack of a coordinated statewide plan for addressing food insecurity.
Research team members included:
- Anna Pruitt, research associate and faculty affiliate, Department of Psychology
- Wei Zhang, professor and chair, Department of Sociology
- Yanyan Wu, associate professor, Office of Public Health Studies
- Omar Bird, doctoral candidate, Department of Sociology
- Brad Nakamura, co-director, Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy; professor, Department of Psychology
- Jack Barile, interim director, Social Science Research Institute; associate professor, Department of Psychology
The researchers suggested recommendations including developing more tailored approaches to food insecurity and needs; addressing housing insecurity and transportation barriers; enhancing long-term, systems-level solutions and community-based responses; and considering more flexibility and adaptions in policies.
The cooperative effort between the College of Social Sciences and First Insurance is part of the Social Sciences Effect series, which is aimed at solving Hawaiʻi’s most urgent societal challenges through bold, collaborative action.
