Prioritizing Connection and Centering on Community: Take Your Shoes Off and Don't Put Your Feet on the Furniture.

This column describes what it means to be "in" a community and how to create a leading role for community partners in shaping research. It highlights essential components for conducting clinical and translational research in the community, including: (1) invitation to share history and purpose; (2) community-initiated collaboration and engagement; (3) focus on social and cultural determinants of health; (4) community-driven measures and frameworks; (5) application of Indigenous methods and approaches; and (6) implementation of Indigenous and adaptable interventions. Partnering with a community entails building relationships and positioning research around community interests, using methodologies and interventions right for the community.

Engaging Community Health Centers to understand their perceptions and interest in longitudinal cohort research on diabetes mellitus in Native Hawaiian communities: Initial insights from the Waimānalo community.

Introduction: Despite decades of research on diabetes mellitus (DM) and other health disparities affecting Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) populations, little is known about the disease mechanisms that underlie these health disparities. Ideally, a longitudinal cohort study is one of the best research design tools to examine underlying mechanisms of disease in health disparity conditions such as DM. The study purpose is to understand the perspectives and insights of people ( = 29) living in NHPI communities about conducting longitudinal cohort studies aimed at understanding mechanisms of health disparities in NHPI populations.

Building the Beloved Community: Reflections in Understanding Relationships to Food for Native Hawaiians.

Introduction: Health disparities within the Native Hawaiian community have been well-documented for many years.

Methods: Innovative, culturally relevant, and community-generated approaches are required to truly change the trajectory and impact of chronic illnesses for Native Hawaiians. This article describes the experiences of residents from Wai'anae and Waimānalo who were trained in a process called Building the Beloved Community, and facilitated group sessions for a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project around 'ai pono (eating healthy), seeking to understand Native Hawaiian community residents' perceptions of current and historical influences on eating.

Connecting culturally and spiritually to healthy eating: A community assessment with Native Hawaiians.

Many of the chronic illnesses disproportionately experienced by Native Hawaiians are directly related to poor diets and long-standing obesity beginning in childhood. We report on the findings of in-depth key informant interviews (N=14) that took place in two Native Hawaiian communities as part of a larger, community-based participatory research study that included a community assessment through individual interviews and focused group discussions, and a pilot intervention targeting pregnant women, their infants, and families. Four categories emerged from the qualitative analysis of interview transcripts that described an understanding of "healthy eating": family roles and responsibilities, aspects of community and physical environment, deeper spiritual meaning of food, and ways of operationalizing personal eating choices.

Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Patients with Complex Diabetes Who Are Served by National Safety-Net Health Centers.

Objective: Recent research demonstrates an increased need to understand the contribution of social determinants of health (SDHs) in shaping an individual's health status and outcomes. We studied patients with diabetes in safety-net centers and evaluated associations of their disease complexity, demographic characteristics, comorbidities, insurance status, and primary language with their HbA1c level over time.

Methods: Adult patients with diabetes with at least 3 distinct primary care visits between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2013, were identified in the CHARN data warehouse.

Engaging Native Hawaiians and Pilipinos in creating supportive and safe violence-free communities for women through a piloted "talkstory" intervention: Implications for program development.

In Hawaii, 20% of women have been victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). Although disaggregated data specific to Native Hawaiians or Pilipinos (The official Filipino language recognizes both Filipino (Filipina) and Pilipino (Pilipina) as terms for the citizens of the country. Participants in this study chose to use the terms Pilipino (Pilipina).

Refining the research infrastructure at community health centers.

Background: Community health centers (CHC) often partner with academics to conduct community-based participatory research (CBPR). Because of their research expertise, academic partners are usually the principal investigators (PIs); however, moving the home base of research to the community can prove beneficial to the CHC and its community.

Objectives: The purpose of this paper was to discuss the lessons learned after conducting a CBPR project and to share identified solutions.

Responding to the needs of culturally diverse women who experience intimate partner violence.

This paper presents the findings from a community based participatory research (CBPR) study that investigated the interface between culture and intimate partner violence (IPV) for women in selected cultural groups in Hawaii: Native Hawaiian, Filipino, Samoan, and Chuukese. The research question was, "What are the cultural perceptions, responses, and needs regarding IPV of selected individuals and groups served through a variety of programs that are affiliated with the three participating Community Health Centers (CHCs)?" This cross sectional, descriptive study collected both qualitative and quantitative data. Individual interviews were conducted with women who had experienced IPV.

The Voices of Native Hawaiian Women: Perceptions, Responses and Needs Regarding Intimate Partner Violence.

Using a community based participatory approach, individual interviews and focus groups were conducted with Native Hawaiian women to understand their cultural perceptions, responses, and needs regarding intimate partner violence (IPV). Semi-structured interview guides were used for both interviews. The overriding theme derived from content analysis is that IPV "starts in the home," it is learned in the family and in the community.

Re-examining community based research protocols.

The Waiànae community is challenged with multiple medical, psychosocial, geographic, and economic adversities, serving primarily indigenous peoples. This is also a community with distinct cultural and political strengths and a history of community activism. Much has been written from the perspective of academia or professional organizations regarding community-based research.

Breastfeeding patterns in a community of Native Hawaiian mothers participating in WIC.

Although Hawaii has high breastfeeding initiation rates (89%), Native Hawaiian WIC participants have much lower initiation (64%) rates. Little is known about why these disparities occur. The study's aim was to describe the breastfeeding patterns of Hawaiian/part-Hawaiian women enrolled in the WIC who had initiated breastfeeding.

Finding solutions to challenges faced in community-based participatory research between academic and community organizations.

Partnerships between communities and academic institutions have been vital in addressing complex health and psychosocial issues faced by culturally diverse and hard-to-reach populations. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been suggested as a strategy to develop trust and build on the strengths of partners from various settings to address significant health issues, particularly those persistent health issues that reveal disparities among minority populations. There have been many challenges to developing these partnerships in the United States.

The 'place' of data.

Health disparities research has been at the forefront for many researchers, organizations, and funding agencies. Collecting, interpreting, and disseminating data on particular disparate populations are at the core of this research process, data which have been interpreted to be meaningful to the benefit of and use by communities. The purpose of this paper is to explore the question, "How is data used?" with an appreciation for indigenous beliefs and community based research.

Intimate-partner violence: a retrospective review of records in primary care settings.

Purpose: The goals of this study were (a) to gather data regarding the documentation of disclosure of battering in primary care settings and (b) to collect demographic data, including ethnicity, of women who disclose intimate partner violence (IPV) in primary care settings in Hawaii.

Data Sources: We conducted a retrospective chart review focusing on documentation of IPV in four community health centers on Oahu. The review included 337 charts.