COVID-19 devastating family health, welfare, research finds

Denise Eby Konan, dean, College of Social Sciences

Jeff Shonka, president and CEO of First Insurance Company of Hawai‘i

COVID-19’s devastating impact on the health and welfare of Hawaiʻi’s families is the focus of a series of research papers released by the College of Social Sciences (CSS) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, in partnership with First Insurance Company of Hawaiʻi.

“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.”

“Our goal is to provide evidence-based social sciences research, so that Hawaiʻi’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 Hawaiʻi.

Current papers:

• Identifying Drivers of Health and Socioeconomic Disparities and its Implications During COVID-19 by Wei Zhang, professor, and Margaret Walkover, PhD student, Department of Sociology
• COVID-19 Impacts on Homeless Service Provision: Assessing Frontline Workers’ Stress and Barriers to Service Provision by Anna Pruitt, post-doctoral researcher, Department of Psychology
• Potential Ramifications of COVID-19 for COFA Migrants in Hawaiʻi by Timothy J. Halliday, professor, Department of Economics and UHERO
• Exploring Best Practices for Communication Strategies During a Public Health Crisis by Ji Young Kim, associate professor, School of Communications
• Resetting the Table: Keeping and Bringing Back Hawaii’s Restaurants by Lawrence H. Nitz, professor, Department of Political Science
• Workers at the Table – Recommendations for Best Practices for the Hotel Industry as it Recovers from COVID-19 by Monisha Das Gupta, professor, and Richard Cullen Rath, associate professor, 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 by Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor, professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, Center for Oral History, in collaboration with Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo
• Re-orienting Agriculture in a Post-Pandemic Economy by Krisna Suryanata, professor, Department of Geography and Environment, and Nicole Milne, The Kohala Center
• Examining Best Practices for Virtual Participatory Planning and Policy-Making Processes by Dan Milz, assistant professor, Department of Urban and 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.