Office of Public Health Studies

Currently, nearly 100,000 kūpuna and others in Hawaiʻi are impacted by Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia. In Hawaiʻi, where multigenerational homes are common, many young people are living with older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

A recent survey provides robust evidence of a food security crisis in the eastern Arctic, and also solidifies how Indigenous groups’ access to food is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. 

One in three hospitalized youth in Hawaiʻi had obesity, underscoring the need for greater attention to obesity in the inpatient setting and targeted interventions to reduce obesity among younger hospitalized patients.

It has been widely reported that COVID-19 disproportionately impacts several communities in Hawaiʻi, including Pacific Islanders and Filipinos. But less attention has been given to the role of chronic disease.

Feeling connected to nature or the environment is important for health, and new public health research from the Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa examines how these feelings of connection can be measured.