Session: Culturally Focused Prevention Interventions for Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) Youth (Society for Prevention Research 23rd Annual Meeting)

SESSION INTRODUCTION: The goal of this symposium session is to highlight innovative prevention research focused primarily on Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPIs). This symposium has implications for understanding the common pathways to and impact on disease prevention and health promotion for NHOPIs, as well as examines the development and testing of Hawaiian-specific interventions within the prevention cycle. This symposium brings together researchers from multiple research teams and institutions in the state of Hawai‘i who have actively been pursuing indigenous prevention science over the past decade.

The first presentation, “Pilot and Feasibility Testing of the Ho‘ouna Pono Drug Prevention Curriculum: 12-Month Follow Up Findings, ” describes the development and evaluation of a culturally grounded drug prevention curriculum for rural youth on Hawai‘i Island. The presentation will incorporate findings from the 12-month follow up of the curriculum, and how the study will inform future culturally grounded prevention in rural Hawai‘i.

The second paper, “Culture as Intervention: Developing Evidence-Based Drug Prevention with a Native Hawaiian Community,” describes the development of a culturally grounded prevention program using community- and indigenous-based research principles and practices. Using qualitative methods and a Hawaiian epistemological framework, this project describes the efforts of rural communities to address substance use and abuse.

The third paper, “A Strength-Based and Youth-Driven Approach to Suicide Prevention in Rural and Minority Communities,” examined the impact of a statewide suicide prevention program called the Hawai‘i’s Caring Communities Initiative. The program reflects a strength-based and youth-driven preventative approach, which may help in creating deep and lasting impacts on mental health disparities.

At the conclusion of the presentations, the discussant will summarize the presentations and facilitate a discussion between the presenters and the symposium attendees. This symposium will attract prevention researchers with an interest in the development and testing of empirically based prevention interventions for NHOPI youth and families, and contributes to NIH’s overall goal of eliminating health disparities.