Search

Background: In 2014, the Hawaii Department of Education (DOE), the only statewide school system in the United States, predominately enrolled children (keiki) from underserved communities and lacked school nurses or a school health program. Chronic absenteeism due to health concerns was identified as a barrier to academic success. Methods: The DOE and a public university created Hawaii Keiki--Healthy and Ready to Learn (HK), a program to provide school-based services for 170 Title 1 schools in urban and rural settings and build momentum for statewide collective action. HK has maintained support from public and private entities to address student health. Results: This paper describes 5 years of program development, implementation, and continuing challenges. Most recently in 2020-2021, HK pivoted in the face of school campus closings due to COVID-19 with strategic plans, including telehealth, to move forward in this changed school environment. Conclusions: The HK program has increased awareness of students' needs and is addressing the imperative to build health services within public schools. The multipronged approach of building awareness of need, providing direct services, educating future care providers, and supporting sound policy development, has an impact that goes beyond any one individual area.

Describes collaborative efforts of New Jersey Department of Human Services child welfare division and the New Jersey Children's Hospital AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) Program to care for children with human immunodeficiency virus. Contends child welfare and health care communities have responsibility to provide comprehensive, coordinated services to these children and their families. (Author/ABL)

Objectives. This study examines quality of life (QOL) among school-aged children with perinatally acquired HIV infection and compares QOL outcomes between treatment groups that differ according to the use of protease inhibitor (PI) combination therapy (PI therapy). To gain insights into how PI therapy might influence QOL, associations between severity of illness and QOL were also investigated. Methods. Cross-sectional data for 940 children, 5 to 18 years of age, who were enrolled in Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group Late Outcomes Protocol 219 were used to examine domains of caregiver-reported QOL, as assessed with the General Health Assessment for Children, during 1999. The General Health Assessment for Children is an age-specific, modular, QOL assessment that was developed for the study with previously validated measures. QOL differences between treatment groups were estimated with linear and logistic regressions that controlled for sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, race/ethnicity, maternal/caregiver education, and respondent) and severity-of-illness indicators related to receipt of PI therapy (AIDS status, [log.sub.10] [CD4.sup.+] cell counts, and height-for-age z scores). Results. The mean age of participants was 9.7 years. Most children were non-Hispanic black (54%) or Hispanic (31%), and 49% of the participants were female. At the 1999 study visit, ~14% of children had severe immune suppression ( Conclusions. QOL among children receiving PI therapy differed little from that among children receiving non-PI therapy, despite clinical indications of more advanced disease. Importantly, the study found no evidence of direct negative effects of Pl therapy on QOL outcomes, other than an increased rate of diarrhea. Findings suggest that the effects of PI combination therapies to slow or to prevent disease progression and to increase CD[4.sup.+] cell counts and height growth have the potential to improve QOL among children with HIV infection. However, many children do experience a constellation of functional impairments indicated by behavioral problems and clinical symptoms, with limitations in activities and in school performance. Comprehensive health services will continue to be required to minimize long-term illness and disability and to maximize children's potential as they move into adolescence and adulthood. URL: www.pediatrics.org/cgi/ doi/10.1542/peds.2004-1693; children, health status, HIV-1, protease inhibitor, quality of life.

The article discusses the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene has the major public educator of entry-level and advanced practice nurses for the state of Hawai‘i. Topics include the coronavirus pandemic has immense pressure on emergency rooms and intensive care units, highlighting the critical role of interprofessional teamwork as nurses; and the proper use of personal protective equipment to prevent, treat, and control the spread of SARS-COV2.

The article reports on the establishment of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in Hawai'i to elevate the educational options for nurses. Topics mentioned include the definition of the accepted preparation for advanced practice nursing, an increase in enrollment in schools nationwide that have implemented DNP programs, and the DNP program of UH Mánoa Nursing accredited by the Commission of Colleges of Nursing Education.

An abstract of the forum discussion topic "College of Health Sciences and Social Welfare," by Dr. Mary G. Boland is presented.

Prevention and successful treatment of chronic disease require a scientific understanding of the impacts and interactions of ethnicity, culture, and illness on self-management interventions. This article presents one approach to developing effective methods to address the needs of ethnic minorities living with chronic illnesses. Described is the University of Hawaii Center for Ohana Self-Management of Chronic Illnesses (COSMCI) located in the School of Nursing & Dental Hygiene and funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (Award Number P20NR010671). The interdisciplinary center focuses on family and community self-management interventions in ethnically diverse populations with chronic illnesses. Areas discussed are: 1) the operational structure for creating an environment conducive to interdisciplinary ohana self-management chronic illness research in ethnically diverse populations; and 2) the development of sustainable interdisciplinary, biobehavioral research capacity. The COSMCI uses a social cognitive theory framework to guide the application of established self-management interventions to Asian and Pacific Island populations (API) through three conceptually linked research projects on HIV infection, type 2 diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. COSMI addresses the feasibility of sharing of lessons learned among the approaches taken. The interdisciplinary nature of COSMCI increases the potential success of the intervention efforts., (Hawaii Medical Journal Copyright 2010.)