Understanding Marshallese Patients: Cooperating across Cultures
A Workshop for Healthcare Workers
This workshop, sponsored by the Center for Pacific Islands Studies and Small Island Networks, was held on 28 July 2004 on the UH Mnoa campus. The presenters were Willa Ysawa Aaron, Wilfred Alik, Julie Walsh Kroeker, and Neal A Palafox.
We welcome information about additional resources on health care for Marshallese patients, so that they can be added to this page. Please contact Tisha Hickson (), if you have resource information to share. Please let your coworkers know about this site, and check back on a regular basis for updates.
You are welcome to use these resources in your work, but we would appreciate it if you would acknowledge the source and the authors, if specified.
Resources from the workshop, posted on this site, include
· agenda [UnderstandingAgenda]
· biographies of the speakers [Speaker Bios],
· map of the Marshall Islands [MAP of MI]
· selection of slides from a powerpoint presentation on the Marshall Islands, the Compact of Free Association, and migration to Hawai‘i [Workshop Slides Subset.ppt]
· suggestions for working with Marshallese patients [Strategies.doc]
· case study [Workshop case study.doc]
· suggestions for handling case study situation [Case study slides.doc]
· Responses to questions on Marshallese cultural attitudes and practices, submitted by Hana Like PACT [Hana_Like_Questions.doc]
· Marshallese translations of common English health terms, by Will Ysawa Aaron, [MarshalleseMedVocab.doc]
· Chuukese translations of common English health terms, by Jocelyn Howard [ChuukeseMedVocab.doc]
· Recent census information on Marshallese, by Ben Graham [MarshHICensus.doc]
· Resource contact numbers for serving Marshallese in Hawai‘i [Resources for serving Mars.doc]
· Micronesia websites [Micronesia websites]
· Honolulu Advertiser article on “impact aid” for Marshall Islanders [Impact Aid Article]
· “Improving Health Outcomes in Diverse Populations: Competency in Cross-cultural Research with Indigenous Pacific Islander Populations,” by Neal A Palafox, et al [Improving Health Outcomes.pdf]
· “The Health Predicament of the U.S.-Associated Pacific Islands: What Role for Primary Health Care?” by Neal A Palafox, et al [Health Predicament.pdf]
· “Formative Research to Inform Intervention Development for Diabetes Prevention in the Republic of the Marshall Islands,” by Leslie M Cortes, et al [Formative Research]
· “Cultural Competence: A Proposal for Physicians reaching out to Native Hawaiian Patients,” by Neal A Palafox, et al [Cultural Competence.pdf]
· “Vitamin A Deficiency, Iron Deficiency, and Anemia among Preschool Children in the Republic of the Marshall Islands,” by Neal A Palafox, et al [Vitamin A Deficiency.pdf]
Additional post-workshop resources:
· National Public Radio audio segment: Marshallese Immigrants Force Authorities to Adapt [http://www.npr.org/rundowns/segment.php?wfId=3841763].
· Hawaii State Diabetes Prevention and Control Program pamphlet in Marshallese, “Take Charge of your Diabetes” [Final Marshallese Diabetes.pdf]
If you have resources to add, please email Tisha Hickson (). If you have questions about the resources that are posted, please contact Julie Walsh Kroeker, Small Island Networks, e-mail: .
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