No Ke Ola Pono o Nā Kāne: A Culturally Grounded Approach to PromoteHealth Improvement in Native Hawaiian Men

摘要

In Hawai’i, Native Hawaiian men (kāne) have the highest death rate from coloncancer among all ethnic groups. While screening can prevent 90% of thesecancers, data show that >58% of kāne over age 50 have never been screened.Prior research has demonstrated that community-based social networks may helpkāne adopt healthy behaviors such as cancer screening, however, few studies haveactivated such an approach. A cross-sectional study entitled No Ke Ola Pono o NāKāne (for the good health of men) was conducted statewide in Hawai’i from 2014to 2018. The study strived to perpetuate the Native Hawaiian traditionalpractice of “hale mua” (men’s house) to promote healthy behaviors among kāneincluding the adoption of colon cancer prevention strategies such as fecalimmunochemical testing (FIT). The study applied a peer-led intervention modelusing kāne volunteers to deliver the program’s educational components, includingstandardized materials to help the volunteers confidently conduct the sessions.Of the 378 kāne who were recruited into the study, 232 participated in thecolorectal session of which 64% ( = 149) were over age 50.Survey data from the 149 kāne indicated that 31% had not discussed colon healthor screening with their doctors but 92% had improved their knowledge about colonhealth from the session. In addition, 76% ( = 113) agreed tocomplete a FIT. Session evaluations indicated that >91% of kāne liked thehale mua approach and benefited from talking with other kāne about theirhealth.