Congratulations to all CTAHR faculty who were successful in the recent Maui County FY20 grant competition! Nine proposals were submitted, requesting a total of nearly $133,000; since only $100,000 was available, support was provided for the seven top proposals. Researchers are encouraged to try for funding next year—it’s a great way to get some important projects up and running!

Suicide is the leading cause of fatal injuries among Hawai‘i residents, outpacing unintentional poisoning, drowning, car accidents, and homicides. To alert the community to the dangers of suicide and ways to help, Thao Le (HDFS) discussed teen suicide prevention and intervention and potential harmful consequences of overconsuming digital social media on two panels at the recent Hawai‘i Book and Music Festival. 

Budi Waluyo, a former PhD student of Sothy Eng (FCS), recently published a study based on his dissertation examining how an influential international scholarship program impacted the recipients’ capabilities, instead of looking at what’s typically measured, their economic success. It showed that fellows’ success in terms of life choices, capabilities, and achieved functioning was positively related to their impact on social justice.

At the next COF Brown Bag seminar, Thao Le will present “The Role of Culture and Context in Mindfulness Training & Dissemination.” In this presentation, she will share her research and experiences in sharing mindfulness with health, human, and social service professionals in Hawai‘i, centering mindfulness within the ALOHA response, and her mindfulness and service learning project in Vietnam. 

Did you know gardening is healthy for social bonds as well as for the body and the planet? Sothy Eng (FCS) recently published an article in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, “Healthy Lifestyle Through Home Gardening: The Art of Sharing,” with three UHM undergraduate students that explains just that.