One of Hawaii’s largest insurance companies has begun offering Native Hawaiian cultural practices as part of its suite of covered services.
Primarily serving Medicaid and some Medicare customers, Aloha Care offers services like Ho’oponopono, Lomilomi, Aipono, and Hula to support what the company calls “whole-person care and health in partnership with community health providers.” is provided.
This service will be provided free of charge to Aloha Care’s approximately 83,000 members. The program, called “Ke Aloha Mau,” began last fall and is currently being rolled out across the Hawaiian Islands.
Aloha Care provides services in partnership with community health centers and Native Hawaiian Healthcare Systems.
Francoise Currie Trotman, CEO of Aloha Care, said the pandemic was a wake-up call that drew attention to gaps in services and the need for additional ways to keep people healthy.
Ke Aloha Mau’s launch plan began in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, when “everyone had a deeper understanding that our communities were struggling to meet basic needs.” It started from.
The company organized listening sessions and obtained feedback from Aloha Care members, and overwhelmingly the direction clients wanted Aloha Care to take was to expand culturally rooted health practices.
One of these is Ho’oponopono, a Native Hawaiian healing practice that helps couples and other family members resolve conflicts and improve family relationships by improving communication. According to the Aloha Care website, this includes spiritual discussions to restore family ties and heal wounds.
Another practice offered by Aloha Care is hula, a Native Hawaiian dance form. Studies have shown that it stimulates movement, strengthens the immune system, lowers blood pressure, promotes mental health, and has a variety of other benefits.
Lomi Lomi, a Native Hawaiian physical therapy and massage form, is designed to stretch and align the body and reduce stress. And Aipono practices a traditional, healthy Hawaiian diet that focuses on locally sourced and prepared ingredients.
In 2020, a report from the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine highlighted the need for culturally sensitive programs to address social and health inequities among Native Hawaiians.
The report analyzed data showing that Native Hawaiians suffer from coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes at three times the rate of other ethnic groups.
It also provided evidence-based research showing that culturally-based care improves the health of Native Hawaiians.
Sheri Daniels, chief executive officer of Papa Ola Lokahi, a nonprofit consortium, said Aloha Care “is a way to ensure that insurance covers Native Hawaiian services that are part of our cultural values and beliefs.” “It offers great opportunities for the community and its residents.”
One Native Hawaiian health center offering some services is located in Waimanalo on Oahu’s east side and is staffed by seven Native Hawaiian health care workers.
Waimanalo Health Center began developing a cultural medicine program in 2015 by hiring Kumu Reinaala Bright, the center’s director of cultural health services.
Native Hawaiian health practitioners have over 30 years of Lomi Lomi experience. She offers classes such as Laau Lapaau, Hawaiian herbal medicine;
Bright said traditional medicine and cultural healing programs have been very successful.
In response to the high level of interest, Mr. Bright has developed a series of educational programs including Ola’s Law, Papa Lau’s Law, and Mahi Laau Lapa’au Law.
The goal is to teach people how to grow and use medicinal herbs to live a healthy lifestyle and treat a variety of conditions.
These practices bridge Western medicine and indigenous knowledge and appeal to many who would otherwise shy away from clinics.
“It was very comforting and supportive,” Bright said.
Aloha Care’s Ke Aloha Mau program is also available at Hui Ke Ola Pono Clinic on Maui and Hui Malama Ola na Oiwi in Hilo on the Big Island.
The company is in various stages of implementing programs at Kokua Kalihi Valley, Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, Hamakua Kohala Health Center, Hula Lahui Hawaii (Kauai Community Health Center), and Hawaii Island Community Health Center. .
Civil Beat’s community health coverage is supported by the Atherton Family Foundation, the Swain Family Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation, the Cook Foundation, and Papa Ola Lokahi.
