EXPERTS ADVISORY

ANN ARBOR—University of Michigan researcher Sela Panapasa is available to discuss the significance of the National Health Interview Survey of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander peoples that began this month.

“This is the first time in half a century that the federal government is collecting nationally representative health information from such a large NHPI sample,” said Panapasa, a researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research and the principal investigator of a pilot survey that identified significant health challenges facing the NHPI population.

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people have always been included in nationally representative surveys, but the samples have been small, raising concerns about the confidentiality and generalizability of the responses, she said. To address this issue the NHPI population is typically aggregated into the category of Asian and Pacific Islanders, with results reflecting the health of the much larger Asian population—which masks the true experiences for NHPIs.

“Putting us in with the Asian population made us look well-educated, wealthy and healthy,” said Panapasa, a native of Fiji. “That’s my dream, but the reality is that we need good data now to identify the problems our people are facing and to tailor interventions that will work for them.”

Panapasa can be reached at panapasa@umich.edu

Related Links:

• Pacific Research and Discourse: http://prd.psc.isr.umich.edu
• Related news story: Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Conference in L.A. Sept. 24-25
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