Health Impact Assessments
HIʻA custom-designed studies that evaluate the health impact of community-based programs. We have a wide variety of clinical and behavioral outcomes we can measure, including:
Clinical
- Weight-related outcomes (body-mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, body fat percentage)
- Blood sugar level or glycemic control (using A1C testing)
- Gut microbiome composition and diversity
- Cholesterol levels and other blood-based biomarkers
Behavioral
- Health knowledge and attitudes
- Dietary intake or exercise frequency
- Adherence to medication or vaccine usage
- Other health behaviors
Study design
Our studies can be designed to be longitudinal (including pre- and post-intervention metrics), cohort-based (study group and comparison group), cross-sectional, or some combination of these based on the client’s needs. We can also expand the study population to include not just program participants, but also their families and the broader community using a social network analysis study design.
Return on Investment Analysis
In the western healthcare paradigm, it is often of the utmost importance to demonstrate that an intervention or treatment is cost-effective. Using cost-benefit analyses and other methods, HIʻA can help determine whether a particular intervention or treatment is appropriate for further investment, scaling, or even integrating as a covered benefit through public or private insurance plans.
For impact-motivated investors wishing to explore the significance of more holistic, community-based interventions, HIʻA can couple ROI analyses with our other services, such as a health impact assessment or social network analysis. This level of comprehensive investigation can further illuminate—and quantify—broader societal benefits, savings, or investment opportunities.
Comprehensive Evaluation Services
Robust evaluation services ensure that programs, community organizations, and grant initiatives are carefully steered toward their defined objectives. We specialize across a multitude of domains, from educational curriculums to the milestones of research programs. Our detailed exploration into initiatives, coupled with a comprehensive analysis of challenges and identifying opportunities, develop crucial insights that serve as a foundation for continuous improvement and development.
Tailored Approach
Developing custom evaluation strategies, we ensure that our methodologies are precisely aligned with the unique objectives and requirements of each project.
Qualitative Evaluation
Through structured interviews and surveys, we extract detailed narratives and experiences from participants, providing context to the numeric data collected and guaranteeing our findings are embedded with nuanced insights.
Recommendations
Offering thoroughly researched and data-driven advice, we suggest strategic directions that are grounded in our comprehensive analytical findings.
Social Network Analysis
Hawaiian philosophy frames health as something that can only be achieved in the context of one’s environment, or honua—their family, community, and the world. This is often difficult for western health care models to understand and measure.
HIʻA is working to change this. Our team invites our clients to become co-researchers in our studies to help us better understand how tangible changes in health–such as blood sugar control, weight loss or gut microbiome composition—might be impacted not just on the individuals who participate, but also their friends, family and the broader community.
By analyzing the demographics, health metrics, and behaviors of participants’ social networks, we set out to prove that the deeper the connection to place, community, and ‘āina, the more profound and long-lasting the health impacts can be.
Personalized Dashboards
Positive feedback loops enhance or amplify changes, so in order to harness the greatest impact, we believe in inviting participants to share and learn from study results. With this in mind, we offer the development of personalized, interactive dashboards for clients who wish to share the results of their analysis back with community members.
Our dashboards can be customized to include resources for participants to continue making progress in their health journey, and private portals with personalized metrics that can be tracked over time by the user.