Avoidable hospital stays tied to housing

A team of University of Hawaii researchers has linked homelessness and inadequate housing to unnecessary hospitalizations.

“We were interested in patient perspectives on the role of housing as contributing to their potentially preventable hospitalization,” said principal investigator Tetine Sentell, an associate professor with the UH Office of Public Health Studies, in a release issued Thursday.

According to UH public health graduate Michelle Quensell, lead author of “I Need My Own Place to Get Better: Patient Perspectives on the Role of Housing in Potentially Preventable Hospitalizations,” the team talked to 90 patients, about a quarter of whom cited housing-related issues as a major factor in their hospitalization. About half of these patients were homeless, Quensell said.

“Patients reported difficulties controlling their diabetes or heart disease without amenities such as refrigeration, running water, a stove or a safe place to secure medications,” Sentell said. “Patients also mentioned challenges following diet plans when canned goods were the only available foods at the shelters and food banks.”

The study was produced as part of an ongoing effort to reduce preventable hospitalizations for diabetes and heart disease in Hawaii.

The team also included public health studies Director Kathryn Braun; Deborah Taira, a professor at UH Hilo’s Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy; and Todd Seto, a UH associate professor of medicine.

Hawaii island

No tsunami after early morning earthquake

A magnitude­-4.2 earthquake occurred just after 2 a.m. Sunday in the Alenuihaha Channel between Maui and Hawaii island, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a statement shortly after stating that no tsunami was expected as a result of the quake.

The quake occurred 20.5 miles west-northwest of Hawi at a depth of 10.7 miles, the USGS reported.

Mariners warned of possible Kilauea lava shelf collapse

The Coast Guard is warning mariners to steer clear of the Kamokuna ocean entry point, where lava from Kilauea Volcano has built a large, unstable shelf that could collapse at any moment.

The U.S. Geological Survey, which operates the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said several large cracks have developed in the shelf, running parallel to the coast and spanning the width of the delta.

Accordingly, the Coast Guard has established a temporary safety zone that extends nearly 1,000 feet in all directions from the ocean entry.

“All waterway users should be aware of this new delta formation, the potential for a significant collapse with little or no warning and the natural hazards associated with such an event,” Lt. Cmdr. John Bannon of Coast Guard Sector Honolulu said in an email release.

Large and dense fragments of lava can be ejected in all directions during a delta collapse, the observatory has warned.

The safety zone is in force at least until Sept. 28, the Coast Guard said.