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Filmmaker Matthew Nagato (at left) interviews UH Hilo alumnus Zaq Tman for an educational video to encourage students to seek health support services. At right is co-creative director Alexander Bocchieri. Courtesy photos.

With funding from the American College of Health Foundation, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo produced the educational video “No Shame, No Blame” in the fall 2016 semester to encourage students to seek health support services.

The $3,500 national Gallagher Student Innovative Practices in College Health Fund award was presented in June to Sulma Gandhi, director of UH Hilo Student Health and Wellness Programs, by Connie Crihfield, chair of the American College of Health Foundation. The purpose of the fund is to provide financial support to student health centers and their staff for the development of innovative practices that improve access to quality healthcare for students.

Student Health and Wellness Programs at UH Hilo provides care that integrates education and prevention efforts with medical and mental health services, programs, and activities. Gandhi, who applied for the award, says she hopes the film will spark dialog.

“The point of the film is to have a conversation, to understand what are the challenges and barriers for these populations from accessing our services and what we could do to improve our programs,” she explains.

The main focus of the project is to reach segments of the university population that have been less likely to access UH Hilo student support programs. In particular, the film is being produced with a Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island student audience in mind.

UH Hilo graduate Zaq Tman assisted in the making of the film, sharing information with the intended audience as an interviewee. Essential to initiating the production of the film was Yolisa Duley, a sociology lecturer specializing in indigenous leadership, health and wellness. Anthony Liu, a specialist in information technology, also assisted in production. Gandhi also enlisted the help of Matthew Nagato, director and founder of Lumos Media. Nagato is working on the film with his co-creative director Alexander Bocchieri.

For more on the new video, read the full UH Hilo Stories article.

—A UH Hilo Stories article written by Lara Hughes, a public information intern in the Office of the Chancellor

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