The place and people of Waiʻanae, Hawaiʻi, are rich in connection with ʻāina (natural environment) and culture. Counter to this strengths-based approach, metrics and narratives imposed by outside systems assess many communities like ours as “sick,” “poor,” or “unwell.” This paper details our community’s approach to defining “well-being” around the values specific to our place, overseen by a council of community leaders with decades of experience supporting youth. The development was a mixed methods process including formal focus groups, informal community conversations, review of existing models, and collaboration with a professional artist. Centering community was the priority through each phase, engaging youth, parents, cultural practitioners, healthcare providers, and educators. Our community built the Kaiona Framework around the moʻolelo (traditional story) of Kaiona who helps the lost find home through empathy and compassion. Well-being is grounded in connection to, in relationship with, and in service to ʻāina. The child is at the center of our work, but inseparable from the family, community, and wider nation of people. Wellness comprises four values vital to our community: mauli ola, a balanced state of physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and environmental health; waiwai, abundance and prosperity; pilina, mutually sustaining relationships; and ea, self-determination and agency.
Ferenchak et al. (2026) studied this question.