Kauaʻi District Health Office’s report from the 2026 Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response islandwide survey was recently released.
Kauaʻi District Health Office teams conducted door-to-door surveys from June 15-19 at randomly selected households around the island.
Survey teams throughout the course of 5 days completed a total of 175 interviews, collecting valuable data about health, well-being and emergency plans of Kauaʻi residents.
The Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response survey is a validated needs assessment developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to rapidly obtain population-based estimates about the health and resource needs of a community pre- and post-disaster.
This is the ninth Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response survey conducted since 2017 on Kauaʻi.
“This annual survey helps [Kauaʻi District Health Office] gather data to improve our program planning, set our priorities and inform our education and outreach efforts,” said Acting Kauaʻi District Health Officer Lauren Guest in a release.
The 2026 Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response survey asked residents about their basic household demographics, emergency plans, infectious disease awareness and concerns as well as general health and well-being.
Key findings include:
- Kauaʻi households again reported that as the category of storm increases, they are more likely to go to a public shelter than shelter-in-place at home. Only 12% of households would seek public shelter for a Category 1 hurricane, this increased to 27% for Category 3, 30% for Category 4 and 31% for a Category 5 storm. No statistically significant changes to shelter-seeking behavior were observed from 2019 to 2026.
- The majority of Kauaʻi households (73%) have an emergency communication plan designated meeting place (59%) and copies of important documents stored in a safe location (71%).
- Most households (70%) put measures in place to protect their home from wildfires, such as clearing brush, cleaning gutters and/or keeping plants at least 5 feet away from their home, compared with 60% in 2024.
- Kauaʻi households reported higher levels of concern regarding mosquito-borne diseases becoming established in Hawaiʻi than they did about the impacts of measles and chickenpox outbreaks. The majority of households (60%) are following the state Health Department recommendation to dump standing water at least weekly to reduce mosquito breeding activity.
- A majority of Kauaʻi households (62%) think it is very important, with 25% saying somewhat important and 8% responding not important at all to stay up-to-date with recommended vaccines. No statistically significant changes were observed between 2025 and 2026.
- While the majority of Kauaʻi households (88%) indicated all members have a regular source of health care and saw their provider (82%) during the past year, 14% had members who delayed or skipped care because they couldn’t afford it.
- About 20% of Kauaʻi households indicated that at some point in the past year the food they bought didn’t last and they didn’t have money to buy more. Seventeen percent of households reported receiving food assistance through a government program or charitable organization during the past year.
- Only 41% of Kauaʻi households are aware that Naloxone, used to treat opioid drug overdoses, is available for free on Kauaʻi.
Kaua‘i’s annual Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response surveys serve as an enormous capacity-building exercise for Kauaʻi District Health Office and partner agencies, with 150-plus staff members and volunteers trained in this methodology during the past 9 years, while simultaneously increasing local awareness of services available in our community.
The 2026 survey was conducted with the support of Hawaiʻi Department of Health staff members from Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island, contributing to the expansion of this capability statewide and furthering the capacity built during the inaugural Hawaiʻi Island Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response survey in May 2025.
“Mahalo to our Kauaʻi residents for their continued support and participation in our annual [Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response] surveys — and a special thanks to every member of our survey teams for their hard work and dedication to serving our community,” Guest said.
Find the full 2026 Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response survey report online.
Previous Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response survey reports also are available here.
