The Street Medicine Institute, in partnership with local co-host HOPE Services Hawai‘i, recently held the 21st annual International Street Medicine Symposium (ISMS) in Hilo. 

The event, which brought together hundreds of global experts from seven countries and 37 U.S. states, included advocates, medical professionals, community health workers, and people with lived experience of homelessness, all dedicated to providing healthcare and social services to unsheltered people where they live.

The symposium featured clinical presentations, innovative research, and best practices in street medicine through lectures, workshops, and poster sessions.

A key feature of the symposium was Host City Day which highlighted the unique work and culturally informed practices of street medicine practitioners serving Hawai‘i. The event also included demonstrations and displays of homeless outreach and street medicine vehicles used in Hawaiʻi, hosted by the staff who operate them.

Photo credit: Hope Services Hawaiʻi