Honoring the Mighty Pen

Making an estate plan that clearly documents intention helps surviving family members avoid fighting; especially in court. Yet lawyers will write the estate plan for exactly that purpose — writing as if it were going to be fought over in court. I call this legalese legal dis-ease. Write your intentions down in your own hand-writing for inclusion in your estate plan so that you don’t risk miscommunication or misunderstanding among surviving family members.

5 Retirement Planning Mistakes to Avoid

The most important goal for many of my clients is to retire on their terms – which often means planning a long, secure retirement that enables them to check off items on their ultimate bucket list. Retirement requires careful planning in addition to avoiding financial missteps along the way. Here are five common mistakes, and strategies to avoid them…

Honoring and Protecting Patients’ Rights

Long-Term Care Ombudsmen are advocates for residents living in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult residential care homes, expanded adult residential care homes and community care foster family homes. We are NOT the state inspectors and do not write deficiencies or issue fines or citations. Our focus has always been on quality of life and quality of care issues — advocating for all our residents so their rights can be honored and protected.

Having Help Close at Hand if You Fall

Every 13 seconds, an older adult is seen in an emergency department for a fall-related injury. Lower-body weakness, difficulties with walking and balance, and vision problems can make a person more likely to fall. Other causes include home hazards and clutter. Having a medical alert system can reduce a person’s risk of not being able to receive timely treatment, by obtaining immediate medical assistance in the event of a fall or emergency.

MemorC: A Free Memory Aid

One of the challenges for caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia is finding ways to engage their loved one or patient in tasks that strengthen the ability to recall who people are and what their relationship with them is. Dr. Warren Wong, a local geriatrician with decades of experience working with such patients, took on that challenge and has developed a free iPad app to fill that need: MemorC.

Dementia and Vision Changes

Human beings use five ways to take in data: sight, touch, smell, taste and sound. From the time we are born, we prefer to take in data first by what we see, then hear and finally through touch. Vision, our primary source for processing new information, is controlled by an area in the back of our brain called the occipital lobe. Dementia attacks and damages the occipital lobe resulting in skewed vision, poor depth perception and diminished peripheral vision.

Know Stroke Warnings and Call 911

Stroke remains Hawai‘i’s third leading cause of death and a leading cause of major disability. However, 80 percent of strokes are preventable. And those that do occur, in many cases, are treatable if symptoms are quickly recognized and treatment is quickly sought. Hawai‘i EMS data shows, however, that almost 50 percent of Hawai‘i stroke patients aren’t being delivered to hospitals by EMS ambulances.

A Life Shared is a Life Well-Lived

Most of life’s memorable experiences are memorable because they’re shared. What if there were an easy way to not only write down your memories for family and friends but to also give them the opportunity to reminisce with you about them? There is! Developed by a team right here in Hawai‘i — led by local entrepreneur Beth N. Carvin — JamBios is an easy-to-use memoir writing platform that lets you write one story at a time while also keeping you organized.

Medical Cannabis: A Therapeutic Resource for Seniors

Since 2017, licensed Hawai‘i cannabis growers have been formulating and dispensing medical products to qualified state-registered patients. A majority of their clients who are benefiting from cannabis treatments are seniors. Maui Grown Therapies dispensary in Kahului has been open over a year. Leading their Science & Medical Advisory Board is Dr. Andrew Weil, director of the University of Arizona Center for Integrated Medicine, an advocate for alternative medicine and an early pioneer in the research of medical cannabis.