Category: Giving Care

  • My Memory Box

    Memory boxes can help seniors, especially those with Alzheimer’s or with dementia, recall events and people from the past. The contents represent a life they once knew and now have difficulty remembering or have forgotten entirely. Memory boxes help stimulate their memory and link loved ones and moments of their lives to their identity. How…

  • Essential Support for Family Caregivers

    Every morning, 85-year-old Thomas puts on his aloha shirt and heads to “work” at an adult day care center located near downtown Honolulu. Going there gives him a sense of purpose to get up every morning. His family needs to remind him each day where he is going since he has dementia, but once he…

  • Self-Care Tips for Caregivers on GTV

    Earlier this year, Generations Magazine publisher Percy Ihara interviewed a national speaker on caregiving, Dave Nassaney, for the Generations Radio Show. This is an edited transcript of the short Generations TV interview Percy did after the radio show aired. GTV: Can you briefly tell your story? DN: For the last 21 years, I’ve been a…

  • Aging and Muscle Loss

    Throughout our youth, most of us will experience muscle growth up until the age of 30. Thereafter, we begin to lose some muscle mass, strength and performance. This steady decline is called sarcopenia and is the “use it or lose” part of the natural aging process. It often goes unnoticed in our earlier years, as…

  • Caregiving Overseas

    Many family caregivers come home to Hawai‘i to assist aging parents. But how about caregiving overseas? When my mother died, Dad was 93 and slipping into dementia. His younger brother had retired to the Philippines, with his wife and insisted on providing care for his older brother, who had done so much for his family.

  • FUN ’N GAMES: Think Outside The Box

    How does one keep the interest of the elderly? It can be challenging. Nature walks, painting, board games, puzzles, word and picture games are among the typical activities of the elderly.

  • You Need Skilled Nursing … What?

    If you’re like most of us in Hawai‘i, you have no clue what “skilled nursing” means unless you have spent time in a Skilled Nursing and Rehab Facility (SNF). Some think it is the last stop, a depressing place where sick people go when they can no longer take care of themselves.

  • Kūpuna Travel Tips

    Last November, my mother’s side of the family flew to Las Vegas to see my cousin get married. Family trips usually include everyone, from newborns to our wise elders. So, of course, grandma came along for the trip!

  • Ruby: A True Gem

    As a handpicked Labradoodle, Ruby is highly trained and recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) as a certified therapy dog. She loves her time visiting children and adults in hospitals or in their homes, and she enjoys the special relationships she has meeting and greeting everyone.

  • WARNING: ‘Aging in Place’ Homes

    Many seniors are aware of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and its role as their advocate if they have a problem or concern regarding a nursing home, adult residential care home, assisted living facility or community care foster family home. What they may not know, however, is that if they choose to live in what…

  • The Many Facets of Dementia

    Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia — isn’t that the same thing? The simple answer is no. Dementia is an umbrella term for the different types of diseases that affect the brain. Alzheimer’s Disease is only one form of dementia. Also on the list we have Lewy body dementia, alcohol-related dementia, frontal-temporal dementia, Parkinson’s-related dementia, and so on. Dementia is…

  • Coping with Holiday Sibling Strife

    The search for holiday perfection can set the bar high for caregivers. Starting as early as Thanksgiving, they’re flooded by images of families happily enjoying one another. And why not? As a home healthcare provider, we know family support goes a long way for parents aging in place. But when adult siblings are involved, they…