Category: Giving Care

  • I Never Want to Grow Up

    Disney fun at Hi’olani Care Center

    For the assisted living residents at Kahala Nui’s Hi‘olani Care Center, there is always fun to be had. Thanks to the creative staff, the center always has new, engaging activities and themes for its annual weeklong “theme week.” This year’s theme, the “wonderful world of Disney,” featured a Disney Princess dating game, Peter Pan Pizza Party and Mad Hatter Tea Party – complete with costumes and dé cor. Residents also created heir own Mickey or Minnie ears and used their culinary skills in Minnie’s kitchen to create cake pops. And of course, what’s a Disney week without movies? Each evening the center featured a different Disney movie from the original 1929 Steamboat Willie to Pirates of the Caribbean and everything in between.

    Kahala Nui - Generations Magazine - October-November 2012Kahala Nui is a vibrant retirement community where residents enjoy the security of “Life Care,” a holistic approach to senior living that integrates a wellness-centered lifestyle with the peace of mind of onsite continuum of care choices at Hi‘olani Care Center. Kahala Nui’s Life Care plan offers a lifestyle and health care program designed to enhance and promote mental, physical and spiritual wellness throughout life. Hi‘olani Care Center at Kahala Nui offers assisted living, nursing care and memory support options for residents. Through activities such as the annual themed week, residents are given the opportunity to enjoy an active and vital lifestyle.

    Disney fun at Hi’olani Care Center For the assisted living residents at Kahala Nui’s Hi‘olani Care Center, there is always fun to be had. Thanks to the creative staff, the center always has new, engaging activities and themes for its annual weeklong “theme week.” This year’s theme, the “wonderful world of Disney,” featured a Disney…

  • Exclusive Care for Kupuna

    Kupuna Concierge offers a very effective approach to senior care at home. The beauty of seniors living at home is that they can keep and enjoy the lifestyle they spent decades perfecting.

    Sometimes all it takes to remain independent is a little day-to-day help. Kupuna Concierge provides personal assistants who help with errands, transportation, meals, household chores and personal care. It also offers short-term care when kupuna require assistance during an illness, after surgery, or when their family is away.

    At Your Service

    Kupuna Concierge helps seniors benefit from a vibrant, social and active daily life. Clients enjoy a variety of innovative activity and wellness programs, including technology education, arts and crafts classes, and health and wellness programs.

    A Legacy of Care

    Kupuna Concierge is O‘ahu’s trusted source of service. It has established quality assurance standards from the Council on Accreditation. It is a program of Child & Family Service, a private non-profit, dedicated to strengthening families since 1899. Child & Family Service has been serving the needs of Hawai‘i’s kupuna for more than 30 years.

    Its personal assistants are highly trained in the latest senior care programs. They are bonded, and have passed an extensive background screening.

    Unparalleled hospitality to support a variety of lifestyle choices, Kupuna Concierge provides some of the finest services that support quality senior living.

    For more information: 543-8423, kupunaconcierge@cfshawaii.org, www.childandfamilyservice.org

    Kupuna Concierge offers a very effective approach to senior care at home. The beauty of seniors living at home is that they can keep and enjoy the lifestyle they spent decades perfecting. Sometimes all it takes to remain independent is a little day-to-day help. Kupuna Concierge provides personal assistants who help with errands, transportation, meals,…

  • Five Ways Not to Fall

    Stan Michael - Generations Magazine - October - November 2011Falling down is nothing new. We have been doing it all our lives. We fell as infants, as kids, as teenagers and even, awkwardly, as adults. The price for an active, healthy life has been an occasional fall and normally it is no big deal. When young and strong, you fell and “bounced” right back up. It’s a different story, though, for older adults. Any fall can be very serious.

    Older adults don’t “bounce” anymore … and the result is normally injury. Every five hours in Hawai‘i a senior is injured so severely in a fall he/she must be treated in a hospital. Every five hours. Many of those seniors require extensive rehabilitation, and many never return to their own home after a fall. The loss of independence is immediate.

    But people don’t fall simply because they’re older. We fall for a reason. Perhaps you didn’t notice the dip in the sidewalk because you were talking on your cell phone. You didn’t notice the dog’s toy in the hall because you had your eye on your grandchild. Or even though you know better, you moved too quickly on the slippery bathroom floor. And maybe, as an older adult, you fell because you got dizzy from being tried, or from moving too fast or even from your medications.

    Protect your independence.

    Five ways to prevent falls:

    1. Be active and stay fit: Walk, dance, swim, do yoga, garden or start an exercise program like tai chi. Keep moving to maintain your muscle strength and sense of balance.
    2. Ask your doctor or pharmacist to review all of your medicines. If you take multiple prescriptions, plus other over-the-counter drugs and supplements, they could make you sleepy or dizzy.
    3. Have your eyes checked at least once a year. The doctor can update your eyeglass prescription and check your eyes for glaucoma or cataracts that limit vision.
    4. Make your home safer by removing things you can trip over like papers, books and other clutter. Install handrails on all staircases, and mount grab bars next to your toilet and in the tub or shower. Improve your home’s lighting. As you get older, you need brighter lights to see well.
    5. Stay off the roof and out of trees. Every year, dozens of Hawai‘i residents try to harvest fruits and end up in the emergency room. Never climb a ladder alone. Always have a family or friend hold the ladder, or ask a younger family member to get that last mango.

    For more information, call: Hawai‘i Department of Health, Injury Prevention Program at 733-9202 or 733-9320.

    Falling down is nothing new. We have been doing it all our lives. We fell as infants, as kids, as teenagers and even, awkwardly, as adults. The price for an active, healthy life has been an occasional fall and normally it is no big deal. When young and strong, you fell and “bounced” right back…

  • Building Houses, Building Hope

    Habitat for Humanity - Generations Magazine - October - November 2011When Lehua Fuller first showed her Waimanalo home to Honolulu Habitat for Humanity staff, they were amazed. She had managed to raise 12 children in her four-bedroom plantation-style home, which was in grave disrepair. There were holes in the floor and roof, severe termite damage and problems with the electrical and plumbing. In Honolulu, Wallace Bailey, a disabled retired veteran, and his wife Frances, decided to contact Habitat for Humanity for help after living in their dilapidated home in Papakolea since 1962. And, JT and Thelma Vasconcellos, a retired couple living in their 60-year-old home in Waialua, knew that their home needed more work than they could afford. Thanks to their partnership with Honolulu Habitat for Humanity, construction started on the Fuller and Bailey homes in July, and JT and Thelma Vasconcellos moved into their new Habitat home in April 2011.

    Since 1988, Honolulu Habitat has been partnering with low-income families to provide simple, decent homes in Hawai‘i. It has built 65 homes on O‘ahu. Habitat builds homes with hundreds of skilled and unskilled volunteers who provide the majority of the construction labor. This vibrant, volunteer focused organization serves the sector of the population that faces the greatest challenge achieving homeownership — families that earn between 30% and 60% of the area median income. For the City & County of Honolulu, the 60% of area median income for a family of four is $59,550.

    Many partner families are employed, yet are unable to qualify for a traditional mortgage to build or buy a safe, decent home. Other partner families are retired and living on a fixed income. To further serve these families, Habitat also becomes the mortgage company for partner families, selling the homes to them at no-profit and 0% interest, making mortgage payments affordable.

    Prior to partnering with Habitat, many residents live in substandard structures. These homes are unsafe, termite-eaten and damaged by water or wind. Honolulu Habitat enables partner families to provide a safe home to raise their children and care for their elders, breaking the cycle of poverty housing on O‘ahu. The community benefits by coming together to volunteer for a common cause — to partner with a low-income family to build a simple, decent home they can afford to buy.

    To apply for a Habitat home, make a donation or volunteer for Honolulu Habitat for Humanity, visit www.honoluluhabitat.org or call 538-7070. Volunteers are welcome. Help is needed to build, provide lunches for volunteers and support the office.

    When Lehua Fuller first showed her Waimanalo home to Honolulu Habitat for Humanity staff, they were amazed. She had managed to raise 12 children in her four-bedroom plantation-style home, which was in grave disrepair. There were holes in the floor and roof, severe termite damage and problems with the electrical and plumbing. In Honolulu, Wallace…