Category: Articles

  • Hawaiian-Style Estate Planning

    Estate planning is the process of protecting that which is important (far beyond simply financial or physical assets) and then passing those important things on to our loved ones and future generations. Many concepts that are central to Hawaiian culture are particularly applicable to estate planning. Starting with the concept of ‘ohana (a very inclusive…

  • Working Part-Time in Retirement

    Traditionally, retirement means leaving the workforce to pursue decades of relaxation. However, today’s retirees and pre-retirees are reshaping what it means to leave the workforce. Retirement may be an opportunity to pursue a small business, start consulting or land a side job that explores your passions. If your next phase includes earning an income, there…

  • When Grandparents Become Parents Again

    What would you do if your daughter or son was suddenly unable to take care of their keiki? Have you ever thought about becoming a parent after retirement? This decision for families is often unexpected and comes under very difficult circumstances. About three million children in the U.S. are being raised by a grandparent. The…

  • How May We Help You?

    Social Security has a toolbox full of resources on its website, www.socialsecurity.gov, to help you with your financial planning. With so many resources, maybe it’s easier if we highlight one of our “best.” BEST is the Benefit Eligibility Screening Tool, available at www.ssabest.benefits.gov. It can help you find out if you might be eligible for…

  • GrandGrace: Multigenerational Support

    Providing seniors care for their body, mind and spirit is critically important. Simply spending time with seniors can improve their emotional well-being and outlook. Palolo Chinese Home, in partnership with Common Grace, a nonprofit organization, recently launched a new program called GrandGrace to address these needs of residents and senior day care participants. The multi…

  • Respiratory Care: A Specialty Service

    Being unable to breathe on our own is very scary. Spinal cord injuries, pneumonia, stroke, injury to the chest, muscular dystrophy and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can all bring on respiratory failure. Spinal cord injuries often happen when we least expect it — a surfing accident, a fall or a car accident — and may require you to…

  • 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…

  • How to Climb Stairs Pain Free

    In our younger years we didn’t think twice about sprinting up and down steps. As we age, however, climbing a flight of stairs can often seem like scaling a mountainside due to limited mobility and pain. According to Harvard Health Publishing, the force on each knee is 2 – 3 times your body weight when you go…

  • The Need of Going the Extra Mile

    It all started with a new pair of shoes. Twenty-nine years ago, Honolulu resident Joan Davis decided to reclaim her health. “I was having some health problems,” she says. “It was time to make a change.” So, the then-49-year-old bought a pair of athletic shoes and joined the “Saturday Amblers,” a walking group that met…