Category: April – May 2021

  • How to Wear a Mask With Hearing Aids

    Hearing aid wearers know the difficulty of getting the elastic bands of their protective face mask tangled up with their hearing aid. Hearing aids can fly out when removing a mask. I have seen many patients with lost and damaged hearing aids due to this problem. Here are seven tips that will help protect your…

  • Bad Breath: Is It Poor Oral Hygiene?

    Chronic bad breath can be embarrassing, but it can also tell you what’s going on with your mouth or body, such as underlying medical conditions, stress, hormonal changes, dry mouth and poor oral hygiene. Bad breath can be caused by a few things: bacteria, decaying food, infected gums, smoking and even an empty  stomach.

  • Care Lessons Learned from COVID-19

    Beginning in March 2020, recreation therapists, activity directors and staff were faced with the daunting task of making their activities safe for their residents. Groups were cancelled; family members, volunteers and outside entertainment were no longer allowed inside of nursing homes. Much more time was devoted to cleaning and social distancing.

  • Home Cleaning Help for the Elderly

    Home cleaning might be a simple activity for some of us. However, this could be the opposite to our elderly family  members and friends. Even daily upkeep might require tremendous effort on their part. That is why, as ‘ohana, it is our duty to help and share the spirit of aloha. If you are involved…

  • To Place or Not to Place, That is the Question

    The decision to move to senior living involves a variety of factors based on several circumstances, including finances. Professionals across the country have different answers to the question of whether “to place or not to place” a loved one in senior living. Some feel that older adults should stay in their home with paid caregivers.…

  • Chinese American Culture, Identity, Home

    What does it mean to be Chinese American? How are we reflected in the people we love and us in them? What obligation do we have to those who share our blood? How does a woman claim her life as her own? Where is my true home? Big Island bestselling novelist Darien Hsu Gee explores…

  • Ching Ming Festival Honors Ancestors

    When Douglas D.L. Chong thinks about celebrating Ching Ming as a child, he remembers waking up before dawn to the smells of home cooking. Sitting in traffic en route to the Mānoa Chinese Cemetery, a line of cars backs up all the way to University Avenue. Finally, around 7am, his family would reach their oldest…

  • How to Be a Positive Communicator

    If you feel some tension in your relationships, you are not alone. So do your part at home to protect loved ones’ feelings and emotions.

  • Kapu Breakers Help During Pandemic

    Former TV news reporter Angela Keen helps track down residents and visitors statewide who are not in compliance with the state’s COVID-19 quarantine rules and mask mandate through the Hawai‘i Quarantine Kapu Breakers, a volunteer, community action group on Facebook.

  • Senior Pickleball is Exploding!

    Pickleball is growing fast among fun-loving athletes and non-athletes alike. The paddle-and-ball game has become especially attractive to baby boomers and former tennis players. There is less acreage to cover for aging legs and the ball moves slower than in a typical tennis match.