Category: April – May 2021

  • 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.

  • Defying the Silver Tsunami Stereotype

    Doug Matsuoka started working at Hawaii Meals on Wheels seven years ago as a part-time delivery driver. But his previous computer experience opened the door to his current job as the IT and digital media coordinator, and “YouTube guy.” He was an early adopter of computer technology, building his own microcomputer from a kit in…

  • Silver Lining of a COVID Cloud

    When we all closed our doors, fluffed our couch pillows and settled in for what we thought was only going to be a two-week lockdown, no one could have imagined where we would be in 2021. We’re here now and life has a breeze of normalcy amid the chaos. Zoom family celebrations or business meetings…

  • New Rules for the New Game of WORK

    Our changing workplace dynamic at this stage of life requires a new set of rules to help us navigate our careers. The first rule of the “new game:” To remain financially secure, most of us (over 50 percent) will need to continue to work — in some capacity — much later than in past generations.

  • Morning Habits Bring All-Day Joy

    Have you ever observed how you wake up? Are you quick to rise or slow to get moving? Do you wake up happy or with a sense of dread, or is your mind already dealing with problems? If feeling better is important to you, consider starting your day more deliberately.