If Kaua’i senior citizens wanted to find out how to lead healthier lives, the Kukui Grove Shopping Center was the place Saturday. More than 200 elderly folks and their families were provided with heaps of information about medical and health
If Kaua’i senior citizens wanted to find out how to lead healthier lives, the
Kukui Grove Shopping Center was the place Saturday.
More than 200 elderly
folks and their families were provided with heaps of information about medical
and health care, home care, foot care, the hazards of smoking, emergency
response equipment and medical equipment for house-bound seniors.
Senior
citizens also underwent tests for blood pressure, body fat content and
diabetes. Others received Reiki massage.
The activities were part of the
Senior Health and Community Craft Fair, which was sponsored by Kaua’i County’s
Agency on Elderly Affairs, the county’s Parks and Recreation Division and the
Hawai’i Recreation Park Association.
“We want to make sure that our seniors
have the best quality of life, with an opportunity to be physically fit and to
understand what nutrition is,” said Bernard Carvalho, the county’s director of
recreation.
In the past, the county’s elderly agency worked with other
agencies to pull off the event, but this was the first time the county’s parks
and recreation department got involved, because the county division has the
state contract this year to provide services for senior citizens at nine
neighborhood centers.
A key part of the undertaking is to develop and
operate a “total wellness program” at all neighborhood centers to help seniors
remain strong and healthy and to avoid becoming homebound or institutionalized,
Carvalho said.
“We are asking what the seniors want, and one of the highest
areas of interest were wellness and health,” Carvalho said.
Rose Probasco,
a certified fitness instructor and personal trainer on Kaua’i, will help
develop the exercise program, he said.
It didn’t appear at first that many
seniors would attend the fair because of brisk early morning winds and
threatening rain clouds.
Eva Nishimoto of Lihu’e said she had a migraine
headache and had second thoughts about attending the fair, but she went to the
event because she wanted to pick up more tips on how to stay
healthy.
Nishimoto and Harriett Yamahira of Lihu’e said they have more
energy and a better outlook on life because of five years of exercising.
At
the start of the five-hour event, Probasco led a warm-up for 50 seniors,
followed by a 21/2 mile walk around the shopping center.
The walk was held
to benefit the Kaua’i Alzheimer’s Connection, a Koloa-based nonprofit
organization whose goal is to empower patients, family and caregivers affected
by the disease.
More than 300 people on Kaua’i with the disease and their
families are served by the organization, according to David Lehn, an
organization coordinator.
The organization provides a convenient access to
current information and assistance on dementia and tries to improve people’s
understanding of Alzheimer’s, Lehn said.
The work by the organization will
encourage many people with the disease to seek help, thereby enriching their
lives, Yamahira contended.
“I support what they do,” she said. “There is no
stigma attached to this disease like there once was.”
Located in the mall
were dozens of table displays aimed at encouraging people to achieve better
health. Among them:
l Garden Island Fitness Task Force, which promotes
health through activity, and the Tobacco Free Coalition, whose goal is to
reduce or eliminate the use of tobacco. Both coalitions are sponsored by the
state Department of Health.
l Kaua’i Hospice offered literature on care
for the dying and support for families.
l American Cancer Society offered
information on early detection of breast cancer.
l Ho’ ola Lahui Hawai’i
offered diabetes test readings and test for body fat content.
l Gammie
HomeCare company offered literature on wheelchairs, walking aids, hospital
beds.
l Kaua’i Alzheimer’s Connection offered a resource directory for
seniors.
l American Association of Retired Persons provided information on
ways senior citizens can be helped.
l Kaua’i County of Community Assistance
Agency on Elderly Affairs provided information on an array of services,
including transportation, meal programs, personal care, home care and adult day
care.
l Sage Plus, a program sponsored by the state Executive Office on
Aging, supplied information on Medicare, Medigap, insurance and other
services.
l Imua Kaua’i Footcare of Lihu’e offered literature on special
footwear inserts.
l Interim HealthCare of Lihu’e provided information on
physical, occupational and speech therapy and home services for the
elderly.
l In-Touch offered literature on personal emergency response
system that could help seniors who fall in their homes and cannot use a
telephone to call for help.
At the fair, muffins, pies and drink donated by
McDonalds were passed out by Char Ono, a board member with the Kaua’i
Alzheimer’s Connection. Handicraft were sold by local handicraft artists, and
entertainment was offered, including a noon performance by popular O’ahu
comedian Frank DeLima.
Barbara Davis, a senior citizen from Lihu’e, said
she was pleasantly surprised that a small county like Kaua’i had so many
programs to help senior citizens.
“They do a good job for seniors on this
island, and this event shows it,” she said.
Staff writer Lester
Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@pulitzer.net
