OUR LUANA JOURNEY: Luana Video Premiere Event

Ruth Shimada

Ali Helm

On Friday, March 25th, Hale Makua Kahului held a red carpet premiere event showing of our Luana video. Hale Makua residents, Adult Day Health clients, family members, volunteers, and staff who starred in the video were presented with miniature Oscar-like awards and made their way down the red carpet. In addition to the actors and actresses, family members were invited to this exclusive showing of the Luana video. Shannon Loo and Koa Simarago donated their time and talents to transform the Aloha Cafe into a red carpet affair, and freshly popped popcorn and sparkling apple cider added to the festivities.

The Rawson Ohana

In 2010, Hale Makua Health Services was selected as one of four recipients of the Bank of Hawaii Mike Lyons Maui Community Award, which was used to produce an educational video about Luana, an initiative which strives to move away from the traditional, medical model of care, to a resident-directed model of care where residents make choices about their daily activities themselves, and the environment that they live in is more like their own home. The video was produced by Jon Duarte Design Group, and is now available for viewing at www.halemakua.org.

Charlene & Lynn with their mom, Michiko

Herman Kukahiko

This ten minute educational video showcases the culture change taking place at Hale Makua’s Long Term Care communities in Kahului and Wailuku on the island of Maui. The goal of the video is to educate staff, residents, families and the public about how Hale Makua is combating the “plagues” of loneliness, helplessness and boredom, which account for the bulk of suffering that nursing home residents’ face.

The birthday girl, Betsy Ouchi, with her family

According to the Pioneer Network, a national center for stakeholders in the field of aging and long term care whose focus is on providing home and community for elders, "culture change" is the common name given to the national movement for the transformation of older adult services, based on person-directed values and practices where the voices of elders and those working with them are considered and respected. Core person-directed values are choice, dignity, respect, self-determination and purposeful living. Culture change transformation supports the creation of both long and short-term living environments as well as community-based settings where both older adults and their caregivers are able to express choice and practice self-determination in meaningful ways at every level of daily life.