Luana Sponsor Team Code of Ethics

On October 13th our Sponsor Team met to develop our team's code of ethics. According to the Eden Alternative Path to Mastery, a code of ethics is "a code of conduct (or ground rules) that teaches us ho to behave towards each other. It captures how people interacting with each other have agreed to behave." The reasons that each team should develop their own code of ethics were stated by the Path to Mastery as "to define acceptable behaviors; to shift accountability away from the manager or team leader and into the team; to promote high standards of care; to provide a benchmark for staff to use for self evaluation; and to establish a framework for behavior and responsibilities".

The following is the Sponsor Team's code of ethics:

1. We promise to share our Luana successes, information and progress with staff, residents and families.

2. We are role models of Luana offering a positive and enthusiastic influence at Hale Makua Health Services, living out the Eden Golden Rule (“As management does unto staff, so shall staff do unto residents”.

3. We are open to new ideas.

4. Decisions are based on our Luana Mission statement (“Hale Makua will be a self-sustaining long-term care village that is inviting, lively, inter-generational, educational, and a valued part of the journey of life.”)

5. We use open, honest and respectful communication at all times.

6. We respect one another, listen to each other, and in times of disagreement, attack the problem and not the person.

7. We unconditionally accept one another, treating each other as equals regardless of job titles.

8. We recognize true success is possible when everyone pulls their weight and is actively engaged in the Luana journey.

9. We celebrate our successes.

10. We strive to understand each other’s perspective.

Gone Swimming

During the recent humid and hot days on Maui, Frank expressed an interest in going swimming. Last Friday our Activities Director and Activities Assistant took two residents and an Adult Day Health client swimming at the local pool, which is located within walking distance behind our Kahului community. They had a blast lounging around and swimming in the cool water. It was such a hot day, I was jealous that I could jump in as well!

In Recognition of the Gardenia Neighborhood Day Shift Team

I would like to recognize the Gardenia morning angels: Alma Coloma, Abby Navalta, Jaime Kaneshiro, Josie Barcena, Serlin Sorim, Merlitz Gonzales, Cristina Saito, Cathy Fujii. All of you are special in your willingness to adapt to the fast pace/challenges of working on a skilled/rehab unit. Our team has the opportunity to introduce many of the people in the community to Hale Makua. Each one of you brings special qualities which make our neighborhood one that is filled with hope and compassion for our residents and their families. I am so very proud to be your neighborhood supervisor. Thank you for all you do. You are simply The BEST.

- Mely Gazmen, Gardenia Neighborhood Supervisor

Pumpkin Preparations for Halloween

With Halloween just around the corner, the residents are already getting the decorations underway for the Aloha Cafe. This week residents, volunteers and staff worked on decorating pumpkins that will be displayed as centerpieces on each table in the Aloha Cafe. Each pumpkin was decorated by a resident, and you can really see their personalities coming through in the different designs. There were some two-faced pumpkins, ones with flowers, others with feathers, one with a straw cowboy hat, and even one that looked like an owl! This was such a  great alternative to the typical jack-o-lanterns that most people carve for Halloween, that usually get moldy and/or collapse within a week. These pumpkins are so much more colorful and fun, and made less mess!

Planning for Our Path to Mastery (continued)

The Luana Sponsor Team met again this past Monday to begin planning the next areas of focus, in addition to the two areas that were previously defined. Upon further discussion the group determined that tackling the original desired outcome of residents talking about spontaneous moments; seeing staff integrating spontaneity into their work; and getting people excited about playing spontaniety at Hale Makua Kahului may be very difficult to get off the ground. If the Sponsor Team members were having a hard time figuring out what this desired outcome means, the staff would have even greater difficulty. 

The group instead decided to focus on a desired outcome that is a bit more tangible and upon implementation would definitely promote variety, spontaneity and teamwork between residents and staff. For Hale Makua Kahului the priority would be to focus on pets and how to bring them into the community and integrate them into the lives of residents and staff. Below are the two priorities, each action plan and the preliminary completion dates.

Kahului #1 –  Animals (pets) are living at Hale Makua and are part of the daily lives of residents and staff

Action Plan & Timeline:

1.      Recruiting/inviting team members (voluntary) - 11/31/10

2.      Schedule meeting - 12/1/10

3.      Provide education on problem solving 1/11/11

4.      Asses the current state - 2/1/11

5.      Create possible solutions - 2/28/11

6.      Implement - 4/1/11

7.      Test & monitor - 6/1/11

8.      Adjust - 6/15/11

Wailuku #1 – Meals are served when/what residents desire, consistently at the correct temperature

Action Plan & Timeline:

1.     Recruiting/inviting team members (voluntary) - 10/31/10

2.     Schedule meeting - 11/1/10

3.     Provide education on problem solving - 12/1/10

4.     Asses the current state - 1/1/11

5.     Create possible solutions - 1/31/11 

6.     Implement - 3/1/11
7.     Test & monitor - 5/1/11
8.     Adjust -5/15/11

Fun at the 88th Annual Maui County Fair

On October first Hale Makua residents and Adult Day Health clients enjoyed the day at the 88th Annual Maui County Fair. The County has  a Special Fair Day on the Friday of the Fair weekend, which is opened exclusively to frail elderly and disabled Maui residents. It's such a wonderful experience for our residents and clients to be able to enjoy the Fair without worrying about them getting trampled, or jostled in the huge crowds that the Fair attracts every year. On the Special Fair Day there are games, rides, and art, produce, orchid and bonsai displays to enjoy. All guests received bottled water, soft drinks and a plate lunch at no cost. This very special event was made possible through donations by community businesses and volunteers. A big mahalo to all of the volunteers who assisted our residents and clients, including St. Anthony's School students: Nerissa Imada, Rachel Uehara, Lili Boeringa, Maggie Vorhes, Kenton Tanaka Tamaki, Rylie Lallo, Gabe Tongson, Hailee Pullman, Kyle Orth, Chris Maeda,  Jordan Hansen, Scott Sadler, Ethan Kim, Tayler Silva, Sophia Wuest, Kaeo Kanhai, Trevor Brown, Michael McGuire, Erik Ferreira, Amanda Robert, and Julia Bissen.

 

Hale Makua Wailuku Volunteer Recognized as "Volunteer Hero"

The County of Maui, Volunteer Hero Program recognizes senior Lillian Murakami, from Wailuku, for her dedication and selfless giving to Hale Makua Wailuku. This senior "road runner" is a great asset to residents, families and staff.  

Lillian started out volunteering 13 years ago when her mother became a resident at Hale Makua. After her mother passed away, Lillian continued to visit and currently volunteers 7 days per week, 6-8 hours a day. She assists residents with choosing their meals for the week, escorting them to the dining area, serving meals, providing 1 to 1 visits and just "talking story" with them.  

"Lillian is the core of the Hale Makua Wailuku volunteers" shares Paula Iiams, Volunteer Coordinator. The biggest thing she does to help Hale Makua is battle the three plagues of our residents which are loneliness, boredom and helplessness."  

"Hale Makua is like family to me and it makes me feel good" expresses Lillian. She advises retirees to volunteer "It keeps you busy and young".  Want to volunteer? Hale Makua Health Services welcomes volunteers who are compassionate and understanding. They have a great need for certified feeders, one to one visits with residents and office work. Certified feeding training is available along with other training options. Call Hale Makua at 873-6616 for more information.  

The Volunteer Hero Program is a pilot project which highlights outstanding volunteers throughout the year on the County web site and other local media. The program recognizes individuals for their outstanding service and commitment to the community.

From the County of Maui website at: http://www.co.maui.hi.us/index.aspx?NID=1627

Eden Alternative Tip of the Week: The Culinary Caregivers at Rolling Fields want to share a story about choices and the happiness that comes with having them

We have had a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables from our very own gardens this year. The Elders bring these treats into our restaurant (aka Kallimos Café) and ask us to do different things with them. Paul likes to have a fresh tomato cut up and put on a nice garden salad with Thousand Island dressing! Yummy! Peggy likes to have yellow summer squash specially breaded and she gets them cooked up just the way she likes. Recently we had an Elder named Sadie ask for a tomato from the garden to be sliced up and given to her with two slices of white bread and a little bit of mayonnaise. She was very excited to be able to make her own sandwich. This prompted the Elders around her to go into a tomato eating frenzy! One Elder in particular who wanted a tomato sandwich was Jean. The problem was, Jean can't eat seeds. So for days Jean watched the elders around her enjoy these tomato sandwiches and she would try to eat other things like tomato soup to satisfy these desires. One day we decided to slice a tomato from the garden and rinse all the seeds out of it. We made it into a sandwich and gave it to Jean. She was so happy and her craving was so satisfied that she began to cry. We asked her if something was wrong and she said "these are tears of happiness!"  This shows that it truly is the simple pleasures that make daily life here worth living!

Respectfully Shared,

Kebby Kitten

What simple pleasures are you honoring today? This is Eden Alternative's Principle Six in action.

In Recognition of the West Neighborhood Night Shift Team

It is my pleasure to recognize the Night-Shift Staff on the West Neighborhood for all their hard-work and kind patience:  Mariam Somera, Josiefine Segundo, Ursula Espeleta, MJ Guira, Wilma Batino, and Susan Lord.

Taking care of a person with Alzheimer’s and/or Dementia can be very straining.  It is in everybody’s best interest that the people caring for that person can actually handle it.  That is exactly what the night-shift staff on West can do, THEY CAN HANDLE IT!   To do what nobody else will do, in a way that nobody else can do, in spite of all they go through.  These West Neighborhood Angels have it.  They possess the very essence of nursing which is “Caring”. 

Lalena D. Thompson, RN, Night Shift Supervisor

Many of us will not give up a good nights rest to work with residents who have Alzheimer’s dementia with behavioral disturbances, knowing that their nights maybe unpredictable.  But the night shift of the West neighborhood has the power and patience to work with such a group.  I am very appreciative of the work and creativity that they possess working with our residents, especially during those sleepless & chaotic nights.  I feel that the night shift West angels work for a strong purpose and that hard work is not an option, but a necessity.  Thank you West Angels and keep up the good work.

Christiana Casio, RN, Neighborhood Manager

Planning for Our Path to Mastery

Last week Thursday the Luana Sponsor Team, a group of eight individuals from the Luana Core Team, met  for a half day Luana  planning session to kick-off our efforts to complete milestone one of the Eden Alternative's Path to Mastery curriculum, a requirement for renewing our Eden Home Registry. Our Luana Sponsor Team consisted of Saundra Gaskey, Tony Krieg, Medardo Legat, Connie Miller, Joyce Tengan, Ted Tucker, and myself. The Sponsor chose first to focus on the following four principles because they break up the antidotes to loneliness, helplessness, and boredom into more manageable action items:

• Loving companionship is the antidote to loneliness. Residents deserve easy access to human and animal companionship.
• A resident-centered community creates opportunity to give as well as receive care. This is the antidote to helplessness.
• A resident-centered community imbues life with variety and spontaneity by creating an environment in which unexpected and unpredictable interactions and happenings can take place. This is the antidote to boredom.
• Meaningless activity corrodes the human spirit. The opportunity to do things that we find meaningful is essential to human health.

Each of these principles reviewed, looking at the current reality of where we are now in fulfilling the principle, and what our desired outcome will ideally be. We scrutinized 36 items, and then began prioritizing them in order of importance. May of us struggled with selecting our top five, as everything seemed important, from educating the general public that Hale Makua doesn't have visiting hours, visitors are welcome at any time of the day, as are children and pets; to staff are excited about receiving care from residents. In the short time that we had to complete this task, we were able to focus on two areas, one at Hale Makua Kahului and one at Hale Makua Wailuku. The following is a list of responsibilities developed for each champion (person responsible for moving forward with the action plan), and the number one Luana priorities at each of the Hale Makua communities.

 

ALL Champions will be responsible for:

• Ensuring that the team meets and hits deadlines
• Model the behavior
• Articulate how the goal relates to the principle
• In charge of gathering resources and relaying to the team
• Collaborations with appropriate Senior leaders/managers
• Communicating with other community team (if one) and sponsor team
• Meetings are documented

Kahului #1 –  Staff view integrating variety and spontaneity as part of their job

Action Plan:

1.      Meet with nursing leadership (formal and informal leaders)

2.      Recruiting/inviting team members (voluntary)

3.      Schedule meeting

4.      Provide education on problem solving

5.      Asses the current state

6.      Create possible solutions

7.      Implement

8.      Test & monitor

9.      Adjust

Wailuku #1 – Meals are served when/what residents desire, consistently at the correct temperature

Action Plan:

1.     Recruiting/inviting team members (voluntary)

2.     Schedule meeting

3.     Provide education on problem solving

4.     Asses the current state

5.     Create possible solutions
6.     Implement
7.     Test & monitor
8.     Adjust