What We Look Like Now. How We Want It to Be.

On April 11th, 12th and 13th, 22 care partners from various areas of the organization attended an intensive three day training to become Certified Eden Associates. This training session was lead by our very own Eden Educator, Connie Miller. Here are photos of the Red, Gold, Green and Blue teams on the first day with their posters of what each team thinks our nursing homes currently look like, and what they would ideally want our nursing homes to look like.

Julie Hoy, Lily Paet, Beth Poe, Cathlyn Sarian, Mone’t Gardanier

Steven Nakashima, Edie Kapoi, Will Castillo, Leonora Morales, Donna Gamurot, Liz Ball

Lolita Guerrero, Gail Raikes, Patty Nakooka, Cathy Guillermo, Bety Idica, Manny Agcolicol

Naomi Oyama, Sofia Cabias, Veronica Tanner, Gemma Orque, Mariam Somera

New Addition to Our 'Human Habitat'

 We are very happy to welcome Ginger to the Hale Makua Kahului family as our first ‘day dog’, which means that you can find her at Hale Makua Kahului Monday through Friday (except holidays). Ginger is the 14 week old Australian Sheppard puppy of care partner Julie LaCroix.

Julie was researching dog breeds that would be helpful with herding sheep. In reading more about Australian Sheppards, she found that the breed makes for excellent therapy dogs and had the idea of bringing in her dog to provide companionship for the residents.

Ginger happily accompanies Julie to work every weekday where she is greeted by the Adult Day Health clients, many of whom eagerly await her arrival. Jean Kenar (pictured right with Ginger on her lap) is one such person. She enjoys petting and holding Ginger. She shares that she used to have a Cocker Spaniel with the same name.

In the afternoons Ginger can be found in the Admissions office where she greets and gets to know new residents and their families. She brings a smile to everyone’s face. 

Ginger is enrolled in puppy kindergarten and has learned to sit whenever someone passes by, so please feel free to stop and introduce yourself if you see her. 

This is an example of Eden Alternative Principle 2: An Elder-centered community commits to creating a Human Habitat where life revolves around close and continuing contact with plants, animals and children. It is these relationships that provide the young and old alike with a pathway to a life worth living.

Companionship Cures Loneliness

 

Charlotte Keegan, who lives in the Molokai Neighborhood, was having a conversation with Director of Nursing Janinne Grimes. She was telling Janinne that she felt lonely. When Janinne asked how we could help her with her loneliness, Mrs. Keegan responded that she used to have birds when she was younger, and wished she could have a canary of her own again.

Mrs. Keegan’s daughter was approached with the idea of getting a bird for her mom, and she agreed. She picked up a cage and some supplies. Administrative Secretary Temmie Faudan went with Mrs. Keegan to the Maui Pet Shop in Kahului where she chose a beautiful orange canary and named him Peri. After getting a clean bill of health from a local veterinarian, the canary joined our family at Hale Makua Wailuku.

This story is a heartwarming example of how companionship can cure loneliness. The Eden Alternative Principle 3 states that "Loving companionship is the antidote to loneliness. Elders deserve easy access to human and animal companionship.”

New Faces at Hale Makua Kahului

We're excited to introduce the newest care partners of our Kahului Nursing team, LPNs Ashley Naone (top) and Jaynnel Agrade. Aloha and welcome to the ohana!

Eden Alternative Tip of the Week: Deepening the Leadership Bench for the Organization

In following Eden Alternative Principle 10: "Wise leadership is the lifeblood of any struggle against the three plagues. Fir it, there can be no substitute." The Denali Center in Fairbanks, AK has a plan. They want to make sure they have a strong leadership legacy to keep their journey going. They will tell you that leadership succession planning is “just what they do and who they are.” The story began when they were noticing that their leaders were getting close to retiring.

 
They began thinking about who could fill these positions with a goal to help employee care partners grow and not just stifle in their positions. Each leader in the organization writes out what they do in their jobs, and a description of what they did to secure their position. They have created a bulletin board with all of these positions posted. In the center, they feature a leadership position each month. If an employee care partner finds a position they are interested in, they can job shadow the person who holds the position and see if it is a good fit. Then, the organization helps them acquire the education they need, e.g. growing from CNA to an RN or from a dietary aide to a dietary manager. Together, they develop a growth plan.

 
Another leadership growth tool they use is something called neighborhood book clubs. They began because of a communication challenge in an area for Elders living with dementia. The book club started with a title about Alzheimer’s disease. They handed out the books and asked for volunteers to read a chapter and then bring it to the following week’s meeting and present what they read. The team then discussed how the chapter related to what they do and how they can do better. It made a tremendous difference. It has since expanded to include journal articles, conference information, and other books that get shared with the team. Since then, other neighborhoods have adopted this practice too. As a result, they are doing a great job of growing informal leaders within their neighborhoods.

Submitted by Denali Center

Happy Birthday Gloria!

Gloria with her daughter Susan Crawford

Resident Gloria Distefano celebrated her birthday today. She joyfully shared a huge birthday cake along and mochi ice cream with her family, neighbors, staff and even visiting nursing student from the University of Hawaii Maui College.

 

Becoming Well-Known

Becoming well-known is a hallmark value of the Eden Alternative philosophy, which is defined as "When the Elders and their Care Partners are well-known to one another needs are anticipated, Elders are the decision makers, Elder preferences are met, and genuine human caring comes ahead of tasks. When the person in more important than the task, there is nothing we will not do to improve their well-being."

My role in the organization isn't as a direct care give, but I am fortunate to have the opportunity to get to know residents and clients by interviewing them for stories and/or taking their photos. Many of them know my name, but most probably know me as the person who takes the pictures. Adult Day Health client Elayna Kaplan, whom I've know for over a year, left me the above magazine clipping a note saying that she thought I'd like the photography in this particular story. She was right. Getting to know the residents and clients here is wonderful, but I'm always pleasantly surprised to realize that many of them have gotten to know me as well.

Residents Give Care Too!

My son enjoying the vibrant colors in the book Gloria Distefano colored and gave to him

Last week I met with resident Gloria Distefano to interview her for a story I was working on for an upcoming newsletter. I always enjoy having the opportunity to talk story with residents, so that I can share their wonderful stories with others. In this way the residents and clients that let me interview them for stories are providing care for me as well as the organization as a whole. The Eden Alternative teaches that creating opportunities to give as well as receive care is the antidote to boredom.

During my conversation with Gloria, I happened to mention that I have a ten month old son. She quickly responded that he should have one of her colorings. She brought out books for her colorings and asked me to choose one for him. Since he loves the color red, I chose a picture of a tropical red fish. Instead of tearing out the page, she gave me the entire book of her vibrant, meticulous colorings. Needless to say my son loves the book and all of Gloria's color selections! Just another way Gloria was able to provide care for someone else by creating and giving them something that they can enjoy and appreciate.

Variety & Spontanity in Simple Pleasures

As stated in Eden Alternative Principle 5, the antidote to boredom, is a community that imbues daily life with variety and spontaneity by creating an environment in which unexpected and unpredictable interactions and happenings can take place. Yesterday a family from the House of Hope Fellowship in Hana came to spend time with many of the residents of Hale Makua Kahului. The youngest girl in the group had so much fun just getting to push Yaeko Hasegawa in her wheelchair, and Yaeko loved getting a ride from someone who is only as tall as her wheelchair!

Donation of Flowers Brings Smiles & Joy

Yesterday a truckload carrying 30 buckets filled with beautiful, fresh cut white hydrangeas, orchids and calla lilies was delivered to Hale Makua for residents. Activities team members Jodi and Teresa assembled dozens of individual flower arrangements that were delivered by staff to smiling residents like Juanita (above) and Sally (below). This very generous donation was made through the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea by guests Adrian and Alicia Wilson, who recently renewed their wedding vows. Congratulations to the happy couple, the flowers from your wedding continue to bring joy to our residents!

An abundance of flowers being delivered