Adult Day Care Receives Grant

Na Pu`uwai News Release

Na Pu`uwai is pleased to announce that its Adult Day Care Center, the Senior Enrichment Program located at Home Pumehana’s senior living facility, is the recipient of a $100,000 community grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA).  This award will support our kupuna who attend the adult day care and who participate in its range of activities.

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Licensed for 12 kupuna and operational since August 2010, the Adult Day Care Center now has 10 clients, with nine attending regularly.  Seventy percent are Native Hawaiian kupuna, whose ages range from 78 to 91 years old.   The Adult Day Care Center, licensed by the Department of Human Services, fills an unmet need of having the option for long term care services on the island of Molokai.  OHA also funded a planning grant to Na Pu`uwai to establish long term care services for kupuna on Molokai.

Through conducting several community forums and administering a survey to determine what Molokai’s kupuna and caregivers desired, a continuum of services ranging from independent living to having a long term care facility was developed.  Although the majority of the respondents wanted to remain in their own homes to “age in place,” with services provided in the home by different healthcare personnel, many indicated that attending a day care or day health program would improve their health through socialization with others and reduce the burden of having family members care for them throughout the day.  With many partners – such as Arcadia Senior Services on Oahu, Hale Mahaolu on Maui that oversees Home Pumehana, a consultant familiar in the necessary regulations to operate an adult day care program, and different Hawaiian agencies – Na Pu`uwai was able to  provide this service for the island.

Na Pu`uwai’s Adult Day Care Center has five staff, including a program and activity director and four certified nurse aides (CNAs), to operate the program on Mondays through Fridays, 10 hours a day.  The activities are many and serve to stimulate the kupuna through socialization, keeping a journal, cognitive and sensory activities, and through visiting other island programs, such as the Native Hawaiian library and some of the farms.  Other programs visit the center, such as Tutu and Me, a preschool visiting program, the Native Hawaiian Immersion program from Molokai Middle School, and a robotics after-school program from the elementary school, thus making the adult day care an intergenerational program as well.  Na Pu`uwai appreciates the support from OHA, because it will help to subsidize the Native Hawaiian kupuna who attend and enhance the Adult Day Care Center on Molokai.