Program that Helps Older Adults Live at Home Longer Celebrates First Anniversary
Hale Makua Health Services’ newest program, Maui PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly), celebrates its first anniversary on October, 1, 2009. Maui PACE has provided a wide array of healthcare services to 22 of Maui’s older adults, with the goal of helping them live safely in their own homes and communities for as long as possible.
Sally Sarmiento is one of these individuals, and she has been with the program since its inception. Sally grew up in Hilo and then moved to the mainland from Maryland to Arizona, and finally to Washington. While living in Washington, she got sick frequently and her doctor told her she needed to move to a warmer climate. So Sally left Washington, moving away from her husband and settling into a home with one of her children on Maui. Even in the warm, temperate Hawaii weather she still had dizzy spells and on occasion fell because of the dizziness. Sally’s children were concerned about leaving her at home alone all day while they were at work, but didn’t want her living in a nursing home. The opening of Maui PACE in October 2008 was perfect timing and the ideal healthcare solution for both Sally and her family.
Initially Sally had some reservations about joining Maui PACE, since it meant giving up her own physician for a Maui PACE physician. However, the benefits of the program have far outweighed not seeing the physician she had grown accustomed to. Sally now enjoys that the program takes care of all her medications and medical needs, which lifts the burden off her and her family.
Sally visits the Maui PACE Center to attend the Adult Day Health program on weekdays, where she socializes with other program participants, does exercises and rehab treatment for her lower back, receives her medications and medical exams, makes crafts and loves to play dominos with her new friends. Her health has improved tremendously. Sally works with a dietician to create a menu based on a Renal Diet because of her diabetes. The Maui PACE dietician also gives her a chart of healthy foods that she can eat at home when she’s not at Day Health. Having a dietician recommend meals that are good for her diabetes has helped so much that the deterioration of her kidney has stopped, which means that she won’t have to start dialysis.
Maui PACE is a healthcare program that supports older adults’ desire to remain in their own home and community for as long as possible. Services are customized to meet individual needs, including medical care, prescription medications, hospitalization, day health services, home health care, transportation and more. Maui PACE may be a healthcare solution for individuals who are age 55 or older, currently safely living in the community, qualify for nursing home level of care, and residing within the Maui PACE service area.
Hale Makua Health Services is a private, non-profit 501(c)3 corporation established in 1946. The organization is committed to the mission of excellence in health care in our home and yours. Hale Makua Health Services is one of Maui’s largest non-government employers, with over 500 employees serving four home- and community-based health care programs. In addition to Maui PACE, programs include: Hale Makua Long-Term Care with two campuses, one in Wailuku caring for 124 residents and the other in Kahului providing homes for up to 254 people; Home Health by Hale Makua, which provides post-acute care and social work services to homebound clients of all ages and adult foster family care management; and Rehab by Hale Makua. Visit us online at www.HaleMakua.org.