Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 7, 1 Iulai 1992 — Population of Native Hawaiian elderly to double by 2010 [ARTICLE]

Population of Native Hawaiian elderly to double by 2010

The Native Hawaiian Elderly Needs Assessment Report published in 1990 by Alu Like, ine. noted that "over 16,000 Native Hawaiians, age 55 and older, reside in Hawai'i, seven of 10 on O'ahu and the rest on the four major neighbor islands." It said that "care homes were used in significant numbers by frail Native Hawaiian elders." The report said programs to support the development of family-size Native Hawaiian-run care h&mes should be among a range of options explored to serve the kupuna in culturally acceptable ways. The report also forecasts "the rate of growth in the next 20 years for the Native Hawaiian populahon age 60 and over was expected to more than double (120 percent). By the year 2010, this population was expected to approach 30,000. This growth rate was twice that anticipated for the total U.S. population

age 60 and over." Gregg Meyer, general manager of Lunalilo Home, the oldest and only residential care home exclusively for elderly Native Hawaiians in the state, said there is a need to assess how services ean be provided to other kupuna in Hawai'i. This may involve care homes on the neighbor islands, and training and individuals to provide at-home care. Unfortunately, Meyer said, Lunalilo Home does not have the financial resources to establish a network of care homes in the state. He anticipates a need for elderly day care facilities where kupuna ean share meals and companionship in a secure environment during the day while family members are at work. This may be an option for Lunalilo Home in the future, he said. "We also need to consider programs where kupuna needing medical care ean receive either at-home care or go to a day health care center. Lunalilo Home could be a training center for certifying nurse aides," he said. Meyer encourages both young and mature Hawaiians to consider careers as nursing care aides to kupuna, either in an institutional setting, or as a business in their own home.