Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - Lana`i, a highly rural and remote island, experiences limited care resources, including especially the ever increasing and already large percentage of elderly residents, who need options to “age in place” without leaving their home and home island. The proposed project will be the first and only licensed Adult Day Care program on the island. Lana`i Kina`ole Inc. currently provides Home Health services and advocacy with a special focus on our elder services. The agency remains extremely busy delivering community-based services as well as services in home care. However, it has been recognized the services can be expanded and certain services will be delivered in a more efficient manner with an Adult Day Care program. Also important is that services may be able to be opened to more community members. The plan will be to license the service through the Hawaii State requirements as an Adult Day Care and/or Day Health. However, the goal, to preserve some dignity for individuals, will be to name the structure and subsequently, the program will be known as Lana`i Kina`ole Adult Day Services (LKADS). As was mentioned earlier, the composition of the population includes approximately 30% as elderly or kupuna, and most of them would decline to leave island to live the rest of their lives, preferring to “age in place” on Lana`i, their home island. The goal in adding Day Services will ,at a minimum, allow for more time to live on their home island. One important benefit of building a center and delivering day services would be that many employees for the islands businesses will go to work with less burden or worry, greater focus on their job, and likely, better attendance rates, because many of the working residents are also caring for aging adult family members, and therefore, they are called upon to rush home on breaks, or using a lunch hour to provide stressful caregiver services. The LKADS center will alleviate this challenge for many caregivers, including spouses, children, and others. In the beginning, the anticipated census may be low, but we already have some who have agreed to attend and are eager to join as soon as it is ready. We believe that once the center is built and activities begin, more will be interested. As the saying goes, "you build it they will come."
