HAWAII COMMUNITY
CAREGIVER NETWORK
Supporting family caregivers in West Hawaii since 1996
It takes a whole community to care for our caregivers.
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Aloha ~ Welcome to the website for Hawaii Community Caregiver Network, an all-volunteer nonprofit based in Kona. Our goal is to help you take care of yourself while caring for your loved one. The resources on our website emphasize local contacts, and also include some valuable national agencies. We welcome your questions and suggestions — please contact us.
This page lists phone contacts and websites which we hope will be helpful. The Classes and Groups page
shows current online classes and webinars about caregiving issues, and caregiver support groups. Powerful Tools for Caregivers and Caregiver Conference are activities we have offered over the years.
We are delighted to resume them now that we can be together again, with the Caregiver Conference replaced by a more frequent Caregiver to Caregiver Breakfast. For a full, recently updated listing of resources based in West Hawaii, please see our Resources page.
At the bottom of this page, check out our listing of caregiver apps recommended by AARP.
HCCN Caregiver Conference
Someone to talk to
Helpful phone lines (the wording in quotes is from each agency's website)
Alzheimer's Association 24/7 helpline -- 800-272-3900. “Through this free service, specialists and master’s-level clinicians offer confidential support and information to people living with dementia, caregivers, families and the public.” For more information see this website: https://www.alz.org/help-support/resources/helpline
AARP caregiver support, Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET — 1-877-333-5885. “Sometimes, it’s easier to just ask. That’s why AARP has a dedicated, toll-free family caregiving line for people taking care of a loved one.” More information: https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/basics/info-2018/support-line.html
211 — 7 a.m. - 10 p.m., 7 days a week. "Aloha United Way 211 is Hawaii's only comprehensive statewide community information and referral service. Free and confidential. 211 specialists help you find food, shelter, financial assistance, child care, parenting support, elderly care, disability services, job training and much more.” https://www.auw211.org/s/
County of Hawaii Call Center: Get a local, personal answer to your questions about free food sources, economic benefits, and referrals to useful agencies — (808) 961-8665.
Hawaii County Office of Aging, West Hawaii Office: (808) 323-4390. This agency includes the Aging and Disability Resource center and should be your first contact when you need support for an aging and/or disabled family member. We’re listing the number for our local Kona office. If you’re in a different region, search for “Area Agency on Aging” with the name of your town.
HCCN Facebook Page, an online forum for caregivers to interact, share tips and offer mutual support.
Support groups
See the Classes & Groups page
HCCN Caregiver Conference, Kona Hawaii, 2019
Useful websites
We all know that even the best website can’t replace personal contact. But websites have gotten very creative over the past few years. Maybe one of the following will help you. There are, of course, many others you can find by searching online for “family caregiver support.”
Active Daily Living: https://www.activedailyliving.com This website says, “Helping seniors and family caregivers with free, personalized advice to enhance health, independence, and aging-in-place.” We learned about it from the Maui County Office of Aging. Using the web address below, check out this video for an overview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXze1cs8OpQ&feature=emb_logo
Alzheimer’s Association national website is a trove of useful information for caregivers, not just those dealing with dementia. The caregiver support section is especially worthwhile: https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving.
A six-page brochure on caregiver stress is available to download at alz.org/national/documents/brochure_caregiverstress.pdf
AARP national website: https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/ A great big website covering a wide variety of topics on family caregiving, legal issues, life balance and self-care. It has lots of links to resources and other valuable support.
State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) — (888) 875-9229, https://www.smphawaii.org Certified senior volunteers assist Medicare beneficiaries by phone with enrollment, coverage questions, and complex issues. The website offers detailed information on how to protect yourself from fraud and scams.
Family Caregiver Alliance
https://www.caregiver.org/caregiver-resources/caring-for-another/ “The Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA) is a national non-profit organization founded in 1977 to assist families and caregivers of adults with disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, brain injury, stroke, Parkinson's, ALS or other chronic health problems.” The Caregiver Resources section in the link above has a long menu of caregiving topics, including videos on various skills such as daily care (transfers, bathing, diet, etc).
Learn to Zoom: Are you new to Zoom? The helpful folks at the Alzheimer's Association in Honolulu will give you a hand. Email Ivy at icastellanos@alz.org. Also, here's a good online lesson which will help you succeed with your first Zoom session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E
Advance Care Planning: kokuamau.org. “Kōkua Mau is Hawaii's trusted resource for accurate information on advance care planning (ACP) including Advance Directives and POLST, palliative care, which provides relief from the symptoms and stress of illness, and hospice care, which provides the best care possible at the end of life. (Kōkua Mau means ‘Continuous Care‘ in Hawaiian.)”
Informative Brochures
Memory Care Roadmap for Family Caregivers
This sixteen-page booklet contains a treasure trove of flow charts, screening tools, resources and guidance for family caregivers. If memory care is part of your life, this brochure could be very helpful to you!
https://hawaiiadrc.org/Portals/_AgencySite/HADSSP/HADSSP-2020-Roadmap-Booklet.pdf
Worried About Your Memory?
An eight-page booklet from the State of Hawaii which talks about normal aging vs. memory problems, and lists many resources in Hawaii. https://hawaiiadrc.org/Portals/_AgencySite/HADSSP/Booklet-Worried-About-Your-Memory-19-ENG.pdf
Take Care of Yourself
A six-page brochure from the Alzheimer's Association covering stress, finding help, accepting change, legal planning and more.
http://alz.org/national/documents/brochure_caregiverstress.pdf
Prepare to Care, a Planning Guide for Families
(AARP) This very thorough 35-page brochure covers many topics: Start the Conversation; Form your Team; Find Support; Care for Yourself; and more.
Free caregiver apps
which you may find useful
CareZone (carezone.com)
Creates a list of your medications and organizes health information [iOS and Android].
Caring Bridge (caringbridge.org)
Allows multiple people to communicate with one another about a care receiver [iOS and Android].
Caring Village (caringvillage.com)
Coordinates care between multiple people and stores key information about the care recipient using calendar, messaging and care plan [iOS and Android].
Lotsa Helping Hands (lotsahelpinghands.com)
Apple online interactive calendar to help multiple people assist older adults in need.
Author, poet and caregiver Frances Kakugawa at HCCN caregiver conference, Kona Hawaii, 2017
Would you like to get information about
online classes and other events for
family caregivers in West Hawaii? Contact us
to join the HCCN email list.
You have either been a caregiver,
You are a caregiver, You will be a caregiver,
Or someone will care for you.
~ Rosalynn Carter ~
