Eme Kim uses huge flower petals as her visual aid at Kapiolani Community College classes to illustrate the many things adult care home operators might go through.
"So we’re talking about care homes and adult foster homes." Kim, from the Kupuna Education Center, says there are 1,240 of them on Oahu alone.
Her flowers represent different topics that come up in care homes, like the feelings, emotions, and attitudes surrounding diabetes.
"It’s a very chronic illness," she says. "Another one is dementia. That’s one of the two more popular ones. Another issue is nutrition. Three of nine modules are topics that we’ve discussed."
When her next class is held in February, Kim may have as many as a hundred students – adult care home operators and workers. They break up into groups to discuss each of the topics, then one of them will present their findings.
"Coping with diabetes is also about not only what you eat, but about the elder person’s feelings coping with a chronic disease. And the first thing you need to address is their denial of the disease."
Along with all her pamphlets and materials, she doesn’t try to teach the class on her own.
"I need to have a specialist. So I do have a specific instructor, like a registered nurse or a clinical dietician doing nutrition. My background is more in counseling with the elderly so something like dementia or challenging behaviors is what I would do."
For more information about the classes being offered, go to kupunaeducation.com.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
