AARP honors Maui Sen. Baker on Advocacy Day; Speaker Souki also received award

AARP Hawaii advocacy volunteers from across the state descended on the state Capitol Tuesday to talk with lawmakers about AARP Hawaii’s legislative priorities for the 2017 session.

The volunteers, dressed in red AARP shirts, hosted a coffee hour for lawmakers and their staff, then fanned out in groups to speak with key representatives and senators in the afternoon.

AARP Hawaii’s legislative priorities this session are to pass a resolution to create a task group to come up with ways to help people save for retirement; to fully fund Kupuna Care, the Aging and Disability Resource Center, and Healthy Aging programs; support Kupuna Caregivers; and to make sure the Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act, which passed in the 2016 legislative session, is fully implemented when it becomes law on July 1.

During a visit with Maui Sen. Roz Baker, AARP State Director Barbara Kim Stanton and State Volunteer President Gerry Silva presented Baker with the “2016 Capitol Caregiver” award for her leadership in championing the passage of the CARE Act.

House Speaker Joe Souki was honored with the same award during a ceremony on Maui last month. Baker was unable to attend at the time.

The award is given to a select, bi-partisan group of elected officials across the country who have fought for family caregivers – identifying needs facing caregivers, overcoming barriers that prevent caregivers from getting support, and establishing policies that will help family caregivers get the tools they need to care for their loved ones.

The CARE Act requires acute care hospitals to: 1) designate a caregiver which will be recorded on the patient’s health record; 2) notify caregivers prior to their loved one’s discharge or transfer to another facility; and 3) offer the caregiver the opportunity to receive instructions on medical tasks needed to be performed at home following discharge.

“We are thankful for the support of Senator Baker and Speaker Souki as ‘AARP Capitol Caregivers’ as well as other lawmakers, for their support of family caregivers in Maui and across all of Hawaii,” said Barbara Kim Stanton, AARP Hawaii State Director. “Under the new law, family caregivers should expect hospitals to provide instruction on how to care for their loved ones when they are discharged from the hospital. If needed, they should get instructions on how to perform the necessary tasks such as medications management, administering injections and wound care — which will help in the patient’s recovery and reduce hospital readmissions.”