Maui’s Baker and Souki Honored with AARP’s Capitol Caregiver Award

AARP Hawaii Volunteer State President Gerry Silva (left) and AARP Hawaii State Director Barbara Kim Stanton (right) present state Sen. Roz Baker (center) with a 2016 Capitol Caregiver award for her efforts to pass the CARE Act last year.

House Speaker Joe Souki and State Senator Roz Baker of Maui were each honored with the AARP’s Capitol Caregiver Award for their advocacy and support of family caregivers.

Both were honored for their leadership in championing the passage of the CARE Act, which passed in the 2016 legislative session.

The CARE Act requires acute care hospitals to designate a caregiver, notify caregivers of a patient’s discharge or transfer, and offer instructions on medical tasks needed to be performed at home following discharge. The act is scheduled to become law on July 1st.

AARP Hawaiʻi’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 is fully implemented when it becomes law.

Maui County Executive on Aging Deborah Stone-Walls(l to r), AARP Hawaii Volunteer State President Gerry Silva, AARP Hawaii State Director Barbara Kim Stanton; and AARP Hawaii Advocacy Director Audrey Suga Nakagawa present state Sen. Roz Baker (center) with a 2016 Capitol Caregiver award for her support in helping pass the CARE Act last year.

During a visit with Maui Sen. Roz Baker, AARP State Director Barbara Kim Stanton and State Volunteer President Gerry Silva, who grew up on Maui, 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.

“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 Hawaiʻi,” said Barbara Kim Stanton, AARP Hawaiʻi 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.”

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization with more than 150,000 members in Hawaiʻi, and focuses on issues critical to people over the age of 50 and their families.