Gov. Josh Green signed three bills on Thursday to enhance protections for vulnerable citizens in Hawaii, including one measure focused on helping kupuna living with dementia.
“We’re working to strengthen our medical workforce by providing extra dementia-informed care,” Green said at a news conference in Honolulu. “On a personal note, my stepmom has very advanced dementia, and this year, my father received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and is in the very early stages. (He’s a) brilliant man, so it’s very difficult to see.”
Both Green and one of the senators supporting the bill shared firsthand stories about elderly family members being affected by Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Green said that longer lifespans are causing a “Silver Tsunami” that will bring about the largest elder population in history by the 2030s.
“The number of kupuna who are going to experience dementia is going to triple in the next 35 years,” said state Sen. Stanley Chang of Oahu, who shared that his father died from dementia after his mother served as his primary caregiver for over a decade. “It was very difficult to find help for her … that’s why expanding the workforce capacity of our medical infrastructure here in Hawaii is so critical to addressing this issue.”
Senate Bill 1252, requires the University of Hawaii to establish a specialized training program to deepen the education for health care providers caring for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
The bill appropriates $525,000 in both 2026 and 2027 to the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to elevate training and education for improved support and care for kupuna with dementia-related challenges, while also adding to the state’s workforce.
Additionally, the bill enables UH Manoa’s Department of Geriatric Medicine to add positions to develop and update curricula. This will allow the school to offer training in enhanced care through new comprehensive programs focused on the needs of patients afflicted with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
“With the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia on the rise, there are cutting-edge treatments that are becoming available that can actually slow the disease. The key to this, though … is early detection and prevention,” said state Rep. Cory Chun of Oahu at the news conference. “Our kupuna are so important for us: they are our family members, our neighbors, and our friends, and are vital to our communities.”
The other kupuna support bill signed at the news conference Thursday was House Bill 703, which extends the sunset date of the state’s rent supplement program for kupuna from 2026 to 2028 and offers additional housing support for kupuna at risk of homelessness.
“SB 1252 strengthens our health care system by investing in dementia training and education, and this helps ensure our aging population will continue to receive compassionate and informed care,” AARP Hawaii Advocacy Associate Director Audrey Suga-Nakagawa said as she commended the dementia care and rent supplement bills. “Together, these bills honor the dignity of Hawaii’s older adults and build a more resilient age-friendly community.”
The third bill signed Thursday was SB 1221, also known as “Sharkey’s Law,” which requires increased safety measures and regulation of retention and detention ponds in an effort to decrease the number of drowning deaths among Hawaii children.
Source: The Garden Island