Photo By Sgt. Rachel Grothe | Lt. Col. Patricia I Cue, 1984th U.S. Army Hospital Pacific, 9th Mission Support...... read more read more
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HAWAIIAN OCEAN VIEW, Hawaii-- Her enthusiastic explanation of cells swelling with weight gain captivates the crowd. Her mountainside audience contains mostly elderly people awaiting long delayed medical care.
“We already diagnosed someone as diabetic,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Patricia L. Cue, registered dietician nutritionist, 1984th U.S. Army Hospital Pacific, Detachment 1, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, between nutrition classes, about the civilian and military medical team at Hawaii Ocean View Estates community center working for Tropic Care 2016.
Tropic Care 2016 is a U.S. Army Reserve and state of Hawaii department of health led, joint services, innovative readiness training program, conducted off of military installations in the civilian community, assisting local civilian efforts providing quality healthcare to the underserved rural communities of Kea’au and Puna districts of the island of Hawaii from 31 May to 11 June 2016.
“We’ve been able to catch a lot of people that might slip through the typical health care system, and help them get on the right path. The lady diagnosed with diabetes didn’t realize her blood sugars were as high as they were. She came back to my nutrition class and was on board,” said the Homer, Alaska resident.
Many of the people coming to the Tropic Care clinics live in remote areas on the sparsely populated, lava-rock encrusted southern side of Hawaii. Many people have limited mobility, making long trips to larger cities very difficult or too expensive.
“A lot of the people here have chronic diseases. The people here are older and much more actively involved in their health care than young healthy people. They are very grateful for the clinic we’re doing. They want all the information and the services,” she said.
The service providers come from all over the world, but realize local culture must be taken into account to make information relevant to their clients’ lives.
“I work for the Kenaitze Indian tribe as a diabetes nutritionist in my civilian job. I encourage my clients to eat a traditional diet instead of industrialized prepackaged foods, and move them to a healthier more plant-based diet. It helps prevent chronic diseases and is better for the ecosystem,” said the outdoor enthusiast and environmentalist.
“I actually went to her class the other day,” said Rick Ward, Hawaiian Ocean View community emergency response team volunteer, standing in the gravel community center parking lot. “She helped me, made it easier to understand everything by taking the time, giving me the information in a much better way than my doctor did a few weeks ago.”
Lt. Col. Cue knows it’s important to take time motivating and encouraging individuals to do what’s best for them, because human’s do best when the feel respected.
“People are different, but the same all over the world. We put information out relative to the culture, and alternatives that they might actually want to use instead of a generic government food pyramid,” she said.
“It feels good, helping people in a meaningful way. We’re all connected on this one planet,” explained Cue. She studied nutrition as a way to bring two passions of her life together, helping people and the environment at the same time.
“We’re on our own out here, and a lot of people are wary of government,” said Ward of the spread out, isolated community.
“It’s hard to earn people’s trust here. You have to be a person,” agreed Anthony Colombo, Hawaiian Ocean View volunteer firefighter, standing next to Ward, leaning against a pick-up truck.
“You’ve earned trust, coming back, caring about the community,” Ward continued as he shook my hand. “We support you, what you’re doing.”
| Date Taken: | 06.03.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.04.2016 19:38 |
| Story ID: | 199995 |
| Location: | HAWAIIAN OCEAN VIEW, HAWAII, HI, US |
| Hometown: | HOMER, AK, US |
| Hometown: | KAILUA KONA, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 515 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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