Communities Need Elders’ Experience, Knowledge, Wisdom

After a series of workshops and meetings since 2021 on the Ibasho Concept, Faith Action’s Long-Term Care (LTC) Task Force announces that Our Lady of the Mount Catholic Church will be the site of a future Ibasho, the first of its kind in Hawaii and the nation.  Dr. Clementina Ceria-Ulep, LTC chair, will oversee this pilot project. 

Ibasho is a Japanese term meaning a place where one feels a sense of belonging and purpose.  Ibasho challenges commonly held beliefs about aging and the supposedly diminished abilities of seniors. Instead, Ibasho recognizes elders as valuable resources and empowers them to be active participants in their communities. 

Dr. Emi Kiyota, who taught the workshops, is founder and director of Ibasho, an organization that facilitates the creation of socially integrated, sustainable communities that involves the active leadership and participation of their elders.

Ibasho is based on the following concepts:

• Empowering elders changes the way they feel about their role in their community.
• Creating physical and social infrastructures with elders in leadership roles increases community bonding among the members of all ages.
• The resulting increased social assets strengthens the entire community’s resilience in the face of future natural and societal disasters. 

To learn more about Ibasho’s development on Oahu, go to: https://www.faithactionhawaii.org/post/communities-need-elders-experience-knowledge-wisdom