Merlita Compton - KKV’s Kupuna Warrior and Super Auntie

This is the story of one of KKV’s fearless leaders, Super Auntie Merlita Compton. Auntie Merlita was born in the Philippines where, as a child, she spent a lot of time with her grandmother who was a midwife and community healer.“She lived a full life working in the community, talking story with her neighbors, making them laugh. She would walk to the home and help them give birth… It was nice for me as a child because I went with my grandmother whenever I could, whenever I wasn’t going to school. She would teach me how to comfort the person, give massage. I stayed the whole time until she finished. I prepped for her and helped her deliver the babies. My grandmother was a very positive person, so people would come and get her any time of the day. She was always humming and singing when dressing to go. I thought how she was so happy it must be good to work with the community and to help people.” Merlita’s grandmother lived to be 103. 

Hoping to carry on her grandmother’s legacy, at 18, Merlita moved to Hilo where she worked for the Life Care Center of America, a nursing home, for the next eleven years. In 1988, she moved to Kalihi and began to focus on her education. She received her BA in Social Sciences from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and afterwards pursued a Master of Public Health. This would ultimately lead her to KKV, where she did her practicum with a focus on health services administration and planning. With a strong interest in working with seniors, Merlita then went on to advanced studies for gerontology. “I was always interested in working with seniors, thinking back to my grandmother [and my work] in the nursing home.” 

In 1999, Auntie Merlita finished her advanced studies in gerontology and was hired by KKV as a contractor doing case management. In 2002, she was promoted to full-time case manager. Merlita shared with us some of her focus group work with the Filipino and Samoan communities, the most recent wave of immigrants to Kalihi at the time. She “saw that both groups wanted a place to exercise, [needed] transportation, a place to talk story, [and a place to] eat together.” “When I did interviews and focus groups, I felt so happy talking with people; I’m happy with them, they’re happy with me. Every time I went on home visits, I felt myself smiling with my grandmother looking over my shoulder and happy with me.” It is without a doubt that Auntie Merlita’s grandmother is proud of her just as we all are at KKV.  

Today, Merlita is the powerhouse that oversees KKV’s Elder Care Program at KKV’s Gulick location. The early days of the Gulick Elder Care program were all about health maintenance. “We used to cook and started the exercise program - then, people really enjoyed it, and want to stay on.” “I can tell that when you visit people, food is always a part of a group, so we used to cook.” The staff worked with other organizations to obtain food – but ran into obstacles. Lanakila, for example, didn’t want to give meals to Gulick because they required a commitment to feed 25 people. At that time, “We didn’t have 25 so I made a big pot of soup, with boiled chicken and papaya and marrunggay and fed them. Not too many of the people we served then wanted American food.” 
Pretty soon, word of the soup and activities at Gulick spread through Kalihi and the patient numbers grew. More activities were added including creative activities, health education, and even birthday celebrations. Auntie Merlita shared that during one birthday for a patient who lived alone, due to limited funding but still wanting to celebrate, she bought one cupcake in celebration and still everyone really enjoyed it. It’s this type of love and dedication to care that makes us all love Auntie Merlita so much and inspires many to support the Elder Care Program.   

As Director of KKV’s Elder Care Program, she has been the program’s heart and spirit.  Over the past 16 years, she has worked steadily to expand the program focusing on community-based health promotion programs for Kalihi’s kupuna. Auntie Merlita has been honored with the Community Service Award as one of the most visible “champions” for the Healthy Aging Partnership. She has contributed to publications in The Gerontologist and Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. Merlita has showcased her successful experiences, speaking at a variety of conferences such as the Senior Center Summit Information for Roundtable at the American Society on Aging Conference, the American Public Health Association Exposition, and the National Primary Health Care Association. She has worked tirelessly to demonstrate the importance of attending to cultural factors in implementing chronic disease self-management programs. She has also spearheaded the evaluation of clinical outcomes for these programs in response to the demand from medical and public health entities and insurance payers. She does so much, with a strong willingness to promote healthy aging in the community. She is truly a Super Auntie. 

In her own words, “...the trick [to implementing] a program is you have to test it with what they enjoy so the outcome is successful. Like the music, the birthdays, exercise and talk story, it’s simple...the secret ingredient is love.” 

Thank you Auntie Merlita! For everything you do for us and our elders!