Kokua Mau

Hawaiʻi ANA Lunch and Learn: Patients' Perceptions of Compassionate Nursing Care
2025-10-17 11:30 - 13:30 (Pacific/Honolulu)
You are invited to the HANA event: Hawaiʻi ANA Lunch and Learn:

Kōkua Mau’ own Dr. Pat Nishimoto will present on the Perception of Compassionate Nursing Care by Oncology Patients. This event offers 1.5 contact hours to attendees.

Fri Oct1711:30am – 1:30 HST

Location: Mangiamo by 604943 Valkenburgh Street (Mauka of the airport)Honolulu, HI, 9681

Register to attend on their website (registration includes lunch)

Educating Social Workers in Palliative and End of Life Care-(ESPEC)
2025-10-30 12:00 - 13:00
With Shirley Otis-Green, LCSW, OSW-CE, FNAP, FAOSW Founder and Consultant of Collaborative Caring and Myra Glajchen, DSW, MSW, BSW, ACSW, APHSW-C, Director of Education and Training.

Registration: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/PB-wz2XURe2HpxNiIg4jPQ This session is free.

Shirley Otis-Green, (https://www.collaborativecaring.net/about) is an internationally recognized social work expert in palliative care and is the author/editor of numerous articles and books including The Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work, 2E. She will be presenting an introduction to a state-of-the-art training program called Educating Social Workers in Palliative and End of Life Care-(ESPEC).

Myra Glajchen, (https://www.mjhspalliativeinstitute.org/the-staff/) is an internationally recognized leader in palliative and oncology social work with a distinguished teaching and research portfolio. She is Project Director for Educating Social Workers in Palliative and End-of-Life Care (ESPEC), which has trained over 850 social workers.

Hui Pohala is now collaborating with her to make the ESPEC training program available for all Hawai`i social workers, especially for those social workers working with people who are seriously ill and their families. Plans include in-person training on all of the neighbor islands and Oahu. Please register and attend this session to learn more about this exciting career enhancing opportunity.

Download flier for details and CEU

Celebrate 25 years of Kokua Mau with us
2025-11-01 11:00 - 13:00 | Church of the Crossroads, 1212 University Av., Honolulu, HI, 96826, United States
November 1, 202511am – 1pmChurch of the Crossroads

RSVP at: https://forms.gle/YTMH7558tn1sw7dVA

Please save the date and come and celebrate 25 years of Kōkua Mau with your friends and colleagues. This will be a unique opportunity to talk story, catch up with people and appreciate the amazing coalition that is Kōkua Mau. This will be a potluck and open to everyone in Kōkua Mau. Families and friends are welcome.

There will be crafts, food, music, a photo booth AND momentos from the last 25 years. Please bring any photos to share

Interested in helping us make this happen? Please let Jeannette know if you would like to be on the work group.

9th Annual HPGS Tony Lenzer Scholarship Fundraiser's honoree is Jeannette Koijane
2025-11-14 17:30 - 19:30 | Arcadia Retirement Residence, 1434 Punahou St, Honolulu, 96822
Jeannette is this year’s honoree of the HPGS Tony Lenzer Scholarship Fundraiser because of her commitment since 1988 to serving those who need serious illness care. Since 2010, Jeannette has been the Executive Director of Kōkua Mau, which was established in 1999 as a statewide network to lead the movement to improve care for everyone.

Please join us in person at HGPS’ Annual HPGS Tony Lenzer Scholarship Fundraiser in honoring our very own Executive Director Jeannette Koijane.

Fri Nov 14 5:30pm Reception at Arcadia with Pupu & Wine

Please download the flyer and registration form to register or online at HPGS

Proceeds of this years HGPS fundraiser will go to support the HPGS annual Tony Lenzer Scholarship program for students with a serious interest in professional work related to aging, long term care and/or death and dying.

Palliative Pupus November
2025-11-19 17:15 - 18:30
Please join us on in person and on zoom. This month: Join us for a case about a 79 yo male with malignant melanoma with medical, social, and family dynamics that we had to navigate. He also lived on a boat.

At the November meeting we also meet in person at the QCC, offering a hybrid format, to include neighbor islands and others on zoom. If you join us at the in person meetings you will enjoy actual pupus.

The Queens Conference Center (QCC) – Room 200510 S. Beretania StreetHonolulu, HI 96813

Please join us bi-monthly on the:

Palliative Pupus meets in Room 200 on the second floor of the Queen’s Conference Center

Park for free at the municipal Civic Center parking lot on South Beretania after 4 PM (see map below)

Park in the Queen’s Miller parking lot for validated parking (pricey without the sticker). See map.

Across the street at the DOH now has a two hour maximum enforced 24 hours (gone are the good old days).

More on parking near QCC

How does Palliative Pupus work?

The theme and presenters for each ‘Palliative Pupus’ is announced one to two weeks prior to the meeting date via our Kōkua Mau eNewsletter. If you are not receiving our eNewsletter yet, please subscribe here and we will keep you informed.

Let’s Talk Story About Grieving During The Holidays
2025-11-20 17:00 - 18:30
Please join the Bereavement Network of Hawaii (BNOH) and the Mits Aoki Legacy Foundation for an informal presentation, exploring grieving during the holidays and learn some helpful coping tips to make it through the next few weeks. All are welcome. Please feel free to share with others and ask them to register.

This time of year is especially difficult for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one. For many there is not a “Happy Holidays”, “Happy Thanksgiving”, “Merry Christmas”, or a “Happy Hanukkah”. Often there is sadness, wanting to be alone, and to be separate from others who don’t understand our grief. There is often a void and deep longing for those who have died or who we have lost to an illness such as dementia.

The feelings that arise are sometimes complex and unpredictable and at the same time uniquely our own. One certainly does not want to “celebrate” the holidays without their loved one. Things just aren’t the same anymore. You are not alone. Others are also experiencing grief and loss. Please join them as they explore some helpful coping tools.

Thur Nov 20, 20255:00 PM to 6:30 PM

Meet on Zoom. To register: Click Here

Download the flyer

Kokua Mau Meeting with Cindy Roat Working with Medical Interpreters
2025-12-04 15:00 - 17:00
Working with Medical Interpreters

On December 4, join national expert Cynthia Roat for a down-to-earth presentation on your options for bridging the communication gap across languages, considerations for choosing your best option, and concrete steps for working effectively with an interpreter.

Bring your questions and frustrations for this engaging session with one of the country’s leading authorities on language access in health care. Please send your questions ahead of time.

Thur Dec 43-4:30pm

Cindy Roat will be our special guest for this meeting. She is an international consultant and trainer on language access in health care with 30+ years’ experience in the healthcare interpreting field. With an MPH in International Health Services, Cindy has made significant contributions to the language access field in the areas of training, program development, policy formulation, advocacy and organizational outreach.

Cindy will also be the trainer for our Kōkua Mau and HITA proudly presents workshops on zoom: Medical Interpreting for Patients with Serious Illness: Interpreting in Palliative Care later in the month. See our website for details or download the flyer.

Register in advance for this meeting

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Medical Interpreting for Patients with Serious Illness Interpreting in Palliative Care
2025-12-06 09:00 - 12:30
Medical Interpreting for Patients with Serious Illness: Interpreting in Palliative Care

Palliative Care is the medical specialty that focuses on improving quality of life and relieving physical and emotional suffering for people who are experiencing a serious illness. Since palliative care depends on regular, clear communication between patients, providers, and families, interpreters are key members of any palliative care team. For interpreters, conversations involving palliative care, especially those at the end of life, can be among the most difficult to convey — not only linguistically and culturally, but personally.

Saturday, December 6 and 13, 20259:00 – 12:30 Hawaii timeParticipants must attend both classes

This interactive seven-hour workshop is designed to prepare experienced, trained medical interpreters to work in palliative care settings in Hawaiʻi. It includes:

An Introduction to Palliative Care

Interpreting Skills Applied to Palliative Care

The Vocabulary of Palliative Care

Sight Translation in Palliative Care

The Impact of Emotion and Belief on Interpreting

7 CEUs (details in flyer)

This multimedia, interactive training includes videos, PowerPoint presentations, and practice of interpreting and sight translation. Bilingual medical glossaries and practice activities are provided in Cantonese/traditional Chinese, Ilocano, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin/simplified Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

Who is teaching? Cindy Roat is an international consultant and trainer on language access in health care with 30+ years’ experience in the healthcare interpreting field. With an MPH in International Health Services, Cindy has made significant contributions to the language access field in the areas of training, program development, policy formulation, advocacy and organizational outreach. Her written works are key resources for interpreters, providers and administrators alike. Cindy was the principal author of the original Bridging the Gap, and her most recent book, Healthcare Interpreting in Small Bites, is being used as an ancillary text at many basic training programs. Cindy is a founder and current board member of the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC), as well as being known nationally as an engaging speaker, a knowledgeable resource, and an energetic advocate for language access in general.

Download the flyer to register and more details

Where: Online through Zoom

Cost: $50 + credit card processing fees. Thanks to a grant we can offer this training at a reduced rate.

REGISTER HERE before 5:00 p.m. on December 1.

Please note: space in this workshop is limited to the first 25 applicants. Participants must have access to a computer, internet access and a quiet place to do the training. Please submit a separate registration form for each person registering.After registering, you will receive an email confirmation; if you do not receive a confirmation, your registration did not go through.

Scholarships: There are full scholarships available for participants from The Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and Republic of Palau. Complete the application and we will let you know if you have qualified for the scholarship.

Interpreting in Palliative Care Part 2
2025-12-13 09:00 - 12:30
