Advance Care Planning (ACP), Advance Directives and Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Facilitator Training Dec 2024
2024-12-17 08:00 - 16:30 (Pacific/Honolulu)
This training is offered for nurses, physicians, social workers and other clinicians and focuses on communication skills to improve ACP discussions. The class will review key elements and processes related to ACP, advance directives and POLST development.

Thur 12/178 am – 4:30 PM

Course Objectives:

Promote goals of care discussions by learning effective communication skills to facilitate advance care planning discussions.

Engage the multi-disciplinary team to patient-centered discussion addressing advance care planning.

Promote patients’ knowledge of advance directives including health care power of attorney designation.

Implement correct documentation of Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)-Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR), full and limited treatment, time-limited trials and Comfort Care.

Identify processes to access ACP documents in the EMR and required documentation needed for ACP.

Identify end-of-life options including Hawai‘i requirements on Medical Aid in Dying, Our Care, Our Choice Act.

Download the flyer

First Insurance Center (FIC) Classroom 970, Education Department 862 South Beretania StreetHonolulu, HI 0800-1630

Registration: HPH employees: Manager’s approval is required prior to registering AND register online through HPH Learning Center (HLC). Type in catalog: Advance Care Planning or POLST; Select course: HPH – Advance Care Planning, Advance Directives and Facilitator Certification

Non HPH participants: Register online: https://www.hawaiipacifichealth.org/health-wellness/continuing-education/ or contact Michelle Cantillo, RN, HPH ACP Coordinator via email michelle.cantillo@hawaiipacifichealth.org.

7th Annual Mits Aoki Legacy Foundation Luncheon
2025-01-11 10:30 - 14:30
We are excited and pleased to invite you to attend the 7th Annual Mits Aoki Legacy Foundation Meeting and Scholarship Luncheon.

January 11, 202510:30 AM to 2:30 PMChurch of the Crossroads, 1212 University Ave., Honolulu

Registration was required before January 3, 2025.

This year we will celebrate Hob Osterlund, APRN, the recipient of the 2024 Mitsuo Aoki Community Service Award; while we enjoy, and honor, the continuing legacy of Reverend Dr. Mitsuo Aoki.

The Mitsuo Aoki Community Service Award is given to recognize the outstanding contributions of those individuals working in the areas of palliative care and hospice care, as well as, in the area of teaching others to provide compassionate skilled care for seriously and/or terminally ill people. Please Join us to thank Hob Osterlund for her outstanding contributions throughout her career to our community, and to her profession.

We are also honored and pleased to invite Kahu Makanihouolanaʻihale Tabura as our guest speaker. Kahu Makani will be sharing with us principles of health and healing from his knowledge and experience of traditional Hawaiian cultural practice. He will assist us to apply these Hawaiian principles to our shared human experience, while also considering the culture and traditions of our own ancestry and life circumstances.

Please register

Registration is required before January 3, 2025. It is highly recommended to please register early as seating is limited. (let us know at (808) 741-5733 if you registered but will not be able to attend in case there are people on a waiting list who want to attend.)

Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you there. May your holidays be full of Love and Light

Download the flyer

Palliative Pupus Jan 2025
2025-01-15 17:15 - 18:30
We’d like to invite you to our virtual and hybrid Palliative Pupus. January 2025 is on zoom ONLY

This month we’ll hear about a family in conflict over treatment goals and the instrumental role of palliative care chaplains in such situations, including in engaging community faith leaders.

Our exciting local bi-monthly networking and clinical education opportunity on zoom. Come participate in an interactive interdisciplinary story from the cutting edge of hospice and palliative care and mingle with colleagues from all over the islands on zoom. If you are involved with palliative care cases, you are invited. Please tell your colleagues and friends.

We will continue to meet virtually on zoom in 2025. Every second 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 hybrid in person meetings you will enjoy actual pupus.

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.

What is Palliative Pupus?

Our first successful Palliative Pupus meeting was held November 17, 2010 and has since become a bi-monthly event every third Wednesday of the month. (Except November due to Thanksgiving)

The model is an informal, interactive, collegial, pau hana to present and discuss challenging cases as a group. Palliative Pupus is for clinicians in a variety of fields: doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains.

Queen’s Conference Center for Palliative 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

Each meeting’s topic is announced in a Kōkua Mau reminder eNewsletter one week prior to the event

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

http://goo.gl/maps/PToQ5

Advance Care Planning, Advance Directives and Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Facilitator Training Kauaʻi
2025-01-17 08:00 - 17:00
This training is offered for nurses, physicians, social workers, pharmacists, clinical psychologists and other clinicians and focuses on communication skills to improve ACP discussions. The class will review key elements and processes related to ACP, advance directives and POLST development.

Fri Jan 17Wilcox Medical Center 3-3420 Conference Room A Kuhio Hwy, Lihue, HI

Course Objectives:

Apply advance care planning resources to promote advance care planning discussions.

Engage the muli-disciplinary team to patient-centered discussion addressing advance care planning.

Promote patients’ knowledge of advance directives, including healthcare Power of A􏰁orney designation.

Implement correct documentation of Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)-Cardiopulmonary

Resuscitation (CPR), Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR), full and limited treatment, time-limited trials and

Comfort Care.

Promote correct process of ACP documents, access and utilization in your organization.

Identify end-of-life options including Hawai‘i’ requirements on Medical Aid in Dying, Our Care, Our Choice Act.

Download the brochure

Registration: HPH employees: Manager’s approval is required prior to registering AND register online through HPH Learning Center (HLC). Type in catalog: Advance Care Planning or POLST; Select course: HPH – Advance Care Planning, Advance Directives and Facilitator Certification

Non HPH participants: Register online: https://www.hawaiipacifichealth.org/health-wellness/continuing-education/. Any questions contact Michelle Cantillo, RN, HPH ACP Coordinator via email michelle.cantillo@hawaiipacifichealth.org.

Advance Care Planning for Healthcare Professionals Virtual Class
2025-01-21 12:30 - 15:30
This virtual class is offered for physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, clinical psychologists and other healthcare professionals to promote ACP discussions and will review key elements and processes related to ACP, Advance Directives and POLST.

Tue Jan 21, 2025 12:30 – 3:30 p.m. on Zoom

Course Objectives:

Apply advance care planning resources to promote advance care planning discussions.

Identify the differences between the advance directive and Provider Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) and implement correct documentation of these documents.

Engage the multi-disciplinary team patient-centered discussion addressing advance care planning.

Registration: https://hph-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMqcuCrrzkjGtI27DkgqMeZ1QijGjQPZciT

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email after approval.

Any questions please contact Michelle Cantillo, RN, HPH ACP Coordinator at 808-535-7874 or via email: michelle.cantillo@hawaiipacifichealth.org.

Kokua Mau Meeting Jan 2025
2025-01-30 15:00 - 17:00
Please note that January has 5 Thursdays this year.

Please join us for our Virtual Monthly Meeting on zoom, to learn, laugh, mingle and network. Subscribe to our eNewsletter for the most up-to-date information and zoom log-ins. A recording of many of our meetings are available on our YouTube channel, in case you might have missed it.

Last Thursday of the month* from 3 to 5 pm (on zoom)

Each month’s topic is announced in our eNewsletter

Each month we have updates about events in the community and one or more guest speakers.

Meetings are open to all.

*Please note that there are always months with five Thursdays. The meeting is on that last (5th) Thursday of that month (except November & December when we have a combined meeting after Thanksgiving).

Advance Care Planning (ACP), Advance Directives and Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Facilitator Training
2025-02-08 08:00 - 16:30
This training is offered for nurses, physicians, social workers, and other clinicians and focuses on communication skills to improve ACP discussions. The class will review key elements and processes related to ACP, advance directives and POLST development.

Course Objectives:

Apply advance care planning resources to promote advance care planning discussions.

Engage the multi-disciplinary team to patient-centered discussion addressing advance care planning.

Promote patients’ knowledge of advance directives, including healthcare Power of Attorney designation.

Implement correct documentation of Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)-Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR), full and limited treatment, time-limited trials and Comfort Care.

Promote correct process of ACP documents, access and utilization in your organization.

Identify end-of-life options including Hawai‘i’ requirements on Medical Aid in Dying, Our Care, Our Choice Act.

First Insurance Center (FIC), Education Department1100 Ward Ave, Honolulu, HI 96814

Choose one day to attend from 0800-1630

Download the flyer

Tue Feb 25, 2025, FIC 970 • Tue April 8, 2025, FIC 970 • Tue June 17, 2025, FIC 970 • Mon Sept 15, 2025, FIC 630

Registration: HPH employees: Manager’s approval is required prior to registering AND register online through HPH Learning Center (HLC). Type in catalog: Advance Care Planning or POLST; Select course: HPH – Advance Care Planning, Advance Directives and Facilitator Certification

Non HPH participants: Register online: https://www.hawaiipacifichealth.org/health-wellness/continuing- education/. Any questions contact Michelle Cantillo, RN, HPH ACP Coordinator via email michelle.cantillo@hawaiipacifichealth.org.

Kokua Mau Monthly Meeting Feb 2025
2025-02-27 15:00 - 16:30
Thur 2/27 Kōkua Mau Meeting – What Matters to Native Hawaiian Elders: Care Preferences

Please join the first 2025 Kōkua Mau meeting to get updates and to hear about a recent study on Native Hawaii Kūpuna Care preferences led by the lead author UH Social Work Asst. Professor Miquela Ibrao.

A study by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Hā Kūpuna – National Resource Center for Native Hawaiian Elders has examined the end-of-life care preferences of Native Hawaiian kūpuna (Elders). Led by Laguna Pueblo and Quechan woman, Assistant Professor Miquela Ibrao, researchers from UH and ALU LIKE, Inc. identified culturally specific approaches to support kūpuna values in healthcare.

“Death is not an end but a transition that honors relationality, ancestors and the land,’ Assistant Professor Ibrao said. “Decolonizing end-of-life care means respecting cultural beliefs and embracing Indigenous wisdom about healing and living well.” The study, published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine, is based on interviews with 20 kūpuna aged 60 and over from rural areas across Hawaiʻi. It highlights four key themes.

Cultural perspectives on death: Kūpuna view death as a transition that acknowledges relationships with ancestors and the land.

Traditional healing practices: Lāʻau lapaʻau (herbal medicine) and lomilomi (massage) are essential aspects of care.

Family-centered decision-making: ʻOhana (family) plays a central role in healthcare choices, with deceased ancestors and the ʻāina (land) seen as sources of guidance and healing.

Preference for home-based care: Many kūpuna wish to age and die at home but fear burdening their families, with limited long-term care options in rural areas adding to the challenge.

Thur Feb 273-4:30pm

Register in advance for this meeting

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

Please join us for our Virtual Monthly Meeting on zoom, to learn, laugh, mingle and network. Subscribe to our eNewsletter for the most up-to-date information and zoom log-ins. A recording of many of our meetings are available on our YouTube channel, in case you might have missed it.

Each month’s topic is announced in our eNewsletter

Each month we have updates about events in the community and one or more guest speakers.

*Please note that there are always months with five Thursdays. The meeting is on that last (5th) Thursday of that month (except November & December when we have a combined meeting after Thanksgiving).

Overview of the Palliative Care Services Benefit - Webinar 1
2025-03-13 12:00 - 13:00
This year, Hawaii became the first state in the nation to offer community-based palliative care for Medicaid (Med-QUEST) beneficiaries.

Palliative care is now available as soon as a patient is diagnosed with a serious illness as a covered preventative benefit. It is available for patients who may be receiving curative treatments but need the extra support that a palliative care team can provide. (Click here for official documents and a 3-page summary.)

Through a grant from Hui Pohala, Kōkua Mau has produced a series of four webinars to help healthcare professionals and members of managed care plans optimize this valuable, new benefit.

Recordings are currently available on YouTube, please visit our webpage for links.

To learn more about palliative care, visit our resources.

Webinar #1:

Overview of the Palliative Care Services BenefitThur, March 13, 2025Noon to 1 pm HST

In this first webinar, you’ll learn about what is included in the Med-QUEST benefit, including patient eligibility requirements, assessments and services and the benefits of palliative care from an actual case study. Ideal for healthcare professionals who want to learn more about the new benefit and how they can make referrals to help their patients.

Speakers:

Dr. Daniel Fischberg has served as the Medical Director of the Pain and Palliative Care Department at The Queen’s Medical Center for more than 20 years and is Chief of the Division of Palliative Medicine and Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Torrie Fields, MPH, CEO of TFA Analytics, was instrumental in the creation of the benefit and is now working on implementation. She serves as strategic advisor to the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC), and the Hawaii Department of Human Services, Med-QUEST Division.

A 45-minute presentation will be followed by a live, interactive 15-minute Q&A session.

Other Upcoming Webinars

Watch for more information on these upcoming webinars which will be held every week at noon throughout March and beginning of April. Please register for each webinar separately.

Webinar #2:

Care Coordination under the Community-based Palliative Care BenefitThur March 20, 2025Noon – 1 pm

Learn who can provide palliative care, reimbursement codes, and more.

Webinar #3:

Pediatric Palliative Care BenefitTuesday March 25, 2025Noon – 1 pm

Find out what is covered in this palliative care benefit for children.

Webinar #4:

How the New Benefit Helps You and Your FamilyThur April 3, 2025Noon – 1pm

Med-QUEST beneficiaries and those who serve them will gain practical insights into this benefit in terms that are easy to understand. The session is for the public and all are welcome.

For questions about the webinar series, please contact info@kokuamau.org

Palliative Pupus March 2025
2025-03-19 17:15 - 18:30
We’d like to invite you to our virtual and hybrid Palliative Pupus.

This month’s topic: This complex case involves a compassionate extubation for a long-term care patient that was residing in a nursing facility and shows how the team helps a patient and family navigate the challenges that arise.

Our exciting local bi-monthly networking and clinical education opportunity on zoom. Come participate in an interactive interdisciplinary story from the cutting edge of hospice and palliative care and mingle with colleagues from all over the islands on zoom. If you are involved with palliative care cases, you are invited. Please tell your colleagues and friends.

At the March 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.

Queen’s Conference Center for Palliative 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

Each meeting’s topic is announced in a Kōkua Mau reminder eNewsletter one week prior to the event

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.

What is Palliative Pupus?

Our first successful Palliative Pupus meeting was held November 17, 2010 and has since become a bi-monthly event every third Wednesday of the month. (Except November due to Thanksgiving)

The model is an informal, interactive, collegial, pau hana to present and discuss challenging cases as a group. Palliative Pupus is for clinicians in a variety of fields: doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains.

http://goo.gl/maps/PToQ5

Care Coordination under the Med-QUEST Community Palliative Care Benefit - Webinar 2
2025-03-20 12:00 - 13:00
Please register for each webinar separately.

Webinar #2:

Care Coordination under the Med-QUEST Community Palliative Care BenefitThur March 20, 2025Noon – 1 pm

In this second webinar, you’ll learn about Med-QUEST benefit and eligibility criteria with qualifying conditions, assessment tools and services provided from the perspective of a provider, with a case study. In the second part Reimbursement Under the Community Palliative Care Benefit you will learn about the road map and the nuts and bolts of qualifying conditions, covered services, contracting requirements and the billing codes of the reimbursement process.

Speakers:

Toby Smith Medical Director for Supportive Care and Medical Management at HMSA, Geriatrician and Palliative Care Physician in skilled nursing facilities in Hawaiʻi. Dr. Smith is ABIM board certified in Geriatrics, Hospice and Palliative Medicine and Internal Medicine.

Torrie Fields, MPH, CEO of TFA Analytics, was instrumental in the creation of the benefit and is now working on implementation. She serves as strategic advisor to the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC), and the Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services, Med-QUEST Division.

A 45-minute presentation will be followed by a live, interactive 15-minute Q&A session.

Learn who can provide palliative care, reimbursement codes, and requirements.

Webinar #3:

The Pediatric Med-QUEST Community Palliative Care BenefitTuesday March 25, 2025Noon – 1 pm

Find out what is covered in this palliative care benefit for children.

Webinar #4:

How the New Med-QUEST Community Palliative Care Benefit Helps You and Your FamilyThur April 3, 2025Noon – 1pm

Med-QUEST beneficiaries and those who serve them will gain practical insights into this benefit in terms that are easy to understand. The session is for the public and all are welcome.

For questions about the webinar series, please contact us.

Finding Wholeness in Living and Dying: Providing Care and Comfort in the Jewish Community
2025-03-23 15:00 - 16:30 | Temple Emanu-El, 2550 Pali Hwy, Honolulu, HI, 96817, United States
We’re excited to have author and senior educator Rick Light coming to share his wisdom with us! Please join us to explore the unexpected depth of Jewish traditions around the end of life, and come learn about:

the richness and beauty of Jewish end-of-life customs, rituals, and practices

what caring for the dead teaches about living

and more…

All are welcome! This workshop is free of charge.

Sun Mar 23, 20253-4:30 pmTemple Emanu-El2550 Pali Hwy. Nuʻuanu

To join us online, watch the livestream at: www.shaloha.com on the 23rd around 3 PM.

On the temple’s website you might see a “view here” link to the templeʻs livestream of the day. But this link will only ʻhotʻ less than half hour before the program begins on the 23rd. You may have to click around a bit to find the link on the sliding menu. (This is a livestream on the day it happens and there is no registration required for it, since it is available as soon as it goes ʻliveʻ.)

Download the flyer

RSVP info@kokuamau.org so we can get a headcount for handouts

Rick Light has been teaching about Jewish death practices for almost three decades, showing how respect is woven throughout Jewish end-of-life rituals, enriching how we live. He started a Chevrah Kadisha in 1996 and led it for 18 years. Along the way he became an instructor for the Gamliel Institute and has published seven books, including a highly praised Passover Haggadah, and four books on Jewish death practices, one of which won a Nautilus Book Award.

Rick is currently on the Board of Directors for the Ben Zakkai Institute, and he is on staff at JADE (the Jewish Association for Death Education), where he is writing curricula for webinars and classes. Rick was also the designer of the popular educational Hineni tool. Learn about Rick, his passions, and his books at richardalight.com, benzakkai.org, and jadeinfo.org .

Sponsored by: Chevra Kadisha Kavod of Oahu, Temple Emanu-El, Kōkua Mau, Mālama Ola and Navian.

The Pediatric Med-Quest Community Palliative Care Benefit - Webinar 3
2025-03-25 12:00 - 13:00
This year (2025), Hawaii became the first state in the nation to offer community-based palliative care for Medicaid (Med-QUEST) beneficiaries.

Palliative care is now available as soon as a patient is diagnosed with a serious illness as a covered preventative benefit. It is available for patients who may be receiving curative treatments but need the extra support that a palliative care team can provide. (Click here for official documents and a 3-page summary.)

Through a grant from Hui Pohala, Kōkua Mau has produced a series of four webinars to help healthcare professionals and members of managed care plans optimize this valuable, new benefit.

Please help us spread the word and share this announcement with colleagues. To learn more about palliative care, visit our Palliative Care pages.

Please register for each webinar separately.

Webinar #3:

Pediatric Palliative Care BenefitTuesday March 25, 2025Noon – 1 pm

Find out what is covered in this palliative care benefit for children. A 45-minute presentation will be followed by a live, interactive 15-minute Q&A session.

Speakers:

Jasmin Jensen, MD is board certified in hospice and palliative care physician and pediatric oncologist. She has been a member of the medical team at Kapiʻolani medical center for over ten years providing care for patients with complex, chronic, and often life limiting conditions. One of her goals has been to increase access to pediatric palliative care and hospice services for patients and families residing on our neighboring islands. She works closely with community-based hospice agencies throughout the state to ensure that kids and families have support in their own communities to help them navigate the unimaginable challenges they face.

Curtis Thoma, MD. completed a combined residency in both internal medicine and pediatrics and served as pediatric chief resident. During his clinical career he has worked with underserved populations at community health centers in Hawaiʻi. He currently serves as Hawaiʻi Medicaid (Med-QUEST) Medical Director.

Torrie Fields, MPH, CEO of TFA Analytics, was instrumental in the creation of the benefit and is now working on implementation. She serves as strategic advisor to the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC), and the Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services, Med-QUEST Division.

Webinar #4:

How the New Benefit Helps You and Your FamilyThur April 3, 2025Noon – 1pm

Join us to learn more about this innovative Community Palliative Care Benefit that increases the care and support available for people with serious illness.

The webinar will help people with Med-QUEST and those who care for them learn about what palliative care is, who qualifies for the benefit and how to access it in terms that are easy to understand. The session is for the public and all are welcome.

Speakers:

Dr. Daniel Fischberg has served as the Medical Director of the Pain and Palliative Care Department at The Queen’s Medical Center for more than 20 years and is Chief of the Division of Palliative Medicine and Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Anita Jewell, RN. Anita Jewell’s nursing career spans 40+ years. In 1984 a 2-week vacation in Hawaiʻi turned into a permanent move after acquiring a nursing position at the Queen’s Medical Center. After 15 years at QMC’s Cardiovascular ICU, she spent the next 20 years navigating the realms of Case Management, Administration and Population Management. The combination of clinical and administrative experiences has led to unique opportunities to participate in community projects dealing with population health, health management, access to care and transitions of care.

Hope Young is the Advance Care Planning Coordinator for Kōkua Mau. Hope joined Kōkua Mau in 2017 and is a founding member of the Palliative Care Awareness Committee, established in 2021. She provides education and awareness about conversations and documentation about what matters most. Hope has worked with seniors and their loved ones in various capacities throughout her career and enjoys being out in the community.

Video: a siblings experience with Palliative Care for their mother.

Kokua Mau Monthly Meeting March 2025 Cancelled
2025-03-27 15:00 - 17:00
Due to the webinar series for the providers and the community there is no March 2025 Kōkua Mau meeting.

Please join us for our Virtual Monthly Meeting on zoom, to learn, laugh, mingle and network. Subscribe to our eNewsletter for the most up-to-date information and zoom log-ins. A recording of many of our meetings are available on our YouTube channel, in case you might have missed it.

Last Thursday of the month* from 3 to 5 pm (on zoom)

Each month’s topic is announced in our eNewsletter

Each month we have updates about events in the community and one or more guest speakers.

Meetings are open to all.

*Please note that there are always months with five Thursdays. The meeting is on that last (5th) Thursday of that month (except November & December when we have a combined meeting after Thanksgiving).

How the New Benefit Helps You and Your Family - Webinar 4
2025-04-03 12:00 - 13:00
This year (2025), Hawaii became the first state in the nation to offer community-based palliative care for Medicaid (Med-QUEST) beneficiaries.

Palliative care is now available as soon as a patient is diagnosed with a serious illness as a covered preventative benefit. It is available for patients who may be receiving curative treatments but need the extra support that a palliative care team can provide. (Click here for official documents and a 3-page summary.)

Through a grant from Hui Pohala, Kōkua Mau has produced a series of four webinars to help healthcare professionals and members of managed care plans optimize this valuable, new benefit.

Please help us spread the word and share this announcement with colleagues. To learn more about palliative care, visit our Palliative Care pages.

Please register for each webinar separately.

Webinar #4:

How the New Med-QUEST Community Palliative Care Benefit Helps You and Your FamilyThur April 3, 2025Noon – 1pm

Register for April 3!

Join us to learn more about this innovative Community Palliative Care Benefit that increases the care and support available for people with serious illness.

The webinar will help people with Med-QUEST and those who care for them learn about what palliative care is, who qualifies for the benefit and how to access it in terms that are easy to understand. The session is for the public and all are welcome.

Speakers:

Dr. Daniel Fischberg has served as the Medical Director of the Pain and Palliative Care Department at The Queen’s Medical Center for more than 20 years and is Chief of the Division of Palliative Medicine and Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Anita Jewell, RN. Anita Jewell’s nursing career spans 40+ years. In 1984 a 2-week vacation in Hawaiʻi turned into a permanent move after acquiring a nursing position at the Queen’s Medical Center. After 15 years at QMC’s Cardiovascular ICU, she spent the next 20 years navigating the realms of Case Management, Administration and Population Management. The combination of clinical and administrative experiences has led to unique opportunities to participate in community projects dealing with population health, health management, access to care and transitions of care.

Diane DeBernardo, APRN

Cecilia Ortiz, LSCW

Hope Young is the Advance Care Planning Coordinator for Kōkua Mau. Hope joined Kōkua Mau in 2017 and is a founding member of the Palliative Care Awareness Committee, established in 2021. She provides education and awareness about conversations and documentation about what matters most. Hope has worked with seniors and their loved ones in various capacities throughout her career and enjoys being out in the community.

Video: a siblings experience with Palliative Care for their mother.

Advance Care Planning (ACP), Advance Directives and Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Facilitator Training (April)
2025-04-08 08:00 - 16:30
This training is offered for nurses, physicians, social workers, and other clinicians and focuses on communication skills to improve ACP discussions. The class will review key elements and processes related to ACP, advance directives and POLST development.

Course Objectives:

Apply advance care planning resources to promote advance care planning discussions.

Engage the multi-disciplinary team to patient-centered discussion addressing advance care planning.

Promote patients’ knowledge of advance directives, including healthcare Power of Attorney designation.

Implement correct documentation of Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)-Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR), full and limited treatment, time-limited trials and Comfort Care.

Promote correct process of ACP documents, access and utilization in your organization.

Identify end-of-life options including Hawai‘i’ requirements on Medical Aid in Dying, Our Care, Our Choice Act.

First Insurance Center (FIC), Education Department1100 Ward Ave, Honolulu, HI 96814

Choose one day to attend from 0800-1630

Download the flyer

Tue June 17, 2025, FIC 970 • Mon Sept 15, 2025, FIC 630

Registration: HPH employees: Manager’s approval is required prior to registering AND register online through HPH Learning Center (HLC). Type in catalog: Advance Care Planning or POLST; Select course: HPH – Advance Care Planning, Advance Directives and Facilitator Certification

Non HPH participants: Register online: https://www.hawaiipacifichealth.org/health-wellness/continuing- education/. Any questions contact Michelle Cantillo, RN, HPH ACP Coordinator via email michelle.cantillo@hawaiipacifichealth.org.

Kokua Mau Meeting April 2025
2025-04-24 15:00 - 17:00
Stacie Sinclair, CAPC’s Associate Director, Policy and Care Transformation will present the finding from CAPC’s Serious Illness Scorecard that rates each state’s capacity to deliver high-quality care to people living with a serious illness, and their families and caregivers. It provides an in-depth report on each state’s palliative care landscape and offers actionable recommendations to improve palliative care access in each state or region.

Discussion objectives are:

Describe national trends in palliative care access

Describe the methodology used to determine Hawaii’s score

Leverage the Scorecard and individual state report to identify, prioritize, and advance initiatives to increase palliative care access in Hawaii

Click here to see the scorecard

There is lots happening with palliative care in Hawaii and nationally and this scorecard offers interesting insights. It will also be an indicator to watch in the years ahead.

Please join us for our Virtual Monthly Meeting on zoom, to learn, laugh, mingle and network. Subscribe to our eNewsletter for the most up-to-date information and zoom log-ins. A recording of many of our meetings are available on our YouTube channel, in case you might have missed it.

Last Thursday of the month* from 3 to 5 pm (on zoom)

Each month’s topic is announced in our eNewsletter

Each month we have updates about events in the community and one or more guest speakers.

Meetings are open to all.

*Please note that there are always months with five Thursdays. The meeting is on that last (5th) Thursday of that month (except November & December when we have a combined meeting after Thanksgiving).

ACP and POLST Facilitator Training Kauaʻi
2025-05-13 08:00 - 16:30
This training is offered for nurses, physicians, social workers and other clinicians and focuses on communication skills to improve ACP discussions. The class will review key elements and processes related to ACP, advance directives and POLST development.

Course Objectives:

Apply advance care planning resources to promote advance care planning discussions.

Engage the multi-disciplinary team to patient-centered discussion addressing advance care planning.

Promote patients’ knowledge of advance directives, including healthcare Power of Attorney designation.

Implement correct documentation of Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)-CardiopulmonarymResuscitation (CPR), Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR), full and limited treatment, time-limited trials and Comfort Care.

Promote correct process of ACP documents, access and utilization in your organization.

Identify end-of-life options including Hawai‘i’s requirements on Medical Aid in Dying, Our Care, Our Choice Act.

Tue May 13 2025 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.Wilcox Medical CenterConference Room B/C3-3420 Kuhio Hwy, Lihue, HI

Registration: HPH employees: Manager’s approval is required prior to registering AND register online through HPH Learning Center (HLC). Type in catalog: Advance Care Planning or POLST; Select course: HPH – Advance Care Planning, Advance Directives and Facilitator Certification

Non HPH participants: Register online or contact Michelle Cantillo, RN, HPH ACP Coordinator via email michelle.cantillo@hawaiipacifichealth.org.

Advance Care Planning
2025-05-20 12:00 - 16:00
This class is offered for physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, clinical psychologists and other clinicians. It promotes ACP introductions and will review key elements and processes related to ACP, Advance Directives and POLST in the clinic.

Course Objectives:

Apply ACP resources to promote advance care planning discussions.

Promote patients’ knowledge of advance directives including healthcare power of attorney designation.

Identify the differences between an Advance Directive and Provider Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)

and implement correct documentation of these documents.

Implement and standardize ACP processes.

Identify the Hawai‘i requirements of Medical Aid in Dying, Our Care, Our Choice Act.

Engage the multi-disciplinary team patient-centered discussion addressing advance care planning.

Tue May 2012:00-16:00First Insurance Center (FIC)Suite 970, Education Department1100 Ward Ave., Honolulu, HI 96813

Choose one afternoon to attend. Other dates: Wed, 8/13/2025, 1230–1630 or Tue, 11/4/2025 1200–1600

Registration: HPH Employees: Manager’s Approval is required prior to registering AND register online through the HPH Learning Center (HLC). Type in the Catalog: ACP; Select Course: HPH – Advance Care Planning (ACP) Class.

NonHPH participants: Register online: https://www.hawaiipacifichealth.org/health-well ness/continuing-education/ or contact Michelle Cantillo, RN, HPH ACP Coordinator via email michelle.cantillo@hawaiipacifichealth.org. Any questions, call Michelle Cantillo at 808-535-7874.

Palliative Pupus (zoom) May 2025
2025-05-21 17:15 - 18:30
We’d like to invite you to zoom only Palliative Pupus.

Our exciting local bi-monthly networking and clinical education opportunity on zoom. Come participate in an interactive interdisciplinary story from the cutting edge of hospice and palliative care and mingle with colleagues from all over the islands on zoom. If you are involved with palliative care cases, you are invited. Please tell your colleagues and friends.

At the May meeting we meet on zoom only, to include neighbor islands and others on zoom.

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.

What is Palliative Pupus?

Our first successful Palliative Pupus meeting was held November 17, 2010 and has since become a bi-monthly event every third Wednesday of the month. (Except November due to Thanksgiving)

The model is an informal, interactive, collegial, pau hana to present and discuss challenging cases as a group. Palliative Pupus is for clinicians in a variety of fields: doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains.

Kokua Mau Meeting May 2025 Cancelled
2025-05-29 15:00 - 17:00
No meetings in May and June 2025

Please join us for our Virtual Monthly Meeting on zoom, to learn, laugh, mingle and network. Subscribe to our eNewsletter for the most up-to-date information and zoom log-ins. A recording of many of our meetings are available on our YouTube channel, in case you might have missed it.

Last Thursday of the month* from 3 to 5 pm (on zoom)

Each month’s topic is announced in our eNewsletter

Each month we have updates about events in the community and one or more guest speakers.

*Please note that there are always months with five Thursdays. The meeting is on that last (5th) Thursday of that month (except November & December when we have a combined meeting after Thanksgiving).

Advance Care Planning (ACP), Advance Directives and Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Facilitator Training (June)
2025-06-17 08:00 - 16:30

Cancelled: Palliative Pupus July 2025
2025-07-17 05:15 - 18:30
We hope you are enjoying the summer. Unfortunately, we will need to cancel Palliative Pupus this coming Wednesday, July 16. The stars are not aligned this time so our apologies that we will NOT be meeting. Next Palliative Pupus will be on September 17.

Our exciting local bi-monthly networking and clinical education opportunity on zoom. Come participate in an interactive interdisciplinary story from the cutting edge of hospice and palliative care and mingle with colleagues from all over the islands on zoom. If you are involved with palliative care cases, you are invited. Please tell your colleagues and friends.

Advance Care Planning Aug 2025
2025-08-13 12:30 - 16:30
This class is offered for physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, clinical psychologists and other clinicians. It promotes ACP introductions and will review key elements and processes related to ACP, Advance Directives and POLST in the clinic.

Course Objectives:

Apply ACP resources to promote advance care planning discussions.

Promote patients’ knowledge of advance directives including healthcare power of attorney designation.

Identify the differences between an Advance Directive and Provider Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)

and implement correct documentation of these documents.

Implement and standardize ACP processes.

Identify the Hawai‘i requirements of Medical Aid in Dying, Our Care, Our Choice Act.

Engage the multi-disciplinary team patient-centered discussion addressing advance care planning.

Wednesday, 8/131230 – 1630First Insurance Center (FIC) Suite 970,Education Department 1100 Ward Ave., Honolulu, HI 96813

Registration: HPH Employees: Manager’s Approval is required prior to registering AND register online through the HPH Learning Center (HLC). Type in the Catalog: ACP; Select Course: HPH – Advance Care Planning (ACP) Class. Non HPH participants: Register online: https://www.hawaiipacifichealth.org/health-wellness/continuing-education/ or contact Michelle Cantillo, RN, HPH ACP Coordinator via email michelle.cantillo@hawaiipacifichealth.org. Any questions, call Michelle Cantillo at 808-535-7874.

AARP Hawaii - I Wish I Had Known A Caregiver’s Story
2025-08-20 10:00 - 12:00
Hope Young, Advanced Care Planning Coordinator, Kōkua Mauʻs own is part of a three person panel: “I Wish I Had Known … Getting Affairs in Order to Avoid Heartache: A Personal Caregiver Story“. This is an in person event.

Wed Aug 2010 AM to NoonHale Kōkua O Mānoa Adventist Community Center2655 Manoa Rd, Honolulu, HI 96822

Register on the AARP Hawaii website

Think you’re ready for a loved one’s passing? Learn from author Annette Kam’s story and get practical tips to ease the paperwork and planning before it’s too late.

Think you’re prepared for a loved one’s passing? The paperwork and details may surprise you. Join caregiver/author Annette Kam as she shares her story and offers essential tips to help you plan ahead—and ease the burden when the time comes. Hear from a local resource panel: Alan Gamble, President, Mits Aoki Legacy Foundation, Savvy Makalena, Founder & CEO, Gimme A Break, Hope Young, Advanced Care Planning Coordinator, Kōkua Mau.

Med-QUEST Community Palliative Care Benefit Overview For Social Workers
2025-08-21 12:00 - 13:00
As part of the PEACE – Munch and Learn Series 2025 Promoting Engagement, Aloha, & Compassion in the Everyday Care the presenter is Torrie Fields, MPH, CEO, TFA Analytics Strategic Advisor to Hawaii DHS, Med-QUEST Division.

August 21, 2025 12:00 to 1:00 pm

Register for the zoom meeting

See flyer for for continuing education information

During this second PEACE session for 2025 we will explore the new Hawaii Medicaid Palliative Care Benefit, and the important role social workers play within the interdisciplinary palliative care team caring for people facing serious illness. Please join us to expand our understanding and awareness of these unique contributions that social workers make and how this is now being recognized as critically important by Med- QUEST.

Bereavement Network of Hawaii presents author of wait don't die yet
2025-08-28 12:00 - 13:00
Presented by the Bereavement Network of Hawaii: Hawaii Author Annette Kam, RN “WAIT, DON’T DIE YET!”

A complete guide to all things no one really wants to think about (but everyone really needs to know) before, during, and after a loved one’s passing.

August 2812:00 PM to 1:00 PM

Register for the zoom meeting or use the QR code

Download the flyer for details about the author

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

All Kōkua Mau members are welcome to join in this meeting. The Bereavement Network Of Hawaii (BNOH) was founded to support people who are providing bereavement services to individuals and families in the Hawaii community through informational programs, networking and support, both on-line and in person throughout the year. A comprehensive list of agencies and individuals is posted and updated on our Kōkua Mau website.

Kokua Mau Monthly Meeting August 2025
2025-08-28 15:00 - 17:00
Kate DeBartolo, The Conversation Project, Institute for Healthcare Improvement

My Health Checklist was developed by IHI and is a free guide for older adults that complements the Conversation Project’s other materials,which are widely used in Hawaii. Kate DeBartolo will introduce the tool to help people prepare for medical appointments and share with us lessons learned. The Health Checklist is also available in Chinese and Spanish.

Kate has done trainings in Hawaiʻi with us, before the pandemic, and is a long time supporter of Kōkua Mau and the work happening here in Hawaiʻi to support people who may be facing serious illness.

Visit the website to see this excellent and free resource: https://www.ihi.org/partner/initiatives/age-friendly-health-systems/my-health-checklist

My Health Checklist is designed to help older adults get the most out of their medical appointments. This guide helps you think through all aspects of your health — what’s going well, what could be better, and your questions or concerns. Being prepared means that you can make sure your appointment focuses on the things that matter most to you.

Register in advance for this meeting

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

Please join us for our Virtual Monthly Meeting on zoom, to learn, laugh, mingle and network. Subscribe to our eNewsletter for the most up-to-date information and zoom log-ins. A recording of many of our meetings are available on our YouTube channel, in case you might have missed it.

Last Thursday of the month* from 3 to 5 pm (on zoom)

* Please note that there are months with five Thursdays. If this is the case, the meeting is on the 5th Thursday of that month (except November & December when we have a combined meeting after Thanksgiving).

Each month’s topic is announced in our eNewsletter

Let’s Talk Story about Advance Care Planning and How It Can Help Caregivers and Loved Ones
2025-09-06 10:00 - 12:00 | Catholic Charities Hawaii, 1822 Keʻeaumoku Street, Honolulu, Hawaii
10 a.m. to Noon Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi Community Hall1822 Keʻeaumoku Street in Makiki

Advance Registration is required

Parking instructions will be sent to registrants prior to the date

Download the flyer

Hope Young, Kōkua Mau’s own Advance Care Planning (ACP) Coordinator will conduct the 2 hour workshop. Hope will share:

How conversations about what matters most can support wishes for care

What is an Advance Health Care Directive and how it can support loved ones

What is a POLST (the green paper) and who needs one

Tips about Advance Care Planning with someone with dementia

Palliative Care – what is it? Who can benefit from it?

Discover how early hospice can support loved ones and offer the best care possible

For questions about the workshops or you need help registering, please contact Jody Mishan, (808) 295-2624 or jmishan@hawaii.rr.com

5th annual Shine A Light for Caregivers Celebration
2025-09-06 17:00 - 19:00
Gimme A Break Hawaii invites you to Shine a light to support Caregivers with them at their 5th annual Shine A Light for Caregivers Celebration

Sept 6, 2025, from 5:00-7:00PMKapiolani Bandstand in Waikiki

Place your remembering leaf at the tree of light

Kumu Charlani Kalama and Hālau Ha’a Hula ‘O Kekau’ilani Na Pua Hala o Kailua

Special Sound Bowl by Calleigh Piper in remeberence of those lost!

The Yearly Shine A Light Celebration grows awareness for Caregivers! Currently 50% of all Caregivers in the United States will NOT survive their Career!

This year alone we lost many within our community! Many Caregivers become isolated and withdrawn, it’s as if they disappear into the darkness! As we “SHINE A LIGHT” for Caregivers, we show them that we see them and appreciate them and give them a light of hope and appreciation for all they do!

Per-order your remembering leaf here
