Over the past 15 years, Kōkua Mau has brought to the forefront meaningful, thoughtful and sensitive conversations on improving care and support for those with serious illness. We were able to contract with Ward Research to conduct telephone surveys of Hawaii residents to learn about their attitudes towards conversations with doctors, families and completion of advance care documents.
The results are very interesting, showing people in Hawaii are having conversations but there is a long way to go.
We contracted with Ward Research to conduct telephone surveys and focus groups of Hawaii residents to learn about their attitudes towards conversations with doctors, families and completion of advance care documents. This research was made possible with a grant from the Stupski Family Fund at the Hawaii Community Foundation.
Research shows people are not having conversations because:
- They think they are healthy (so it is too soon)
- their family will know what they want (even though they never told them)
- and they trust their healthcare teams to make decisions (even though they never told them their wishes)
Read more and the PDF files of the research report