Kokua Mau eNewsletter
September
2015

Greetings!

There are lots of interesting events coming up that we hope you'll participate in including "Finding Gifts in the Grief Journey", "M Technique" workshop on touch at the end of life, Palliative Pupus and our monthly Kokua Mau meetings.  We have organized events by date below. (Let us know if you have an event to publicize.)  We have also included a number of new resources including the rapping doctor videos and a Catholic guide to Advance Care Planning.  

Now is the time for the Aloha United Way Campaign which supports important organizations in our community. 

For the first time you can make contribution specifically to Kōkua Mau - by using our designation number 80410 on the Donor Designation Form (or the new online version).  

Please tell your colleagues, friends and loved ones who might be part of an AUW campaign as well. The coconut wireless is still the best way to spread the word about this new opportunity for Kōkua Mau.
 
In this Issue and from Past Newsletters:

Reminder: Sat. 9/5 Finding Gifts in the Grief Journey with Dementia: A Hawaiian Cultural Perspective" 

Co-Sponsored by Kōkua Mau and others (see flyer) we invite you to a special present presentation related to memory loss and dementia:

"Finding Gifts in the Grief Journey with Dementia: A Hawaiian Cultural Perspective" with Leilani Kaho'ano, RN and Kumu Hula

Saturday, September 5, 2015 
10am to Noon
15 Craigside Solarium 
15 Craigside Place, Honolulu, HI  96817
 
Registration is closed, sorry. All seats taken.
 
Wed. 9/16 Palliative Pupus

Please join us Wednesday, September 16 for Palliative Pupus.
 
This month's case features a patient, family, and interdisciplinary team supporting each other when a 21 year-old presents with incurable disease.  

Wed. Sept. 16, 2015
5:15 to 7:00 PM
The Queens Conference Center (QCC) Room 200
510 S. Beretania Street, Honolulu, HI 96813

Come hear an interactive interdisciplinary story from the cutting edge of hospice and palliative care and mingle with colleagues.

Please bring some pupus to share and invite your colleagues. This is a great chance for people who wonder what palliative and hospice care really looks like as we describe and discuss a real person and their journey.

Please note Palliative Pupus participants: There is FREE parking after 4 PM in the municipal lot on South Beretania, just Diamond Head of Queen's. See our website for a map
.

Thur 9/17 Trauma and the Grief Journey

In the aftermath of a loved one's death, your grief might be colored by dramatic events you witnessed. The workshop will provide information on trauma and grief, and share simple techniques that might help.
 
Thur. Sept 17
1:30 to 3:30 PM
Weinberg Outpatient Building, Room 224
St Francis Health Care System
2226 Liliha Street, Honolulu
 
Space is limited! RSVP by Sept 10 to Valerie by email or call (808) 547-8144

Tue 9/22 Webinar: The Fine Art of Balancing Protection with Self Determination

Research shows that empowering individuals to actively participate in personal decision making improves life outcomes and can reduce the risk of abuse and exploitation. This session will talk about recognizing the signs and signals of abuse, neglect (self-neglect) and exploitation, tools to maximize communication with persons with differing abilities, and promoting self-determination and choice through supported approaches that mitigate against risk and empower individuals.

Presenters: David Godfrey (Senior Attorney, American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging) and Jonathan Martinis (Legal Director, Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities).

Free webinar on Sept. 22, 2015 at 2:00PM (EST)

 
Thur. 9/24 Kokua Mau Monthly Meeting

We hope you can join us on Thursday, Sept. 24 for our Kokua Mau Monthly Meeting. Monthly meetings are open to all.

Thursday, September 24, 2015
3pm-5pm
Conference Room 224
Weinberg Building
St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawai'i
2226 Liliha Street in Honolulu

Join us for other local updates and please let Jeannette know if you have items for the agenda.

Parking is validated and click here for a map and further details.  There will be real coffee and refreshments as well.
 
Sat. 10/17 A Night to Remember

Each fall, Hospice Hawaii hosts a candlelit memorial service called A Night To Remember. The evening provides the opportunity for family and friends to honor their loved ones. More

Saturday, October 17, 2015
Sacred Hearts Academy
3253 Waialae Avenue
5:00 pm - Assemble Luminaries 5:45 pm - Ceremony
 
Fri/Sat 10/30 & 31 The M Technique For End-Of-Life

This structured system of touch is suitable when massage is inappropriate because the receiver is very fragile, critically ill or the giver is not trained in massage. The 'M' works on the skin receptor sites that send signals to the brain. This method of touch has been used in America since 1994, and is taught in universities, hospital, hospices, nursing colleges and massage schools. The 'M' Technique� is different from massage. More details on our website.

Fee: $50 for the M Technique workshop. Each workshop is limited to 24 participants so register early. You can attend the workshop on Friday Oct. 30 or Sat. Oct. 31.

1PM to 5:30 PM (both days)
Sullivan Center - 4th Floor
Iolani School
563 Kamoku St
Honolulu, HI 96826 
Register Now: Nov 11 The Fine Art and Science of Pain and Palliative Care

Registration for The Queen's Medical Center conference on Pain & Palliative Care is now open. This annual conference brings national and local leaders together for our state's premier palliative care conference. 

Wednesday, November 11, 2015 
Ko'olau Ballrooms & Conference Center 
Kaneohe, Hawai'i 
  • Early Bird registration until October 27
Video: Ain't no way to die

This is an amazing video by ZDoggMD, Raper and MD. Watch it through to the very end (only 4 minutes). Ain't no way to die

ZDoggMD is a physician, off-white rapper, and the founder of Turntable Health. He's not a businessman.  A hospitalist at Stanford for almost 10 years, Dr. Z currently resides in Las Vegas-a city he finds simply adorable.  More and a list
off all his videos including one on Readmissions. 
Kaiser Hawaii Palliative Care MD position

The Hawaii Permanente Medical Group, Inc. is seeking a Palliative Medicine Physician to join its Continuing Care Department at the Moanalua Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. This is an exceptional opportunity for a dynamic candidate to use creativity and innovation to expand the Palliative Medicine Program. More: careers.hawaiipermanente.com
16-Page Kokua Mau Booklet

Thank you to all of you who contacted us and are already using the updated booklet!

Our 16-page Kokua Mau booklet "A Guide to Advance Care Planning: Making Life Decisions" has been re-printed.

A big big mahalo to Mountain-Pacific Quality Health for their generous sponsorship of printing 40,000 copies!  

Now available with updated wording, the new booklet reflects 2014 changes to POLST which added APRNs as signers.

It is our hope that, for instance, every Medicare recipient will have access to the booklet. We encourage you to make good use of this excellent resource and distribute it widely within your network.

Please contact us and let us know how many copies you would like so we can work out how to best get them to you.  

Catholic Ethics and the End of Life

The Catholic Health Association of the United States has released a new guide on advance care planning titled 'Advance Directives: Expressing Your Health Care Wishes'.

The guide provides a clear explanation of advance directives and their importance in ensuring that patients receive wanted treatment, and emphasizes that all adults should have an advance directive. In addition, the guide explains Catholic teaching on advance directives and provides step-by-step advice for individuals who are interested in recording their wishes.  

On the POLST Paradigm, there is an explanation on the differences between POLST and advance directives, as well as an explanation of Catholic perspectives on POLST. Critically, the guide states that the POLST Form and process are consistent with Catholic Moral Teaching. The PDF file.

Proposed Rule would Reimburse Physicians for Advance Care Planning Conversations

(July 8, 2015: Alexandria, Va) - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule that makes the two advance care planning codes established in FY2015 "active" and begins the process of allowing physicians to code and be paid for advance care planning discussions they have with their patients.  The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization enthusiastically supports this new proposed rule, and plans to comment on the great value of having these important and complicated conversations with Medicare beneficiaries.  

 

In the CY2015 final rule, published late in 2014, the CPT Editorial Panel established two codes for physicians to document advance care planning conversations, one code for the first 30 minutes, and a second add-on code for additional 30 minute conversations.  However, in the CY2015 final rule, reimbursement was not attached.  

 

With the release of this proposed rule, CMS is indicating that the establishment of payment rates for advance care planning conversations between physicians and patients can begin as early as January 1, 2016 and that physicians  will receive payment for these important physician-patient conversations around advance directives and discussions around patient goals of care.

 

More on the NHPCO website   

 

Best wishes,

Jeannette Koijane
Executive Director
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