Today is a good day to renew your membership or join Kokua Mau as an individual member.  Details below and thank you for your support. 




Help us to get our community talking.  We have renamed our Speakers Bureau to the Let's Talk Story Program and we are ready to go out into the community to get conversations going.  Months in the planning, we had meetings and training sessions and a team of 19 speakers are ready to go. We have two avenues you can explore to get 'THE Conversation' started (see below for details):
  • Let's Talk Story program
  • Free Screening of "Being Mortal"
In case you registered for the Virtual Palliative Care Conference, see you next week. All seats might be taken when this newsletter drops and we have created a waiting list, in case we get any last minute cancellations. Please note that we can only accommodate registered participants on the day of the event.

Introducing Kokua Mau's Let's Talk Story Program

The goal of our Let's Talk Story Program in a nutshell:
  • Learn how to talk with your loved ones about what matters most to you.
  • Share about the kind of care you want to receive with your doctor. You'll feel more confident and ready for the future.
Kokua Mau wants to get our community talking about wishes for care at the end of life. Our new Let's Talk Story Program will go out to community organizations, churches and temples with our free, 2-hour interactive sessions facilitated by Kokua Mau's trained experts. We know these are not easy conversations but they are some of the most important that you will ever have. Please help us spread the word about this great opportunity to facilitate "The Conversation."

Our goal is to help individuals and families understand decisions they may need to make and find resources and information in our community to talk about their wishes for care at the end of life.

If your group or somebody you know is interested in a free workshop on this important topic, contact Kōkua Mau at [email protected] or (808) 585-9977.

Please visit our website for more details and download the PDF of the flyers for our Let's Talk Story program.
Talk Story Option: Free Screening of "Being Mortal"

Do you want to show the documentary "Being Mortal" at your facility, organization or meeting? Kokua Mau is now an 'official site' to show the hour-long PBS documentary for free in Hawaii. Please contact us and we can collaborate on a screening for you.
 
"Being Mortal" delves into the hopes of patients and families facing terminal illness. The film investigates the practice of caring for the dying and explores the relationships between patients and their doctors. It follows a surgeon, Dr. Atul Gawande, as he shares stories from the people and families he encounters. When Dr. Gawande's own father gets cancer, his search for answers about how to best care for the dying becomes a personal quest.
 
After the screening, we encourage you to have guided conversation on how to take concrete steps to identify and communicate wishes about end-of-life goals and preferences. Watch a short trailer here

Aug. 9.10 & 11 Virtual Palliative Care Conference

Back by popular demand!! 

Registration is still (2 seats left) open for the 2016 Virtual Palliative Care Conference: Challenges on the Front Lines: Effective Approaches to Complex Cases

The virtual conference is designed to advance the provision of innovative, evidence-based, exceptional hospice and palliative care. This is the 3rd year in a row we have hosted this popular, high quality conference. 

The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) and National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) host the Virtual Conference.

Aug 9, 10 & 11, 2016
6:30am -11:30am
HMSA

The conference addresses the complexities, challenges and complications faced by professionals delivering hospice and palliative care, to provide strategies and approaches to effectively address them and to ensure the provision of high quality, evidence-based, exceptional care. More on our website.

Participation is free of charge thanks to Kokua Mau and HMSA (a $400 value for individuals)! Seating is limited, we are already over 95% full as of August 1. Don't delay and Register now. In case the registration is already closed when you click on the above link, you can register for our waiting list.

Please note: The way the software is set up by Constant Contact, you have to register for each day separately. Since we need an accurate head count, you have to register three times if you want to participate in the entire conference.

As we did in the past we will meet at HMSA at 6:15 am, drink coffee and watch the live web-broadcast together. Details about parking and room number will be sent to all registered participants.
Thur. Aug. 18 - Free Screening: Being Mortal

The public is invited to a free screening and discussion of the one-hour PBS program "Being Mortal"

Thursday Aug 18, 2016,
9-11am
Harbor Court, 25th Floor - Diamond Head Conference Room
Hawai'i Pacific Health
55 Merchant St, 26th Floor, Honolulu, HI 96813
  • Parking in the building is validated.
  • Please register by calling (808) 433-7676 by Aug. 8th.
You will be part of a national dialogue taking place in our community that asks "Have you and your family had the tough conversations and planned ahead?"

"Being Mortal" delves into the hopes of patients and families facing terminal illness. The film investigates the practice of caring for the dying and explores the relationships between patients and their doctors. It follows a surgeon, Dr. Atul Gawande, as he shares stories from the people and families he encounters. When Dr. Gawande's own father gets cancer, his search for answers about how to best care for the dying becomes a personal quest. Watch a short trailer.
 
After the screening, you can participate in a guided conversation on how to take concrete steps to identify and communicate wishes about end-of-life goals and preferences. See this moving documentary, join the conversation, and explore what matters to you. All are welcome. We hope to see you there!

Thur. 8/25 Monthly Kokua Mau Meeting

Please join us in August for our monthly meeting to learn, mingle and network. If can't attend in person, please call in (details below). We will have an interesting session with Heather Lusk who will be presenting: End of life issues for the Transgender Community.

Thur August 25 , 2016
3pm-5pm
Conference Room 224
Weinberg Building
St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawai'i
2226 Liliha Street in Honolulu

We have set up a conference call for those who are unable to participate in person.  Conference Dial-in Number (712) 775-7100; Participant Access Code 1079885#. Please let us know ASAP if you will be calling in so we can get you the slides. We will NOT be available to send you the slides on the day of the meeting.  
 
Parking is validated and click here for a map and further details.  Please RSVP to Jeannette for a basic headcount and to get the slides.  (You can certainly come even if you didn't RSVP.)

Future Meetings:
October:  Spirituality - Anke Flohr, Pacific Health Ministry & JP Sabbithi, Hospice Hawaii
New Resource: Story Telling and Recording - An Interactive Webinar with StoryCorps

The Conversation Project teamed up with StoryCorps in an interactive webinar to take the fear out of recording stories with loved ones.  All you need is a smart phone and a few easy steps for a guided conversation. The recorded webinar and PDF resource files are available at the "Community Resource Center" on their website. Scroll down and click on the the StoryCorps App for the fold out menu of the recording and the PDF files. 

Many of us know StoryCorps as excerpts are played on Friday mornings on Hawaii Public Radio.  Real interviews are 45 minutes long and allow people to record meaningful stories that can be shared with friends and families or uploaded to the Library of Congress if you choose to share the interview with the world. 

Many thanks to our 2016 Organizational Members.  Your support helps make our work a reality. 

Leadership
    HMSA
    Hawai'i Pacific Health
    Islands Hospice
    Kaiser Permanente
    The Queen's Health System

Advocate
Castle Medical Center
St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawai'i
United Healthcare Community Plan

Regular
American Cancer Society
Bristol Hospice    
Church of the Crossroads
Executive Office On Aging
Hawaii Society of Clinical Oncology
Hospice Hawai'i
Hospice of Hilo
Ho'okele Care at Home
Hospice Maui
Kaua'i Hospice
Maui County Office on Aging
Mediation Center of the Pacific    
North Hawaii Hospice
Pacific Health Ministry
Tower Hill Resources - Bill Musick   
University Health Alliance
      Wilson Care Group

We are also grateful to the 103 individual members. For a complete list, please visit our website
Multilingual Questions about CPR 

Looking for CPR infomation in another language? Please click on Multilingual Questions about CPR and download a copy in:

*    Chinese simplified
*    Chinese traditional
*    Ilocano
*    Japanese
*    Spanish
*    Tagalog
*    Tongan
*    Vietnamese

All multilingual resources are intended as tools to help members of our community with limited English proficiency. As is common with such complicated issues, these documents do not replace a one-on-one conversation, sometimes with the help of an interpreter, to walk people through the decisions they have to make for themselves or their loved ones. We translated six key documents into 10 languages:
  • Hawai'i Advance Health Care Directive
  • Advanced Directive Information Brochure
  • The official POLST Form for Hawai'i
  • POLST Information for Consumers
  • Information about CPR
  • Information about Tube Feeding
For all multilingual resources (currently 48 PDF files) click on the "languages" menu button in the top right corner of our website, with two ways to access the multilingual PDF files:
  • By Language: Click on the language link and you get a list of all resources available in that language. We will add selected materials in the language (such as the Conversation Starter Kit) when we become aware of it.
     
  • By Document: Further down on the "Languages" page just click on the "multilingual" link for e.g. Consumer Guide to POLST and you find all the languages available for the Consumer Guide to POLST on one webpage.
Once you open one of the PDF files you will see that, for example, the Multilingual Advance Directive or POLST form have a cover sheet in English providing additional specific information. This background information is important for healthcare workers or English-speaking loved ones and make each PDF file a stand-alone document.

Please click on one of the links and explore the multilingual resources. We are looking forward to your ideas and feedback.

We want to thank all the volunteers who have dedicated countless hours reviewing documents and giving us feedback. It has been a herculean task but our community project is finally a reality thanks to all of you that helped us with your expertise.

We thank the collaborative effort of our sponsors that made this translation project possible.
  • AlohaCare
  • Executive Office on Aging (EOA)
  • Hawaii Health Systems Corporation (HHSC)
  • Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA)
  • Kaiser Permanente in Hawaii
  • 'Ohana Health Plan
  • University Health Alliance (UHA)
  • United Healthcare
facebook.com/kokuamau

In response to popular demand we have created (hot off the digital press) our brand new Kokua Mau FaceBook page. We hope FB to become an additional avenue to share information about Advance Care Planning and available resources in Hawaii with a wider community.

Go to www.facebook.com/kokuamau and check it out. If you are on FB please do what you do best, such as liking us and/or sharing our events or post. If there is anything else you would like to see on our FB page, please let us know.

Op-ed: Palliative and hospice care a critical need at end-of-life stage

Have you see Kokua Mau's Op-ed article in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on May 26?

"Palliative and hospice care a critical need at end-of-life stage" by Daniel Fischberg, MD, PhD, Jeannette Koijane, MPH and Rae Seitz, MD and  cosigned by board members Lori Miller, Emese Somogyi, MD, Kenneth Zeri, RN, MS and Nathan Hokama.

We hope that you can share this with your networks and we look forward to hearing your feedback. 

The piece is in Honolulu Star-Advertiser, May 26, 2016, Page A11, Island Voices. You can find a PDF on our website or link to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser archive (access for subscribers only).

The Conversation Project: NEW Alzheimer's Resources

Families caring for loved ones with cognitive impairments face special challenges when it comes to managing their end-of-life care. Often caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia are left to make critical decisions on their own, as the afflicted are no longer able to speak for themselves.

The new Starter Kit created specifically to address the issues associated with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia is the first of its kind and is now available free for download as a PDF on the The Conversation Project's website. More.

This Alzheimer's focus is a new additional resource. The Conversation Project's (writable PDF) Starter Kit that will help you or your organization to get your thoughts together and then have the conversation is also available on our website.

Resource: Conversation Stopper?

Conversation Stopper: What's Preventing Physicians from Talking with Patients About End-of-Life and Advance Care Planning?

Findings of a national poll exploring the views of primary care and specialist physicians about end-of-life and advance care planning conversations with patients was presented by The John A. Hartford Foundation with the California Health Care Foundation and Cambia Foundation.

In "Conversation Stopper," virtually all physicians surveyed agree that talking with patients about end-of-life and advance care planning is important, and they overwhelmingly support a new Medicare benefit that reimburses them for having those discussions.

The survey identified barriers that keep physicians from engaging in these sensitive conversations, with nearly half (46 percent) reporting that they frequently or sometimes feel unsure of what to say, and less than one-third (29 percent) reporting having had any formal training specifically on talking with patients and their families about end-of-life care. (Webinar slides in the middle of the page)
Play the "Go Wish" game online

Looking for a way to get the conversation going, now you can use the Go Wish cards for free on line.  This interactive "game" allows you to talk about the importance of different issues as you discuss care at the end of life.  Or you can order and buy the cards directly.  You can also order the bi-lingual Chinese-English 'Heart to Heart' cards based on the Go Wish cards!

Join Kokua Mau or renew your membership for 2016

We ask you to join or renew your Kōkua Mau Membership. Membership is tax-deductible and your financial support helps us to maintain and expand our programs. This includes the e-newsletters, free materials for download (including POLST and the new Advance Directive), our well-visited website, various training opportunities, monthly meetings, Palliative Pupus, and our expanding Speakers Bureau.

We look forward to incresead outreach activities with churches, temples and other community groups - let us know if you would like to schedule our Speakers Bureau to visit. We also look forward to ongoing education and networking opportunities for professionals, both those organized by Kōkua Mau and those where we can collaborate with partners.

Membership and donations are an essential part of keeping Kōkua Mau fiscally sustainable.  Last year we had nearly 100 individuals who joined and details for membership are below.  We especially encourage organizational membership by community leaders that support our mission. Please contact Kokua Mau's Executive Director Jeannette Koijane for details.
 
How do I join? 2 easy ways
 
Download a membership form, include a check and and mail it to the Kokua Mau address on the form.  (Renewing members can just send in a check without the form.)

Online: Chose your membership level online or on the PDF file and click the Donate Now button on the right hand side of the webpage. Please put 'membership' in the 'Designation (Optional)' field, click 'add to giving cart' and follow the subsequent steps. We know, the free version of network for good does not look exciting but it is free.

With all donations going into programs we don't offer you another tote bag, but we still do have the ever popular: low cost virtual Kōkua Mau mug.

In thanks for your membership: All members are honored on the Kōkua Mau website and on written materials that are displayed at events

Thank you!
 
Benefits of Joining Kōkua Mau?
 
Kōkua Mau, as a local non-profit, community-benefit organization is fueled by the passion of dedicated volunteers with a lean budget and every penny spent on making our work possible. (Kōkau Mau is not a state agency!) 

Expanding networking and education for professionals. 
Kōkua Mau continues to provide professionals an opportunity for education and networking through:
  • Kōkua Mau e-newsletter providing updates on local and national events, resources and research
  • Kōkua Mau website is well visited and constantly updated with free materials for the community
  • Monthly Kokua Mau meetings, which usually include a speaker, local updates and networking opportunities
  • Palliative Pupus - our cutting-edge, clinical case discussion
  • Coming soon: Key documents in 10 languages
For over 17 years, Kōkua Mau has been a voice for outstanding hospice and palliative care and services in Hawai'i, providing high-quality information, trainings and ever growing networking opportunities.
Best wishes and please share your updates with us, 


Jeannette Koijane
Executive Director
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