Save the date: Dec 1 Kōkua Mau Meeting

We will feature a special guest, a talk by Dr. Ilan Bernstein at our December 1 combined Nov & Dec meeting. 

Thur Dec 1, 2022

3:00-5 PM

Please join us on December 1st for a talk by Dr. Ilan Bernstein titled "Psychedelic Medicine & Palliative Care: An Exploration of Old and Ancient Therapies To Address Twenty-First Century Clinical Challenges." 

Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is an investigational treatment for a number of mental health conditions which has gained a growing interest across a variety of settings and disciplines.

Dr. Ilan Bernstein joined the Pain and Palliative Care Dept at the Queen’s Medical Center as a staff physician in 2013. Dr. Bernstein graduated from the Keck School of Medicine of USC in 2008 and is currently board certified in Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. He is an assistant clinical professor in the departments of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at JABSOM. Dr. Bernstein is a member of the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

If you are interested in reading more about psyllosibins and serious illness care, here is an article by Dr. Ira Byock on the CAP website. Additionally, Dr. Bernstein was a co-author on an journal article Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians should know about Psychedelic-Assisted therapy in the context of serious illness.

Register in advance for the December monthly meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with details on how to join the zoom meeting.

Join our monthly Kōkua Mau Meeting to network with colleagues, share your updates and hear about what is happening across the state to improve care for those with serious illness. 

If you have announcements to share, please let Jeannette know!!!

Wed 11/16 Palliative Pupus

You are invited to join us Palliative Pupus, our exciting local networking and clinical education opportunity. If you are involved with palliative care cases or would like to learn what palliative care actually is, you are invited.

This month Hospice Maui will present. Details about the case for Palliative Pupus will be announced in the next newsletter.

Wed. Nov 16

5:15 pm – 7:00 pm

Register in advance for Palliative Pupus zoom meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Save the date: Dec 1 World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day 2022, December 1 will be a hybrid meeting hosted by Church of the Crossroads.

After 2 years of zoom only we are excited to announce this hybrid event starting at 6 PM with music, hula and the Suzanne Richmond-Crum Award 2022.  Zoom details and the final program will be announced soon in our newsletter and the website World AIDS Day Hawai'i. 

For those who will be able to attend in person: a reception in Weaver Hall with pupus and entertainment will follow. Hawaii panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and other local artists will also be represented. 

Aloha Judy Thomas and happy retirement!

After 24 years of outstanding leadership as CEO of the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, Judy Thomas will be retiring. CCCC is a sister organization to Kōkua Mau, having started at the same time 22 years ago, and we have enjoyed a strong partnership over the years. We wish Judy happy trails in her retirement and thank her for her years of dedication to improving care for those with serious illness in California and the rest of the US. You can read more about Judy on their webpage  

Jennifer Moore Ballentine, another long time colleague and friend of Kōkua Mau, will be taking over CCCC leadership. Jennifer is currently running CSU Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care

VA Resources added on our Website

Thanks to Kōkua Mau board member Dr. Emese Somogyi we now have two resource pages dedicated to help professionals and families and their loved ones navigate the VA. 

• A Resources for Veterans and their Loved Ones

• VA Resources for Health Care Providers

A Caregivers Journey with Palliative Care 3-minute video

A moving caregiver’s testimony about her and her husband’s cancer journey and palliative care. Living on Maui, Andrea talks story about how they accessed palliative care in Honolulu and at home (This shortened version is thanks to the editing suggestions of our Kōkua Mau volunteer extraordinaire Rachel.) Watch the video on our YouTube Channel.

New Videos on our Kōkua Mau YouTube Channel

In case you missed our meetings we add new videos to our YouTube channel:

• A Caregivers Journey with Palliative Care in 3 minutes
• Prognostication and Palliative Care
• LymphaCare Hawaii
• Palliative Care – Extra Support for People with Cancer
• A Caregivers Journey with Palliative Care
• VA Resources for Seriously Ill Veterans in Hawaii
• More

Join or renew your membership now

Thank You supporters and members for keeping Kōkua Mau strong and serving our community. Since 1999, Kōkua Mau has been a voice for outstanding care and services in Hawaiʻi supporting those with serious illness, their loved ones and those who care for them. 

Now is a great time in 2022 to renew your membership or join Kōkua Mau as a first-time member. Your support is what makes Kōkua Mau possible. We thank you for being part of our movement to improve care. Wondering when your membership runs out? Just send Jeannette an email and she can let you know. 

Membership of individuals and organizations empower us to do our work. Your financial support is crucial: we raise every penny we spend (with your help). Our Organizational and Individual members supporting us are listed on our website.

5 easy options to support us

We have a rolling membership system so if you join now, your membership will last for the next 12 months. Click here for membership levels

1. Donate with PayPal Giving Fund and 100% goes to Kōkua Mau with a few clicks. Click here for the dedicated PayPal link
2. Go online using Network for Good and donate with a credit card. You can set up a monthly recurring donation, by spreading payments out throughout the year and making it easier for us to plan.
3. Through Aloha United Way – Designation Code 80410
4. Benevity – please check if your employer (like United HealthCare) offers matching donations through the Benevity platform. 
5. A check in the US postal mail – 3 steps:

• One: Payable to ‘Kōkua Mau‘ with ‘membership‘ in the memo field
• Two: Address to: Kōkua Mau • PO Box 62155 • Honolulu HI 96839
• Three: Stick on a stamp and put in the mailbox

PAs can now sign POLST in Hawaiʻi 

We just learned that Physician Assistants are able to sign POLST in Hawaiʻi. In the coming months, we will be updating forms and educational materials but here are the details for the time being. All POLST forms are still valid.

The information is from the Hawaii Academy of Physician Assistants:

Act 293 (HB1575 HD2 SB2) was signed into law on July 12, 2022. Among other expansions to physician assistant (PA) scope of practice, Act 293 amends Hawaii Revised Statutes 327K-1 and 327K-3 to include PAs as providers.

In doing so, Act 293 adds PAs to physicians and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) as providers authorized to execute a POLST in Hawai'i. Hawai'i is now the 33rd state to allow PAs to sign a POLST. For more information about PA practice in Hawaiʻi, please visit the Hawaii Academy of PAs.

Community News

Congratulations to Dr. Melanie Payanal, Medical Director at St. Francis Hospice, for completing her Hospice Medical Director Certification.  

Wed 11/2 Messaging around Serious Illness Care 

A new online toolkit for public messaging about care for serious illness. Reboot the way you and your organization talk to the public. Based on a decade of research into what the public really thinks. (Hint: Advance care planning ≠ Palliative care ≠ Hospice)

Wed Nov 2 

9 am HST 

Presenters: Marian Grant DNP, RN, Anthony Back MD. Funded by: The John A Hartford Foundation and the Cambia Health Foundation

Partner organizations: AAHPM, the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care, NHPCO, C-TAC, CAPC, the Conversation Project, Respecting Choices, AMDA-The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, VitalTalk, Ariadne Labs, National POLST.

Register here: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/q7olqlyypuh0. Please register with Crowdcast in advance by clicking 'Save my spot'. If you don't already have a Crowdcast account, please click "Sign up for free" in the pop-up window that you see after clicking 'Save my spot'.

Mon 11/14 Virtual Death Café Honolulu

The 26th (Virtual) Death Café Honolulu a free discussion group about death and dying: 

Mon, Nov 14

6-8pm HST. 

Please RSVP to groundgivesway@gmail.com and they will send you the zoom link for the meeting. This will be the last Death Café Honolulu of the year!

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions.

Wed 11/9 Webinar: Help Your Seriously Ill Patients Get the Best Care Possible

In honor of National National Hospice & Palliative Care Month in November, register for a free, interactive CE Webinar.

Wed Nov 9

12:00-1:00 PM

• Download the flyer

Register here. Non-members of Hi-ANA will need to make a free account to attend this webinar, once registered you will receive the Zoom invite confirmation. 

Presenters: Dan Weiss, DNP, RN, CHP, Kōkua Mau Member, Adjunct Nursing Faculty Chaminade University

And Kōkua Mauʻs own Jeannette Koijane, MPH Executive Director.

Wed 11/16 Advance Care Planning Clinic Classes

This class is offered for physicians, nurses, social workers 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:

1. Apply ACP resources to promote advance care planning discussions.
2. Promote patients’ knowledge of advance directives including healthcare power of attorney designation.
3. Describe the differences between an Advance Directive and Provider Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) and implement correct documentation of these documents.
4. Implement and standardize ACP processes in the clinic.
5. Identify the Hawai‘i requirements of Medical Aid in Dying, Our Care, Our Choice Act.

First Insurance Center (FIC)

862 South Beretania Street, FIC 980

Honolulu

Registrations are limited. Indoor mask mandate is still required

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) Clinic Class.

Non-HPH Participants: Register by emailing Michelle Cantillo, RN, HPH ACP Coordinator at michelle.cantillo@hawaiipacifichealth.org.

Thur 11/17 Cancer Survivor’s and Caregiver’s Conference: Hope. A Gift of Life

Cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, healthcare professionals, community health workers, or those interested in learning more about cancer survivorship and caregiving can join for a day of learning, sharing, and celebrating.

Thur Nov 17, 2022

8:00 a.m. – Registration and Exhibitor Tables Open

9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Conference

Hawaii Convention Center, Room 311

1801 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96815

There is no admission fee. Parking and lunch will be provided to all registered attendees.

Neighbor Island Travel Scholarships are available. Register for details.

Questions? Call Christina Teel at (808) 692-7449 or e-mail christina.teel@doh.hawaii.gov

Recording of Palliative Care: Choices and Personal Preferences

A recording of Palliative Care: Choices and Personal Preferences with our own Kōkua Mau member Dr. Geoff Galbraith is now available. Please click HERE to access the recording and download the presentation for your reference.

The is part of the excellent 2022 Pacific Cancer Project ECHO series, which covers a wide range of topics. Kōkua Mau has been collaborating for the ECHO series focusing no the Pacific for cover 10 years. If you would like to participate in future Pacific Cancer ECHO series, please Register in advance to join.  These ECHO sessions are free and open to all. 

Your feedback is needed to plan for Kūpuna issues

It’s important that your voice is heard and your organization is represented in the Area Plan on Aging.

The Plan will serve as a guidance document not only for the various Area Agencies on Aging, but also other entities that care for kupuna as we continue to support plan implementation and work toward the same goals.

The survey is only 10 questions and takes just a few minutes to complete. Those that complete the survey will be entered into a drawing to win prizes! Please respond by October 31.

Click here to provide your feedback.

Prognostication and Palliative Care - recording available

If you missed Dr. Daniel Fischbergʻs presentation on Prognostication, please watch the recording. Estimating and communicating prognosis, while often challenging, is often an essential part of care for those living with serious illness. Patients, family members, and providers, all need good prognostic information on which to base important decisions.

Grief, Guilt and Men - Dr. Baugher spoke in Hawai'i

If you missed the September 2022 Bereavement Network of Hawaiiʻs (BNOH) quarterly training with Dr. Bob Baugher in a useful and information session on speaking about guilt and grief, you can now watch the recording. 

LymphaCare Hawaii advocates for cancer survivors who develop lymphedema on our YouTube channel

Louise Tanswell (Ellie) RN LMT CLT-LANA and Rocky Lee, Breast Cancer Survivor from LymphaCare Hawaii presented at our August 2022 Kōkua Mau monthly meeting. Watch the video

LymphaCare Hawaii advocates for cancer survivors who develop lymphedema (LE). These survivors are often “the forgotten ones” who suffer in silence, because their medical team is not taking their symptoms seriously. Watch the video and take a closer look at the problem and how LymphaCare is taking action to help!

New Resources to Help Clinicians Cope With Moral Distress, Grief, and Trauma-Emotional PPE

The challenges of working in the U.S. health care system have been an existential threat to clinician well-being for years. The pandemic has only exacerbated the pressures health care workers face.

CAPC's new Emotional PPE toolkit provides resources that clinicians and teams can use to support well-being. Most resources in this toolkit are open to all.

What's in the toolkit?

• Whether you have 5 minutes or 60 minutes, there are tools, activities, videos, and practices to help bridge the gap if you are struggling
• Wellness planning resources for team leaders to cultivate safety and advocate for change
• Articles and research on Emotional PPE
• Relevant CAPC events