VOLUNTEER SUPPORT GROUP

MONDAY, NOV. 3, 2025 (5:00-6:30PM)

Aloha Patient Volunteers! Please MARK YOUR CALENDARS to attend our next Support Group, Monday evening November 3rd. Come increase your knowledge and skills, and share your experiences and insights. All active patient volunteers should attend (whether or not you are currently serving a patient/family). RSVPs are appreciated! Light refreshments provided.

Location: Kauai Hospice Conference Room. Look forward to seeing you!

LANTERNS OF LOVE

JOIN US AT OUR 5TH ANNUAL HOLIDAY SEASON EVENT

From December 15 through January 15, 2026 more than

200 graceful lanterns will be illuminated -- glowing symbols of

remembrance and affection for loved ones who have died.

~ To ORDER your wooden heart(s) and RESERVE a lantern ~

please visit www.kauaihospice.org 

beginning November 10th (while supplies last)

WALKING HOURS DAILY FROM 6:00 - 9:00 PM

LOCATION: KAUAI HOSPICE, 4457 Pahee Street, Lihue

For more information, call 808-245-7277

LABYRINTH GRIEF WALK

November 18, 2025 - 6:00 pm (Kapaa)

Presented by The Center for Spiritual Living (CSL) and Kauai Hospice, participants will be guided into a safe, sacred experience that encourages reflection, emotional release and healing. This nonjudgmental environment honors each individual's grief journey. This transformational walk will be guided by Rev. Dr. Rita Andriello-Feren. Click here to download the flyer.

Location: Kapaa Hongwanji Mission Hall, 4-1170 Kuhio Highway, Kapaa

Space is limited. Call 808-245-7277 to reserve your spot.

BLOG: AS A CAREGIVER, IF WORDS FAIL, LET YOUR ACTIONS SPEAK

BY: BARBARA KARNES Relationships are challenging. We don’t always get from them what we want or need. As death comes, the yearning for what we didn’t get or have with this person increases. When I was caring for my mother in the months before she died, I realized all the things I wanted from her and never had. I also realized that now it was too late to get them from her or even talk to her about them. I don’t think I am any different from others in having those thoughts of “I wish I had more” from a specific relationship. So, here is something to think about: Give what you want. If you want more attention, give more attention to the person you are seeking it from. If you want more affection, be more affectionate. You don’t need to tell the person what you are doing. You don't need to say, "I'm trying to be closer.” Your actions will have more meaning than your words. Sometimes words and conversation will be meaningless. Dementia, a strained relationship, or years of misunderstanding are just a few things that can contribute to any current relationship. When words and explorative conversation aren’t an option, GIVE. Give the affection, the time, the attention, the patience, the conversation you feel have been lacking. In the months, weeks and even days before death arrives, give what you want or need. Dying a gradual death gives everyone an opportunity to say goodbye, to address misunderstandings, to show love. Remember the saying, "actions speak louder than words." That certainly applies as end-of-life approaches. https://bkbooks.com/blogs/something-to-think-about

ARTICLE: CLINICIANS' OPENNESS TO SPIRITUAL CARE CAN HELP PATIENTS PROCESS CANCER

BY: JOSH FRIEDMAN (Healio/HemOnc Today, October 23, 2025)

Integrating spiritual care into the treatment of serious conditions can help patients process their experience and manage pain, experts say. "Spiritual care starts with your compassion and presence, with your compassionate listening, with your acts of kindness and being empathic," says palliative care physician Marvin Delgado Guay. “We found more than 40% of our population with advanced cancer had some spiritual pain, and that was highly correlated with worse expression of physical pain, worse anxiety, worse depression and worse general well-being,” Delgado Guay said. He recalls asking a patient all the pertinent questions about his physical symptoms, then asked, “How’s your spirit doing?” The man said no doctor had ever asked him that before, and as he teared up said: ‘It hurts. It hurts a lot.' Continue reading.

ARTICLE: ROBOT THAT ACTS LIKE A YOUNG GIRL Works to Combat Fear and Loneliness in Hospitals

BY: MEDPAGE TODAY/Associated Press (Sept. 20, 2025)

Robin the Robot, a 4-foot-tall robot with a large screen displaying cartoonlike features, is part of a larger push to use AI in healthcare. As a therapeutic robot, it is programmed to act like a little girl as it provides emotional support at nursing homes and hospital pediatric units while helping combat staffing shortages. It can play music, memory games, videos or listen, with its face mirroring the emotions of the person it is talking with. Five years after launching in the US, it operates in 30 healthcare facilities in California, Massachusetts, New York, and Indiana. Karén Khachikyan, PhD, CEO of Expper Technologies, developed the robot while he was getting his PhD. He said growing up in a single-parent household in Armenia had been lonely, so years later he wanted to build a type of robot that could act as a person's friend. Robin is about 30% autonomous, while a team of operators working remotely controls the rest under the watchful eyes of clinical staff. Click to read...

ARTICLE: NEW ZEALAND'S 'COFFIN CLUBS' BURY TABOOS ABOUT DEATH

TODAYONLINE.COM (March 23, 2024)

This fun article begins: "It's a task of grave importance, but there's nothing to stop New Zealanders having a laugh as they work on DIY caskets in the country's "coffin clubs". Elderly club members meet for cups of tea, a bit of banter, and to literally put the final nail in one-of-a-kind coffins that will carry them to their eternal resting place." The Club provides a space to open up about death and dying during weekly meetups, and preparation for life's end becomes an act of creativity, connection, and even joy. Continue reading…

HOW DO YOU GRIEVE? With Cupcakes, Fishing and Home Depot.

BY: JANCEE DUNN (The New York Times, July 15, 2025)

The New York Times asked readers to share the unconventional ways they stay close to a late loved one and received over 800 responses. Reporter Jancee Dunn hopes these will help normalize all the forms that grief can take. Here are several:

~ My beloved grandmother was a very loud sneezer. Whenever I sneeze, I’m happy when it’s loud, because I’m reminded of her. — Terri Foland, Half Moon Bay, Calif.

~ At a flea market, I found an old wall phone with a rotary dial that is exactly like the one my grandmother had. I bought it and hung it in the kitchen. I use it to chat with her whenever I miss her. — Lisha Mejan, Winston-Salem, N.C.

~ My dad has been dead for nine years. I inherited the shape of my hands and fingers from him, and now that I’m in my 70s, my hands are wrinkled and marred, like his. It actually helps me in not feeling so bad about my own aging. — Susan Jones, Ithaca, N.Y.

CANDLE LIGHTING MEMORIALS

JOIN KAUAI HOSPICE at these profound services where candles are lit in memory of loved ones. Watch as the dimly lit sanctuary fills with beautiful candlelight as everyone present holds a glowing symbol of the relationship that still exists. Patient volunteers are encouraged to bring a hospice family if you can, regardless of when the death occurred. Three evening services will be held (free of charge). Download the flyer here.

DATE: Monday, Dec. 1, 2024; 6:00-7:00 pm

WHERE: Immaculate Conception Church; 4453 Kapaia Road, Lihue

DATE: Thursday, Dec. 4, 2024; 6:00-7:00 pm

WHERE: Hanapepe Hawaiian Congregational Church; 3815 Hanapepe Road, Hanapepe

DATE: Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2024; 6:00-7:00 pm

WHERE: Saint Sylvester Catholic Church; 2390 Kolo Road, Kilauea

CONTACT: Rayne Regush, Volunteer Coordinator

Main 808-245-7277 | Direct 808-977-8501 | www.kauaihospice.org

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