VOLUNTEER SUPPORT GROUP

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2025 (5:00-6:30PM)

Aloha Volunteers! Please MARK YOUR CALENDARS to attend our meeting on March 3rd. Come share your experiences and insights, and increase your knowledge and skills! These meetings are for all active patient volunteers whether or not you are currently serving a patient/family. We look forward to seeing you! Light refreshments provided; Kauai Hospice Conference Room. (RSVPs are appreciated.)

VIDEO: ADVICE FROM A 96-YEAR OLD

ENDWELL has posted a clip of 96-year old Dot Fisher-Smith, who beautifully describes how she wants to die. “To not try and understand it, but to just be in awe.” Watch it here. The filmmakers, Reflections of Life write: “Awe is all around us. With a little intentionality, we can reclaim our sense of wonder in the everyday, ordinary moments of life. Perhaps awe, while an ordinary response to the extraordinary, is also an extraordinary response to the ordinary.” They use their passion for filmmaking and love of storytelling to remind audiences that the more we understand and believe in humankind’s interconnectedness, the more we will treat ourselves, one another, and planet earth with a greater sense of compassion. To watch the full 12-minute version on YouTube: Wisdom at 96: Life Advice from a Century of Experience, Click here.

ARTICLE: HOW ANDERSON COOPER IS MAKING GRIEF LESS LONELY

By: Marty Munson (Men’s Health, December 2024)

In 2022, Anderson Cooper, American broadcast journalist and political commentator, launched his popular podcast, All There Is with Anderson Cooper. In one of the season’s 10 episodes, he asked people to leave him a voicemail if there was something they had learned in their grief that might help others. He never expected it to resonate like that. When the third season launched in October 2024, Cooper also created an online community where anyone can listen to other people’s stories or drop in one of their own. “The number of people who feel alone in their grief is extraordinary,” says Cooper, who sees the online community as a way for people to connect. “It’s the strangest thing because [grief] is something that everyone will experience…” Click to read the full article. 

RESEARCH ARTICLE: WHAT MATTERS TO OLDER NATIVE HAWAIIANS? A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF CARE PREFERENCES

BY: University of Hawaii at Manoa (December 2024)

A study by the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Ha Kupuna—National Resource Center for Native Hawaiian Elders sheds light on the end-of-life care preferences of Native Hawaiian kūpuna (elders). Led by Assistant Professor Miquela Ibrao, UH researchers and ALU LIKE, Inc., the study identifies culturally tailored strategies to honor kupuna values. The research was published in the

Journal of Palliative Medicine, and is based on interviews with kupuna in rural areas across Hawaii. Medicalxpress.com summarizes the four key themes of the research:

1.   Cultural traditions in health care: Kupuna often use laʻau lapaʻau (herbal medicine) and lomilomi (massage) as integral parts of their care.

2.   Family-centered decisions: ʻOhana (family) plays a crucial role in health care choices, extending to deceased ancestors and the ʻaina (land), which are seen as sources of guidance and healing.

3.   Preference for home-based care: Many kupuna wish to age and die at home but fear burdening their families. Limited long-term care options in rural areas add to the challenge.

4.   Trust in providers: Kupuna value health care providers who "talk story" and understand their culture, fostering trust and respect.

EKRF OFFERS TWICE MONTHLY DEATH CAFES

Virtual Death Café with Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Foundation

The Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Foundation (EKRF) hosts a virtual Death Cafe, where people gather to discuss death. Death Cafe offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment. There is no agenda, no teachers, books, or films. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or counseling session. This is a time to consider ideas, your own and others, and a time to share things you may not yet have had a chance to talk about, and to deeply listen to others as they share their experiences about death, dying, loss and grief. Upcoming dates are Tuesday, March 11th & 25th from 7:00-8:30 AM HST. Participation is free, but registration is required. Click here to learn more.  Mahalo to Volunteer Jessica Leech for sharing this!

BLOG ARTICLE: LEARNING TO ‘LET IT BE’ AFTER POOR TEST RESULTS

BY: CHESTER FREEMAN (Cure, January 2025)

Did you know that when Paul McCartney (of Beatles fame) was 14 years old, his mother died of breast cancer. Specifically, she had an embolism and died during surgery. Many years later, during the 1960s, Paul said his mother came to him in a dream and said, “It’s gonna be okay, let it be.” This was his inspiration for the song. It’s also interesting to note that Paul’s mother’s name was Mary, explains Chester Freeman, a retired college and hospital chaplain diagnosed with bladder cancer and most recently with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Click to read, or listen to Freeman’s (6-minute) blog article about learning to ‘let it be’, wabi-sabi and other philosophies that offer comfort and wisdom.

YOUTUBE: SHOULD YOU TAKE PHOTOS OF A DEAD LOVED ONE? (1:53 minutes)

BY: SARAH KERR, PhD - Founder, Sacred Death Care

A post-mortem photo may suggest a comfort with the natural cycle of life and death. Pictures can provide a way to both remember their life and also recognize or acknowledge its end, helping us to emotionally process that reality. Dr. Sarah Kerr explains how this sensitive topic can create conflict in families. She explains that many of the most profound questions in death care don't have universal answers and shares why personal intuition matters when it comes to healing. Watch the brief video here.

GOOD QUOTES

There are only four kinds of people in the world:

those who have been caregivers,

those who are currently caregivers,

those who will be caregivers,

and those who will need caregivers.

~ ROSALYNN CARTER

Former First Lady

(1927-2023)