|
Kōkua
Mau Advisory Group:
Executive Office on Aging
http://www2.state.hi.us/eoa/
The
Office's mission is to ensure the well-being of the
State's 203,000 older adults (60 years of age and older).
The Office serves as a clearing-house for aging policies
and information, and develops and maintains a client-driven
home and community based system of services.
Hawaiian
Islands Hospice Organization
http://www.kokuamau.org/hiho.htm
Composed
of all seven providers of hospice services in Hawai‘i,
the Hawaiian Islands Hospice Organization is committed
to promoting excellence in end-of-life care through
educating and informing the public and professional
communities. HIHO's role in Kōkua
Mau is to conduct a public awareness campaign, including
television and radio spots, brochures, the Kōkua
Mau Speakers Bureau and Website.
UH
Center on Aging
http://www.hawaii.edu/aging/
The
Center on Aging (COA) was established in 1988 to:1)
stimulate and coordinate gerontological and aging instruction,
research, and community services and,2) promote collaboration
between the University and other organizations concerned
with aging.
For
more detailed information, contact
Center on Aging, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa,
1960 East-West Road, Honolulu Hawaii 96822
Dr. Kathryn Braun at kbraun@hawaii.edu
ACORN
& ECHO:
A Great New Pair of Projects at the UH Center on Aging:
The Center on Aging is engaged in two projects to improve
the quality of care at the end of life: Appropriate
End-of-Life Care of Residents in Nursing Homes (ACORN),
and End-of-Life Care for Hawaii’s Ohana (ECHO).
The two 3-year projects are funded by the HMSA Foundation
and the U.S. Administration on Aging’s National
Family Caregiver Demonstration Project, respectively.
Through the ACORN project, we offer in-service training
in end-of-life care to clinical staff (professional
and paraprofessional) at 10 long-term care facilities
on Oahu and Maui. The 8-session curriculum builds on
two, 4-part curricula developed by the U.H. COA: Care
of the Dying and Care of the Bereaved. As a large percentage
of Americans die in institutional settings, often in
pain, facilities receiving training also are helped
to develop organizational guidelines incorporating proper
assessment of pain and use of cultural/spiritual protocols.
The ECHO project reaches out to support family caregivers
caring for their loved ones at home. As our aging population
continues to burgeon, the demand for family caregiving
increases. To assist caregivers caring for a family
member nearing the end of life, four booklets have been
developed:
o Advance Care Planning: Making Choices Known
o Planning Ahead: Funeral and Memorial Services
o Preparing to Say Good-bye: Care for the Dying
o Help for the Bereaved: Surviving and Adapting to Change
Caregivers receiving the booklets are offered a choice
of individually tailored supplemental support—group
training, telephone counseling, or assistance from service
providers. The booklets are also available in Ilocano
and Samoan.
For both projects, we will track changes in end-of-life
knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (KAB) among caregivers
and nursing home personnel; document culturally linked
barriers to end-of-life planning and strategies to address
them; and track changes in facility policy regarding
end-of-life care. If you know of any interested caregivers
who could benefit from this project, call Harumi Karel
(956-8916) or Ana Zir (956-5771).
UH
Department of Geriatric Medicine
The
mission
of the Department of Geriatric Medicine is to improve
the health status and care of older people and to increase
knowledge in the science of aging. In keeping with the
mission of the medical school, the core activities include
the education of medical students and residents in all
disciplines to provide excellence in care to older people.
To relieve the serious shortage of physician specialists
in Geriatric Medicine, the department operates an accredited
fellowship program in Geriatric Medicine. By virtue
of the interdisciplinary nature of geriatrics, the department
participates with other departments and other schools
in the education and training of a wide variety of health
science students at all levels.
The department's Pacific Islands Geriatric Education
Center is involved in training health care providers
from many disciplines throughout Hawai‘i and the
Pacific who are currently caring for older people. Research
on aging, especially in chronic disease epidemiology,
is a focus of the department's research research efforts,
with a view towards promoting healthy aging.
Because
of its focus on people who are somewhere near the end
of their lives, the faculty have developed expertise
and experience in the care of people who are dying,
and in working with their families. As such, the department
is leading the school's efforts in developing its Palliative
Care Program.
For
further information, contact:
Emese Somogyi-Zalud, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Department of Geriatric Medicine, University of Hawai‘i
347 N. Kuakini St., HPM-9
Honolulu, HI 96817
Phone: (808) 523-8461
Fax: (808) 528-1897
E-mail: emesesz@msn.com
|
