Posted on: Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Project expands end-of-life care
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
Kokua Mau, a Hawai'i coalition working to improve end-of-life care, yesterday announced the beginning of a two-year project to expand treatment to both the chronically ill and the dying.
For more information on palliative care and hospice: call (800) 658-8898 or on the Web, go to www.hospiceinfo.org Wong said palliative care focuses on easing the symptoms of disease as well as improving life quality for patients and their families and is broader than end-of-life care.
"We hope to change the way that medical care is delivered," Wong said.
For example, medical plans now may cover drugs for pain management but not pay for a more holistic approach that would include spiritual counseling and social support.
Kokua Mau aims to use the foundation money to increase the number of healthcare workers trained to provide such care through hospitals, nursing homes, home-care agencies, government agencies as well as doctors, nurses, chaplains and other caregivers
Wong said that expanding such care will ensure that people receive quality care where they want, are free from pain and have their beliefs and values honored in their treatment.
This Kokua Mau project is being assisted by a separate but related HMSA pilot program that will provide case management for active and retired federal employees who are eligible for palliative care and belong to Federal Plan 87.
Cliff Cisco, HMSA senior vice president, said that HMSA will look at what's learned over the two-year pilot — which will cover about 50 people each year — and consider expanding such care to other health plans.
Cisco noted that Hawai'i's rapidly aging population makes such care "a serious patient, family and community issue."
Wong said that Kaiser Permanente also has a palliative care pilot program, so Hawai'i is ahead of many states in this medical field.
Melissa Bojorquez, HMSA supervisor of Integrated Case Management Services, said the project has the potential to help families and the community through a difficult time.
Rachael Wong, Palliative Care Capacity Project Coordinator for the coalition, said $100,000 from the HMSA Foundation will help to expand access to and improve the quality of care toward the end of life for Hawai'i patients. The Hawaiian Islands Hospice Organization will run the program.
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