Learn about legal directives for end-of-life medical wishes at caregiver resource fair

The hardest part of being a caretaker for Teresa Kuala‘au is watching her husband Wendell of more than 40 years wither from the once muscular, 180-pound Hawaiian fisherman to only 129 pounds as he battles diabetes and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Now, the emotional exhaustion and uncertainty is even greater for 64-year-old Kualaʻau because it’s her husband’s third bout with cancer. But Kualaʻau does have some peace of mind that she knows her 69-year-old husband’s end-of-life medical wishes.

Twenty years ago, the couple created advanced health care directives at the advice of their primary care physicians. They have been updated over the years.

On Saturday at the second annual Empowering Caregiver Resource Fair, Kona Community Hospital is hoping to educate more caregivers about health care directives and how they can better take care of their loved ones who are suffering from declining health and themselves.

The event will be at the Sgt. Rodney JT Yano Hall, 82-6156 Māmalahoa Highway in Captain Cook from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

So far, 63 people have RSVP’d.

Speakers will explain the nuances of health care directives, which are legal documents that provide instructions for medical care and only go into effect if you cannot communicate your own wishes. The two most common advance directives for health care are the living will and the durable power of attorney for health care.

Anne Padilla, spokesperson for Kona Community Hospital, helped organize the first caregiver resource fair in 2023, where a little more than 100 people attended. She said the need to educate caregivers about advanced health care directives became apparent when it was learned that many of the waitlisted patients at the hospital who were awaiting discharge to a skilled nursing facility for continued care and/or rehabilitation did not have one.

At the first resource fair, speaker Amy Hamane with Community First Hawai‘i said the biggest concern among caregivers was they didn’t have a legal document about the medical wishes of the people they were caring for.

“When someone is no longer able to speak and communicate, having an emergency situation, the directive documents what your wishes are if you’re unable to communicate,” Hamane said.

Community partners will share their expertise and connect caregivers with local resources. Speaker topics include:

• Understanding Dementia-Related Behaviors presented by the Alzheimer’s Association
• Advance Health Care Directives presented by Community First Hawaiʻi
• Safe Lifting and Transfer Techniques for Caregivers presented by Kona Community Hospital’s Rehabilitation Department

Third Circuit Court Judge Peter Kubota also willl be at the event to discuss planning ahead of a loved one’s death and what documents need to be done.

Additionally, the hospital created Emergency Medical Folders that provide a central location for caregivers to store and organize medical information, including lists of medications and the health care directive.

Kuala‘au said the folders come in handy if she shows up at the hospital with Wendell and she’s too shaken to communicate with the health care workers, noting the folder includes all the information a doctor would need, including a medication list, names of doctors and even a power of attorney document.

Padilla said the folders help streamline information when it’s needed. Last year, they gave out 100 folders.

Call 808-322-4559 for more information about the resource fair or register online to RSVP for the Empowering Caregiver Resource Fair.

Hamane also will be at the second fair to register people for an upcoming October workshop, where caregivers will be given step-by-step guidance through filling out a health care directive and providing an understanding of the choices to be made.

Kuala‘au will provide her services free as a notary public since these documents require notarization or two people witnessing.

The workshop is co-hosted by Community First Hawai‘i and the hospital. 

In the advance health directives made by Wendell and Teresa Kualaʻau, they have named each other as the person who can make decisions about their health if they are unable to do so.

They both also include instructions that they won’t wont to have their lives prolonged if death is inevitable, with Teresaa Kualaʻau saying: “There’s no sense in that.”

But having these wishes documented is important, she said, “so family members aren’t guessing.”