Palliative Care Through Song: An Arts-Based Caregiver Education
Palliative Care Through Song: An Arts-Based Caregiver Education Course is an interactive, two-session course designed to provide family caregivers with practical tools and knowledge to support loved ones experiencing serious illness. Through original music, visual art, storytelling, discussion, and evidence-based education, participants will explore approaches to comfort, communication, nutrition and safe swallowing, symptom management, advance care planning, and caregiving at the end of life.
Across two 2-hour sessions, participants will also explore common misconceptions about hospice, palliative care, and pain management; caregiver well-being and resilience; and resources that can help individuals remain safely and comfortably at home. Developed by Dr. Ritabelle Fernandes, Professor of Geriatric Medicine and creator of the Returning Home educational music project, the course translates complex healthcare concepts into accessible, memorable, and practical lessons caregivers can apply in their own lives. No healthcare background is required.
Learner Outcomes
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Describe the purpose and basic principles of palliative care and hospice and recognize key differences between them.
- Identify practical strategies to support comfort, safe eating and swallowing, and symptom management during serious illness.
- Explain the importance of advance care planning and communicating healthcare wishes before a crisis occurs.
- Recognize common misconceptions about pain management and medications such as morphine.
- Identify approaches and community resources that can support individuals and families providing care at home.
- Recognize common experiences and caregiving needs that may arise during the final stages of life.
- Identify strategies for supporting caregiver well-being, grief, resilience, and self-care.
Instructor: Dr. Ritabelle Fernandes
When: Thursdays, 5:00–7:00 PM
Dates: October 29 & November 5
Duration: 2 weeks
Course Fee: $10
Course Materials: $34
Nothing About Us, Without Us: Lived Experience in Public Health & Dementia
Integrating the voices of individuals living with dementia and their care partners ensures public health strategies truly address community needs. Join this launch of the Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Caregiving’s new toolkit, Engaging People with Lived Experience in Public Health Response to Dementia: A Practical Guide for Public Health Agencies. Guest speakers will share real-world experiences and actionable strategies to help you meaningfully embed lived experience across every stage of public health practice.
Building Community and Connections: Innovations in Adult Day Programming for People Living with Dementia
On July 28, 2026, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET, the National Alzheimer’s and Dementia Resource Center will host the webinar, Building Community and Connections: Innovations in Adult Day Programming for People Living with Dementia. A description of the webinar and registration information follows. In this webinar, Amazing Place and OPICA Adult Day Program & Counseling Center will share insights into innovative programs and strategies that have proven successful in supporting people living with dementia and their family caregivers.
Amazing Place will highlight its innovative efforts to recruit and engage a multigenerational workforce. Through its STARS (Student Training in Alzheimer’s & Respite over the Summer) program and Legacy Workforce model, the organization creates meaningful opportunities for both individuals beginning their careers and those pursuing new opportunities after retirement.
OPICA will share strategies that support the sustainability of its adult day programs through an extensive multidisciplinary internship program and innovative fundraising initiatives. The presentation will highlight the vital role interns play in engaging and supporting individuals with early memory loss. Participants will also learn about OPICA’s creative fundraising efforts, which help provide participant scholarships, and its legacy giving program, both of which contribute to the long-term sustainability of the organization and its services.
Please note: National Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center (NADRC webinars are free and open to the public. NADRC webinars are recorded and will be posted at https://nadrc.acl.gov/. Closed captioning is available during the webinar and included in all recordings. Speaker bios can be found at the bottom of this registration page.
Hawaiʻi Caregiver Conference: Learn, Share, Thrive
Join caregivers from across Hawaiʻi for a special virtual conference dedicated to connection, knowledge, and support. Hosted on Zoom, this gathering allows participants to tune in from any island or location, making it easy for caregivers to learn, share, and feel a sense of community no matter where they are.
This conference brings together experts, service providers, and fellow caregivers to explore the many stages and experiences of caregiving. Multiple Zoom sessions will run at the same time, giving attendees the flexibility to choose the topics most relevant to their journey, from the comfort of their own home.
Safety First: Understanding and Responding to Dementia Behaviors
Catholic Charities Hawaii (CCH) is offering another Zoom workshop focusing on Dementia-Related Behaviors that can be challenging for caregivers and providers of persons living with dementia in the community. This session will target unpaid caregivers of persons living with dementia in the community and the service providers, friends & family, neighbors, educators, and advocates who support them. These workshops are made possible by a grant given to Catholic Charities Hawaii from the U.S. Administration for Community Living/DHHS for the Alzheimer’s Disease Programs Initiative awarded to organizations across the country to increase resources and information to improve the well-being of persons living with dementia in the community and their caregivers.
The workshop will cover:
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- Benefits of working as a team with healthcare and community resources through all stages of dementia
- Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of dementia and why safety comes first
- What the caregiver can do to help increase safety at home for their person living with dementia
- Fall prevention and dementia, assessing and modifying the environment
- Wandering issues: tips for environmental changes, safety in and out of the home
- Dining and Safety: being prepared for possible swallowing difficulties and nutrition/hydration challenges
- Alzheimer’s Association, Hawaii Chapter statewide resources, programs and education
Expert Panel Presenters:
Jessica Barry, MD has been working at The Queen’s Medical Center Geriatric Services for 15 years. Born and raised in Kansas, she attended University of Kansas for undergraduate and medical school. Her Internal Medicine Residency was at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Her Geriatric Fellowship was with University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine. She aims to keep her older patients independent as long as possible while maintaining an optimal quality of life with proactive prevention, early diagnosis, and targeted treatment. She and her husband from Hawaii have two children. She is passionate about dementia education for lay persons and health professionals. In her free time, she ferries the children to their activities and squeezes in running and reading novels.
Ivy K. Castallanos is the Director of Programs with the Alzheimer’s Association, Hawaii Chapter. She holds a Master’s degree in Behavioral Science and Health Education from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and has more than 20 years’ experience in the combined areas of health education, health promotion and disease prevention, health equity, and corporate wellness. She has served in roles with organizations such as HMSA, the American Heart Association, and HealthAssist, and has held research positions with the Johns Hopkins Center for Cancer Pain Research and the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research in Baltimore, Maryland. Ivy joined the Alzheimer’s Association in 2014 and finds joy in empowering families affected by dementia. She is a full-time mom of two and a full-time caregiver for her mother.
Dining with Dementia: Techniques to Bring Joy to the Table
Dorothy Colby is a Certified Positive Approach to Care™ (PAC) Trainer and national Mentor, with more than 25 years of professional and personal experience caring for people with dementia and training caregivers. The PAC trainings created by Teepa Snow share dementia care techniques that provide essential information for unpaid and professional caregivers on how to have a positive and meaningful relationship with loved ones living with all forms of dementia. Dorothy is Director of Community Engagement for Hale Kuike Memory Care Homes at Nuuanu, Bayside & Pali locations.
Dorothyʻs presentation will cover:
- How dementia affects eating and drinking skills
- Striking a balance between nutrition and personal preference
- Hydration challenges
- Noticing changes and making accommodations
- Setting the table for success
- Tips for modifying foods for easier eating
- Holiday care partner tips
Registration required, click here to register for this FREE webinar. The Zoom link & handout link will be sent to registrants. Sorry, there are no CEs available for these sessions.
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