PEACE:
Promoting Engagement, Aloha, & Compassion in the Everyday Care of People Facing Serious Illness
Upcoming Events
Munch & Learn
Join us for some great speakers during your “munch” time! Our one-hour live virtual trainings feature local and national speakers on the 8 different domains of Palliative Care as described by the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care: Clinical Practice Guidelines – National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care.
Hawai‘i Pacific Health has graciously sponsored the webinar series since its inception in 2024 and has offered Continuing Education Credits for participants in 2024 and 2025.
Access previous Munch & Learn materials: HERE. We welcome suggestions for future learning topics and speaker recommendations.
Empowering Social Workers in Palliative Care: ESPEC Hawai‘i 2026
Educating Social Workers in Palliative and End-of-Life Care is coming to the Hawaiian Islands! This 3-part training series is built from the eight domains of palliative care identified by the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care. Start your training now by completing an 8-hour online training, then join your fellow social workers for an in-person training on your island! This is a wonderful training for newer and seasoned social workers alike, covering foundations of caring for those with serious illness and using clinical scenarios and group discussions designed to improve confidence and competence in key social work skills, advocacy, and leadership. Reduced pricing for Hawai‘i social workers; scholarships are available.
Learning Objectives
- Identify best practices for social workers to integrate key primary palliative care principles into their clinical work.
- Recognize the knowledge base and practice skills necessary to pursue additional competence in primary palliative social work.
- Apply the skills necessary for leadership, effective interprofessional communication, collaborative practice, and as ESPEC trainers.
Training
- Part I: Interactive Online Training (8 hours, must be completed before attending in-person training. Please enter ESPEC1HI2501 for special Hawai’i pricing of $125. We highly recommend registering for and completing the online training as soon as possible. CEU verification must be provided for participants attending Part II in-person training.)
- Part II: In-person Practice (4 hours) + Leadership (4 hours) Trainings
- Part III: Virtual Monthly Mentorship (included in Part I fee)
Sponsors
Thank you to Hui Pohala, NASW HI, and the Mits Aoki Legacy Foundation for their generous support. If you or your organization would like to sponsor this local training, please click HERE
Special Interest Group: Social Work
Hawai‘i has about 3,040 licensed social workers in diverse settings across our islands, including health care settings such as hospitals, long-term care facilities, outpatient clinics, case management agencies, private practice, adult care programs, and hospice programs. Social workers are also integral members of care teams in other settings, such as substance use, mental health, schools, corrections facilities, houseless programs, state adult and child welfare departments, and more.
Given that serious illness and palliative care issues impact all populations in various settings, PEACE believes social workers across all settings could benefit from developing palliative care knowledge and skills.
Social workers trained in palliative care assist patients and their families with:
- Advance Care Planning, including discussions around Advance Health Care Directives and POLSTs
- Communication, including Goals of Care discussions and advocating for patient’s care preferences
- Care coordination with interdisciplinary medical care team
- Community resources and referrals
- Emotional support, including anticipatory grief counseling, with referrals to mental health resources as appropriate
All social workers in Hawai‘i can benefit from high quality palliative care training to benefit their clients, regardless of population, setting, or medical issues. PEACE seeks to develop the workforce and help ensure that there will continue to be skilled, compassionate professionals to provide this important and life-giving work.
Our Mission:
Our mission is to strengthen and sustain a skilled, compassionate social work workforce dedicated to palliative care in Hawai‘i. We strive to equip social workers with the knowledge, support, and professional community needed to deliver culturally responsive, person- and ohana-centered care, ensuring dignity, comfort, and quality of life for individuals and their ohana facing serious illness.
Our Vision:
We envision a thriving, resilient social work workforce that leads in advancing high-quality palliative care across Hawai‘i. Rooted in cultural humility and community values, we aspire to ensure that every person facing serious illness receives compassionate, coordinated support that honors their dignity, strengthens their ohana, and uplifts our island communities.
Our Values & Kuleana:
- Collaboration – We build strong partnerships across disciplines, organizations, and communities to provide holistic care.
- Compassion – We approach individuals and their ohana with empathy, respect, and dignity in every stage of serious illness.
- Cultural Humility – We honor the diverse traditions, values, and lived experiences of Hawai‘i’s communities.
- Workforce Sustainability – We are committed to supporting, mentoring, and strengthening the palliative social work profession.
About Us
PEACE was formed by Hui Pohala in 2024 to help fulfill its mission to improve access to high quality, team-based, person-centered, palliative care for the people of Hawai‘i with serious illness. In addition to physicians and nurses, social workers and spiritual care providers are crucial members of interdisciplinary palliative care teams, yet there are insufficient numbers of these trained professionals to meet the growing needs of Hawai‘i’s aging population and to serve those individuals who now qualify for the new Hawai‘i Med-QUEST palliative care benefit.
Hui Pohala has identified this concern and created PEACE to provide high impact, quality palliative care training for social workers and spiritual care providers throughout Hawai‘i. PEACE sought to offer accessible training opportunities during the local lunch hour, and from March 2024 to August 2025 PEACE presented 13 “Munch & Learn” training sessions, with plans to continue these virtual sessions through 2026.
Encouraged by the positive feedback from the Munch & Learn sessions, PEACE decided to embark on a more comprehensive, in-person training program for social workers in the islands. PEACE is proud to partner with local and national organizations to offer Educating Social Workers in Palliative and End-of-Life Care (ESPEC) in early 2026 to our local Hawai‘i-based social workers on their island of choice.
PEACE is currently managed by the Hui Pohala Special Interest Group: Social Work, which is comprised of social workers with professional interest and experience in Palliative Care in our local community.
Members:
- Yvonne Yim, PhD, LCSW
- Alan Gamble, LCSW
- Jodi Shaw, LCSW
- Jennifer Kwok, LCSW
- Airy Mae Stocker, LCSW
We welcome you to participate in our offerings and hope they enhance your palliative care knowledge and skills and inspire you to continue the critical, life-giving work with your patients and clients.
Contact us at PEACE@HuiPohala.org.
