Kathryn L. Braun – författare

Ka Māno Wai is dedicated to the mo`olelo (stories) of fourteen esteemed kumu loea (expert teachers) who are knowledge keepers of cultural ways. Kamana`opono M. Crabbe, Linda Kaleo`okalani Paik, Eric Michael Enos, Claire Ku`uleilani Hughes, Sarah Patricia `Ilialoha Ayat Keahi, Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo`ole Osorio, Lynette Ka`opuiki Paglinawan, Sharon Leina`ala Bright, Keola Kawai`ula`iliahi Chan, Charles "Sonny" Kaulukukui III, Jerry Walker, Gordon "`Umi" Kai, Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie, and Kekuni Blaisdell are renowned authorities in specialty areas of cultural practice that draw from ancestral `ike (knowledge). They are also our mentors, colleagues, friends, and family. Their stories educate us about maintaining and enhancing our well-being through ancestral cosmography and practices such as mana(spiritual, supernatural, or divine power), mālama kūpuna (care for elders and ancestors), `āina momona (fruitful land and ocean), `ōlelo Hawai`i (Hawaiian language), ho`oponopono (conflict resolution), lā`au lapa`au (Hawaiian medicinal plants), lomilomi (massage), and lua (Hawaiian art of fighting). The trio of authors’ own dedicated cultural work in the community and their deep respect for Hawaiian worldviews and storytelling created the space for the intimate, illuminating conversations with the kumu loea that serve as the foundation of the larger mo`olelo told in this book. With appreciation for the relational aspect of Native Hawaiian culture that links people, spirituality, and the environment, beautifully nuanced photographic portraits of the kumu loea were taken in places uniquely meaningful to them. The title of this book, Ka Māno Wai: The Source of Life, has multilayered meanings: In the same manner that water sustains life, ancestral practices retain history, preserve ways of being, inform identity, and provide answers for health and social justice. This collection of life stories celebrates and perpetuates kanaka values and reveals ancestral solutions to challenges confronting present and future generations. Nourishing connections to the past—as Ka Māno Wai does—helps to build a future of wellness. All who are committed to `ike, healing, and community will find inspiration and guidance in these varied yet intertwined legacies.

"Cultural Issues in End-of-Life Decision Making creates an engrossing tension as chapters on philosophical topics are interwoven with clinically-oriented ones including case examples that ground the reader in the reality of most human decisions. I highly recommend this book to researchers, health care providers, clergy, and other practitioners dealing with end-of-life issues." ---Catherine Hagan Hennessy, Health Care and Aging Studies Branch, Center for Disease Control and Prevention

End-of-life decision making is one of the most difficult but crucial challenges faced by patients and their families. In most cases, resources or counselors providing guidance in these decisions are not available. This book is intended to prepare nurses, physicians, and other health care workers to fill this role, insofar as they are most frequently in contact with the patient and his/her family and significant others at the time choices must be made. In this informative, practical book, Braun, Pietsch, and Blanchette first review the medical, legal, and ethical context of the dying experience, discussing ethnic perspectives and religious issues. For example, providing cultural and spiritually sensitive care requires that nurses, physicians, social work and others know and understand the implications of family members beliefs about life and death, supportive rituals and other activities. This book does a creditable job of presenting the issues and a broad overview of culture and common religions in America.

About the Editors:

Kathryn L. Braun, Dr.P.H., is Director of the University of Hawaii Center on Aging and an Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii School of Public Health. She is a Fellow in the Gerontological Society of American and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. James H. Pietsch, J.D., is Director of the University of Hawaii Elder Law Program (UHELP), an Associate Professor at the William S. Richardson School of Law, and a Clinical Adjunct Professor at the John A. Burns School of Medicine. In 1990, he was the recipient of the Fifth Annual Paul Lichterman Memorial Award for contributions to the advancement of Law and Aging.

Patricia L. Blanchette, M.D., M.P.H., is a Professor of Medicine and Public Health at the John A. Burns School of Medicine and School of Public Health at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Dr. Blanchette is the Director of the Medical School's cross-departmental Geriatric Medicine Program, and Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program, the Pacific Islands Geriatric Education Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine. Dr. Blanchette has won numerous awards and honors, including an Excellence in Teaching Award, Distinguished Alumni, Best Doctors in America, and the Soroptimist's Women of Distinction Award.