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Episode Directory
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- 7/27/2010: Recognizing the Caregiver Crisis: Family Caregiver of the Year Award Listen Now
- 7/20/2010: Family Caregivers Helping Family Caregivers via Social Media Listen Now
- 7/13/2010: Turning Vision Challenges into Visible Successes Listen Now
- 7/6/2010: Canine Vision Dogs and Family Caregiving Listen Now
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
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January 2010
John G. Abbott
John G. Abbott is Chief Executive Officer, the Health Council of Canada. His prior experience includes Deputy Minister of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Health and Community Services where he oversaw the re-organization of the province’s system of regional health authorities and the expansion of the provincial drug program to meet the needs of low-income families and those with high drug costs. He’s also held the positions of Assistant Secretary to the Treasury Board, Associate Deputy Minister of Health and Community Services, Chairman and CEO of the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation, Deputy Minister of Works, Services and Transportation and Deputy Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs. He holds a BA in Political Science and Economics and an MA in Public Administration. His services in Newfoundland and Labrador were recognized with the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Excellence in Public Administration by The Institute of Public Administration of Canada. View Guest page
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Sheikh Alaa
Sheikh Alaa is the Director of Religious Affairs for the Islamic Centre of Canada-ISNA. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director for the Canadian Islamic Congress. He is tutor with AlKauthar and director of internal and external affairs for Mercy Mission world. During his youth in Egypt he was goalie for the Junior National Team. In the late 1970s, he moved to Canada, where he’s been Vice-President of Business Development for an international company. He’s a member of Canadian Council of Imams and of Horizon Interfaith Communication Media Council. Previously he was an Imam for Muslim Council of Calgary and its media spokesperson. He’s hosted Vision of Islam, a weekly television show in Alberta. He’s also been a speaker about Islam on various television channels. He was a member of the Calgary Multi-Faith Committee, and a member of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Committee. In 2005, he received the Alberta Government Centennial Award for outstanding service to the Alberta community. View Guest page
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Gerard Allard
Gerard Allard, who entered politics as a Manitoba Liberal candidate for St. James, is a City of Winnipeg police officer with 24 years of service. Much of his career has been spent in the North End and Inner City. He has a keen interest in the prevention of FASD and developed a passion for social issues during his 11 years within the Community Support Unit. He developed and implemented Project Breakaway, which allows police to coordinate intervention with health care providers and social agencies when working with primarily homeless individuals. He also developed a community-based youth initiative called the North End Hockey Program in co-operation with a local Aboriginal agency. He believes in looking for the true cause of a problem and then providing fiscally responsible solutions by using current resources. View Guest page
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Ella Amir
Ella Amir has been Executive Director of AMI-Québec Action on Mental Illness since 1990. Under her leadership the organization became one of the principal resources in Québec for families struggling to cope with mental illness. Since 2007, she’s chaired the Family Caregivers Advisory Committee for the Mental Health Commission of Canada, whose mandate is to make mental health a priority in Canada. The strategy it is developing will help to focus efforts, by setting common priorities and providing a way for people across the country to work together to achieve better mental health outcomes and improve overall mental health and well-being. She holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and an MBA from McGill University. She’s presently a PhD candidate at Concordia University in Montreal. Prior to her work with AMI-Québec she worked for seven years in management and organization development for a large aviation corporation. View Guest page
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Margaret Anderson
Margaret Anderson is the founder and executive director of Ian Anderson House, a residential cancer hospice in Oakville, Ontario. She created Ian Anderson House after her experience of caring for her husband, Ian, who died of colon cancer in 1990. When Ian Anderson House opened in 1997, on the anniversary of Ian’s death, it was Ontario’s first cancer hospice. To date, Ian Anderson House has served over 1100 families. Throughout, she’s served Ian Anderson House as a volunteer Executive Director and Board Member. She’s a strong advocate for the residential hospice movement, which provides the necessary care and support which each one of us deserves at the end of our lives. She holds a BA in Political Science and Economics from the University of Toronto. She’s the recipient of many awards including the prestigious Meritorious Service Medal for individuals whose specific achievements have brought honour to Canada. View Guest page
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Martha Anderson
Martha Anderson joined the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation in 1987, and is Executive Vice President of Donor Services. The Foundation provides donated human bone, tendons, ligaments, cartilage and skin to patients throughout the United States and over 50 other countries. It also provides non-transplantable organs and tissues to scientific researchers, and services and software to facilitate the donation and transplantation of organs, eyes and tissues. During her tenure at the Foundation, donated tissues from over 90,000 donors have been provided to more than 4.2 million recipients. Prior to her work at the Foundation, she was a Patient Advocate at a large trauma center in Denver, Colorado where she worked closely with critically ill patients and their families. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey with her husband Bill. View Guest page
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Thomas Anon
To tell us about Al-Anon my guest is someone involved with Al-Anon. Because of Al-Anon’s founding principles, he must remain anonymous. So, just for this Episode, I’m calling him Thomas Anon which, of course, is not his real name. View Guest page
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Raymond Applebaum
Raymond Applebaum has since 1998 been the CEO of Peel Senior Link. This non-profit charitable organization established in 1991 makes independent living possible for senior citizens who might otherwise be expected to enter more institutional settings, such as Long-Term Care facilities and hospitals. He is series moderator and producer for Rogers Television’s ‘Aging in Peel’. His experience includes managing various special projects, work with the Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto, and Board member of the Ontario Gerontology Association. He’s the founder, in 2005, of the Metamorphosis Project. He’s past member of the Provincial Advisory Committee on Seniors’ Housing. He’s received the Canadian Healthcare Association’s Award for Distinguished Service, among many recognitions for his work for seniors. View Guest page
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Bill Archer
Bill Archer, Fellow of the Institute of Directors, is a strategic marketing consultant with 30 years experience in delivering benefits across several disciplines. His mission is to create and promote patient-focused health solutions that help improve patients’ health while reducing the cost of healthcare. Through his UK-based company, Mon-Ami Caregiving, he supplies MonAmi™, a caregiving innovation that reinforces active ageing, enhances quality of life, supports family and professional caregivers, and allows for independent and structured living. Since 2003, he’s developed PainSolv®, which uses pulsed electromagnetic wave field therapy as an alternative to medications-based pain management; the UK’s first triage assessment software for primary care; online personal medical record and lifestyle assessment programs; and the world’s first stem cell insurance product, all of which have been the basis of several successful health initiatives. bill.archer@monami-caregiving.co.uk View Guest page
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Alan Arnette
Alan Arnette is an aging baby boomer from Colorado—that’s how he describes himself—who was once a technology executive with Hewlett-Packard in Geneva, Switzerland. He took early retirement about three years ago to care for his mom, Ida Arnette. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and ultimately died from it in August 2009 at the age of 84.This tragedy transformed him into a champion for the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Now he’s devoting his life to raising money -- through mountaineering. He’s currently tackling the world’s highest mountains with his 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s. Through this, he aims to raise $1 million for Alzheimer’s research and care. He’s already raised tens of thousands of dollars through his climbing efforts. He’s driven by the desire to preserve the identities, the memories and the lives of individuals that Alzheimer’s disease will ultimately take. Which is why his 7 Summits climb is called ‘Memories are Everything’. View Guest page
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Angela Arsenio
Angela Arsenio has a BA Honours in Sociology, with a minor in Women’s Studies and Criminology. Her undergraduate thesis was inspired by her own experiences as a young carer and was titled ‘Mothering Through the Pain: Experiences of Mothers with Chronic Illness’. She’s the Manager of the Powerhouse Project, which has the mission to support the well-being of young carers through a holistic approach to address the needs of the entire family entire family. She’s worked as a street outreach worker with homeless and at-risk youth, and at AIDS Niagara as an Education and Outreach Coordinator. Her volunteer experience includes women’s shelters, acting as a Big Sister, and work with the crisis line with the Sexual Assault Centre in St. Catharines. She feels passionately about raising awareness of young carers in her community. View Guest page
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Ian Ashworth
Ian Ashworth is Program Director, Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides Training Centre in Oakville, Ontario. His Dog Guide career began in April 1983 as an apprentice trainer with The Guide Dogs for the Blind in the UK. He worked as a guide dog mobility instructor and then a 'Dog Supply Supervisor' for over 10 years before moving to the National Breeding centre in the UK as Deputy Breeding Manager. He says that “There was a very steep learning curve moving from training to one of the largest breeding programs in the world, breeding 1100 puppies a year!”. In 1999, he became National Breeding Manager. In this position he continued to improve international collaborative dog guide breeding programs, and he increased the number of pups born to 1250 a year. In 2002, he moved to Canada to become the Program Director for Dog Guides Canada, where he now oversees all five Dog Guide programs at the school as well as the breeding, fostering and kenneling of the dogs. View Guest page
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Susan Baida
Susan Baida, eCareDiary.com’s Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, is a certified Geriatric Scholar and former Fortune 500 marketing executive. She brings to the company a wealth of experience in consumer and online marketing. She knows first-hand the challenges of caring for elderly parents and family members with serious illnesses. For 7 years, she cared for her grandmother who suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis. She also coordinates care for her aging parents. She and her husband, John Mills, cared for his father during his final years with Parkinson’s disease, an experience that led to the founding of eCareDiary.com. Having worked in industries that are responsive to consumer needs, she was shocked to find that healthcare and long-term care systems are not oriented toward the end user. It became her mission to bring fragmented aspects of elder care under one roof and to empower families with practical tools and information. View Guest page
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Jean Claude Benitah
Jean Claude Benitah’s current appointments at AMI-Quebec include Vice-President and board member, Chairman of the Political Action Committee, and Member of the Strategic Planning Committee. From 2007 to 2011, he was a board member at La Fédération des familles et amis de la personne atteinte de maladie mentale, a provincial-federation organization, which represents 39 provincial organizations including AMI-Quebec. His holds the BEng from McGill University and MEng from the University of Michigan in electrical and computer engineering. He’s a Member of Quebec’s Order of Engineers. His career includes 28 years as an electronic engineer at various Montreal, Quebec, companies in the area of airborne Doppler system navigating equipment, video television studio equipment, word processing systems, digital military radio telecommunication equipment and 911 systems, and 10 years as a tenured professor of computer engineering at Vanier College, in Montreal. View Guest page
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Kim Bercovitz
Dr Kim Bercovitz is a medical sociologist with a PhD in Community Health. She’s president of The Research Doctor Inc, a boutique company specializing in patient-centred market research and community outreach, off-line and on-line. Prior to founding the company in 2005, she spent 20 years working with hard-to-reach populations through her position as a National Cancer Institute of Canada postdoctoral fellow and researcher at several Toronto teaching hospitals. She holds adjunct faculty appointments at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and York University’s Faculty of Health. She’s trained at Harvard in community mediation and negotiation for difficult situations. She recently launched The Patient Pages(TM), an online resource and community, the first site of which is focused on children and youth, and their caregivers. She can be reached on Twitter (@researchdoctor, @thepatientpages), Facebook (The Patient Pages) and www.thepatientpages.com. View Guest page
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Mary Bertone
Mary Bertone is a registered dental hygienist with 20 years of experience in the dental field. She is an oral-health promotion specialist with the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Community Oral Health. As part of her community role she’s in clinical practice in long-term care and in an inner city clinic. She provides dental hygiene care at a University-based long-term care facility. She mentors and instructs dental hygiene students in various community-based clinics. She’s actively involved research and in developing mouth-care policies and education resource material. She provides training for caregivers working in long-term care. View Guest page
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Harry van Bommel
Harry van Bommel is Executive Director, Legacies Inc, and President, PSD Consultants. He has a special interest in advocating for more and better safeguards for vulnerable persons who are in the care of healthcare facilities. Through his collaborative project, NavCare, he helps families who so often are overwhelmed as they navigate the health care system. He holds a Master’s degree in adult education. He’s the author of 40 books and a sought-after speaker on caregiving in home and long-term care, hospice palliative care, family and caregiver grief, and spiritual care. He’s an advocate for patient care focused on the whole family and centered within the community. He employs his expertise in helping families to get the care they need for multiple health challenges, to coordinate home care and hospital care under complex conditions, to make decisions in a crisis, to cross language and cultural barriers, and to find the care they want. He can be reached at harry@legacies.ca View Guest page
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Bill Bonner
Dr. Bill Bonner is Associate Professor at the Paul J. Hill School of Business, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, where he teaches on the subject of management information systems. He received his PhD in Management Information Systems from the University of Calgary. He’s conducted research on privacy for over 10 years. As a privacy advocate he believes that at the core of privacy is the question of respect, and that this is important and worth protecting. He recognizes that privacy interests must be balanced against other interests, but what puzzles him is how unbalanced the balancing act appears to be in practice. He thinks that the scales used to balance privacy expectations against other interests seem to tilt too easily in favour of the other interests. He’s published in the Journal of Business Ethics and Information and Organization, and he has a forthcoming book chapter entitled, The Problem of the “Problem” of Privacy. He’s at http://is.gd/HozMoL View Guest page
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Laura Bramly
Laura Bramly has 25 years’ experience as a writer, editor and graphic designer. She recently created Life Scenes, a book that helps people with dementia to read again. Laura’s mother had vascular dementia, and the prototype of her book was produced for and tested with her mom, providing times of shared joy before her passing in 2008. Laura believes that people with dementia are not “gone” or “shadows,” but are people with memory disabilities, and that society must work to understand dementia and to enable people with memory disabilities. She blogs about dementia-related topics and is working to highlight “best practices” around the world that enable people with dementia to live their best lives. She is also involved in an international effort called “I Can, I Will!, which will enable people with dementia and those without to share ideas to raise awareness about dementia. She lives in Arizona with her husband and two children. View Guest page
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Tammy Brockhaus
Tammy Brockhaus is 61 years of age, and widowed. She coordinates the Cangrands group in Huntsville, Ontario. Recently she participated with other Cangrands in getting signatures for a change in legislation aimed at helping kinship family caregivers like her. She’d retired a year ago. But she’s recently chosen to return to work, to help with the household finances. She has 3 children. She’s adopted the child of her middle child. He was taken from his parents at 8 days old, and he came into her care when he was 30 days old. He will be nine years old next birthday. View Guest page
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Jody Brown
Jody Brown is an associate with the law firm of Koskie Minsky LLP in Toronto, Ontario. He received his Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University in 2009, works primarily in the areas of class actions and commercial litigation and in his class actions practice has focused on large scale institutional abuse cases. View Guest page
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William H. Brown
William H. Brown is a seasoned business executive/entrepreneur in healthcare. Bill currently is the Associate owner of a large-format Shoppers Drug Mart, part of the 3rd largest retail pharmacy chain in North America. Previously he provided international business development consulting services to Express Scripts Inc, the 3rd US pharmacy benefits management company. He’s also been President & CEO of Aetna Health Management Canada Inc, a company created by Aetna Life Insurance to introduce managed-care principles to large Canadian corporations. Before that, he was President & CEO of Columbia Health Care Inc, a company he founded and expanded into the largest private rehabilitation company in Canada. It was successfully sold to Sun Health Care of Albuquerque, NM. Before that, he was President & CEO of Medis Health and Pharmaceutical Inc, which was subsequently sold to the McKesson Corporation of California. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto with a BSc in Pharmacy. View Guest page
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Sandy Buchman
Dr Sandy Buchman holds the MD from Canada’s McMaster University. He completed his Family Medicine Residency training at the University of Toronto. He practiced comprehensive Family Medicine in Mississauga for 21 years with special interest in Palliative Care, HIV/AIDS and Global Health. His experience includes volunteering in South America and Africa. He’s currently a full-time Palliative Care Physician with the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care doing home-based end-of-life care. He’s the Regional Primary Care Lead in Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network for Cancer Care Ontario. He’s one of two Family Medicine Representatives on the Clinical Services Leadership Team of the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network. He’s the Honorary Secretary Treasurer on the National Executive of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. He’s an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and McMaster University. View Guest page
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Denise Burdon
Denise Burdon is a Public Health Dental Hygienist and a member of York Region ALS Outreach Program. She holds the Diploma in Dental Hygiene from Algonquin College and a Degree in Dental Hygiene, University of British Columbia. She’s a member of the Quality Assurance Committee, College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario, which licenses dental hygienists in Ontario. She’s a member of the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association, the Ontario Dental Hygienists Association, the Ontario Association of Public Health Dentistry, and York Region Dental Hygienists Society. View Guest page
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Barbara Burnett
Barbara Burnett is Executive Director, Community Management, with Seniors For Seniors. She holds the Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She has 35 years’ experience in the healthcare industry. In the medical and pharmaceutical industries she’s held numerous corporate senior sales and marketing positions including Director of Sales for Canada and Director of Business Development. She’s an associate member of the Gerontological Nursing Association of Canada and a core member on Falls Prevention steering committees. Very active in the eldercare community, she’s passionate about the provision of senior-centred care for persons getting older. View Guest page
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Tony Calland
Dr Tony Calland is the Chairman of the British Medical Association's Medical Ethics Committee. His previous roles in the Association include Chairman of Welsh Council, Chairman of the Welsh General Practitioners Committee and UK negotiator for the General Practitioners Committee. He has also received a British Medical Association Medal from for outstanding and sustained service. Before retiring, Dr Calland was a family doctor in partnership in the Wye Valley. His special interests include organ donation and information governance. View Guest page
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Alex Cameron
Alex Cameron is a lawyer with the law firm Fasken Martineau in Toronto, practising in the area of privacy law. He works with clients from a wide range of industries where privacy issues arise, including the health sector. He’s currently the Chair of the Canadian Bar Association National Privacy & Access Law Section. He’s played a leading role in various Association submissions to government, including in relation to privacy legislation. He’s also received two prestigious commissions from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC). In 2011, he was commissioned by the OPC to author drafts a privacy handbook for the legal profession: PIPEDA and Your Practice: A Privacy Handbook for Lawyers. The OPC also commissioned him to author a landmark privacy law report titled Leading by Example: Key Developments in the First Seven Years of PIPEDA, which reviews leading findings and cases under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. He’s at http://is.gd/luYBab View Guest page
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David Cameron
David Cameron joined the ALS Society of Canada in September 2003 as President & CEO. Previously he was Executive Director, Ontario Division, of the Canadian Diabetes Association, a post he held for five years. He sits on the Board of Directors of the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations. With his vision for the future of the ALS Society of Canada he has led it through a period of growth and transformation. Under his leadership the society engaged in a major strategic planning exercise which saw the organization commit to a closer working relationship among the 10 provincial ALS partners to enhance the potential for fund development and client service growth. He is also active in the Health Charities Coalition of Canada. His educational background includes a BA from the University of Toronto, and an LLB from the University of Western Ontario. He also received his Certified Association Executive designation from the Canadian Society of Association Executives. View Guest page
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Vickie Cammack
Vickie Cammack finds and implements innovative solutions in the social sector. As the President and CEO of Tyze Personal Networks she is a recognized Canadian source of inspiration and demonstrable solutions related to social networks, social innovation, citizenship and disability. At Tyze, she focuses her expertise on how best to deliver online, personal support networks to people facing life challenges. She’s the Founding Director of PLAN Institute, and co-founder of Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (PLAN), a pioneer social enterprise supporting families to secure the future of their family member with a disability. She created PLAN’s Personal Network program, a unique response to the isolation and loneliness experienced by people with disabilities. In 2008, the Women’s Executive Network named her one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women. She is co-author of ‘Safe and Secure – Six Steps to Creating a Personal Future Plan for People with Disabilities. View Guest page
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Sharon Carr
Sharon Carr is a Registered Nurse with over 35 years of nursing experience. Previously, she worked in Maternal-Child nursing for nineteen years. On semi-retirement she moved out of the urban environment for a change of pace. Nursing called her back in a different capacity. Working independently and with a team allows her the flexibility she needs and continues to utilize her nursing skills. She and her team provide a clinical program for people living at home with chronic health problems with clients who need health support in their homes. The team uses technology to monitor the health of the people being cared for. And she also is Clinical Consultant with Insception Biosciences, where she develops public awareness and expectant-parent awareness of the importance of storing umbilical cord blood stem cells. She works with healthcare professionals to promote understanding of the value of educating patients and clients about cord blood stem cells. View Guest page
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Kristina Chew
Dr Kristina Chew is an Associate Professor of Classics at Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, NJ. She blogs about life with her 13-year-old son, Charlie, who's on the moderate-to-severe end of the autism spectrum. In her blog, We Go With Him http://autism.typepad.com, she describes a particular problem for him, low muscle strength. She’d noticed that he benefited from family exercises like fast walking and biking. The more his physical abilities increased, she saw, the clearer was his speech. Now, she writes, he sprints or pedals at super-fast speeds simply because, having had to struggle with things like talking and moving, he's amazed, and pleased, that he can. She’s has published various articles about autism, disability studies, and literature, such as in Gravity Pulls You In: Parenting Children on the Autism Spectrum and in Autism and Representation. She has made numerous presentations on autism advocacy and she teaches college students who are on the autism spectrum. View Guest page
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Nancy Coldham
Nancy Coldham is the founding partner of a leading, privately‐owned Canadian public affairs consulting firm, The CG Group, which she started in 1981. Her career includes more than 25 years’ experience in journalism, public relations and public affairs consulting that include senior positions in federal, provincial and other governments. Her speech writing, ad copy, audio-visual script writing and full editorial services and her expertise at reputation, issues and crisis management, media relations and internal and external communications programs have benefited major Canadian and multi‐national corporations, professional associations and governments. She recently added blogging and tweeting as she ventured into the Web 2.0 world. She’s been nominated twice for a Canadian Woman Entrepreneur Award for Lifetime Achievement, a nominee for the 2009 Canadian Women in Communications Award and recipient of the Markham Board of Trade Business Excellence Innovation Award in 2007. View Guest page
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Melanie Cooper
Melanie Cooper founded of the Connect Learning Centre which recently opened in Toronto. She’s a visually impaired teacher who has experienced many challenges. She became legally blind while a 21 year old university student when she suffered a massive stroke that left her completely paralyzed on the left side. She had to interrupt her 4th year at the university to undergo extensive rehabilitation. Throughout her rehab, she maintained a positive attitude, determined to fulfill her dream to be a teacher. For her re-training in basic life skills, she attended a program provided by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. It was this program, she says, that changed her life. Then she returned to teacher’s college at York University where she was the first legally blind teacher to graduate in Ontario. But the life-changing program ceased because of funding problems. Then she vowed to establish a life skills training program. This is how the Connect Learning Centre came to be. View Guest page
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Betty Cornelius
Betty Cornelius is President and Founder of Cangrands National Kinship Support, a Canadian non-profit organization for kinship support. It’s a home on-line that welcomes grandparents and kinship families raising grandchildren or other family members. It helps them maintain or re-establish family ties. It answers questions on legal and health issues, and provides practical advice for kin raising children and grandchildren. In Canada kin, mostly grandmothers or aunts on low income, raise 62,500 children. Little support exists for the children, many of whom have suffered neglect and abuse. But for kin caregivers, support is even less. Betty’s own story tells of hardship and sorrow. But, she says, Asheleigh, for whom she is grandma, is worth every cent I spent and every stress I suffered. She is safe with us, smart, not one bit shy and even her heart condition has improved. I am blessed to be entrusted with this lovely child, truly she is my life! View Betty’s work at www.cangrands.com View Guest page
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David Cravit
David Cravit, Vice President, ZoomerMedia Ltd, has over 30 years’ experience in advertising, marketing and consulting in Canada and the US. He was a partner in Saffer Cravit & Freedman Advertising, which he helped take from start-up to over $150 million in annual billings. The firm was recognized as the leading retail specialist agency in North America. After selling his interest in the business, he worked as an independent consultant and also a consultant to other advertising agencies in Canada and the US, before joining ZoomerMedia in November, 2005. He has been a frequent speaker at corporate and industry events, guest on numerous radio and TV shows, and contributor to professional journals. His book, “The New Old,” (October, 2008, ECW Press) details how Zoomers (led by the Baby Boomers) are completely reinventing the process of aging – and the implications for companies, government, and society as a whole. “The New Old” can be purchased online at Amazon.com or Chapters Indigo. View Guest page
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Neila Curtin
Neila Curtin has worked with the aging population in many different capacities over the past 20 years. She has acquired hands-on experience working as an Activities Director, Marketing Director, Executive Director, and in corporate positions in the sector. In addition, she served as Executive Director of a home care agency. It is this experience that has given her a keen understanding of the difficulties experienced by people navigating the maze of lifestyle options available to the senior population. Currently, she responsible for the oversight of the operation of the retirement home portfolio with Greenwood Retirement Communities and is accountable for all aspects including labour relations, sales and marketing, financial management and in monitors quality in all of their residences to ensure adherence to corporate guidelines, policies and standards, provincial statues, regulations and standards of regulatory bodies and associations. View Guest page
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Terry D’Silva
Terry D’Silva is an entrepreneur, electronic engineer, inventor and businessman and holds a Masters Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. In 1984, he founded Tertec Enterprises Inc., to realize and market his ideas, inventions and innovations, and to hold the patents for some of his inventions. With its mission “Engineering our tomorrows”, Tertec has established itself as a design house with an international reputation. Its electronic products can be found in countries ranging from North America to China and Europe. In its local community, Tertec works with local high schools, colleges and universities to introduce students to topics such as electronics, robotics, computer engineering, databases, and artificial Intelligence. Mon Ami(TM), Tertec’s latest invention, www.mymonami.com, has the revolutionary potential to impact society by improving the quality of life for seniors, people with handicaps and their family caregivers, and to provide a platform for Active Aging. View Guest page
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Ruth D¡¦Silva
Ruth D¡¦Silva graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in Mathematics. In her professional career, she has been a Systems Analyst, Software Programmer, Systems Programmer and served as Liaison with clients. She currently holds the position of Director of Software Sciences and manages a group of programmers and engineers as well as liaising with clients. She specializes in User Interfaces and is involved in the development of Mon Ami„§ƒz a caregiver's support tool. A dedicated mother, she was also family caregiver to both parents. She continues as family caregiver to her youngest son, who was born with Down Syndrome and has Methotrexate-Induced Leukoencephalopathy. As a result of extensive neurological damage he is mentally challenged, blind, and cannot speak. Her interests include nutrition, fitness, cooking, researching alternative methods of fighting cancer, and music. She lives with her husband and 2 sons in a suburb of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. View Guest page
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Roxanne Davis
Roxanne Davis describes herself as the stay-at-home mom of two great kids. Hayley is her 14 year old. She’s an amazing girl who’s musically talented, and very helpful and loving to her brother, Mason. He is 11 and has profound autism, diagnosed at the age of 3. He’s received intensive therapy since. He, too, is an amazing child. Though he’s limitedly verbal he reads and can surf the web better than his mom, says Roxanne. He received his second service dog, Dublin, in January 2010 when his first dog, Zeus, retired. Dublin goes to school with him, where they are in grade five. They are doing amazingly well together. His dogs have allowed us to be an active normal family, she says, because we were locked in before he got them. We never took him out to restaurants or camping or on holidays. Now we enjoy all those things. I am extremely grateful to Dog Guides, she says, for helping keep Mason in our home and taking stress out of our family by providing us with a third parent, Dublin. View Guest page
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Denise DeJarlais
Denise DeJarlais is a healing coach, mystic, creative thinker, and open hearted involved person. She and her husband, Robert Peterson, faced his life and death struggle after being diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. They got involved in receiving healing through a Circle of Hands program of the Healing Hands Network. After Robert's death, she learned Three Heart Balancing, a method of healing developed by Jaentra Gardener. She's helped many people as they journey toward health through her volunteer healing. She opens her heart and her home where she invites people struggling with cancer to receive love. View Guest page
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Lori Di Ilio
Lori Di Ilio I’m happily married to Rob, my husband of 22 years. I’m the mother of Kaitlyn, who’s 16. Our first child Matthew would have been 19 but sadly passed away 3 years ago. Our unexpected journey began when, at age 4, Matthew was diagnosed with a rare progressive degenerative disease, Sanfilippo Syndrome. We suspected there was a problem but we never dreamt that it would have such a devastating outcome. Then everything changed. Our hopes and dreams were dashed. We went through stages of grief over the years. We became his caregivers, advocates, nurses, therapists and more. We learned to navigate the system to best serve our family and him. Though we endured many ups and downs, it’s an experience we wouldn’t trade for anything. Through him, we met the most wonderful people. We learned to find happiness in the adversity that goes hand in hand with having a disabled child. We have so much to be thankful for, most particularly, wonderful memories of him. View Guest page
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Julie DiNardo
Julie DiNardo is a dental hygienist with an independent dental hygiene office, Gleam Smile Centre, www.gleamsmile.ca, in Hamilton, Ontario. She’s a founding member of the American Academy of Oral Systemic Health and a member of the Canadian Dental Hygiene Association. She provides oral cancer awareness days in her office and works collaboratively with the local cancer treatment centre. She’s founder of a charity called Woolies for New B's, which provides essentials for the less fortunate and their babies. She and her husband, with their four children, have been foster parents to many children. View Guest page
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Lisa Doupe
Dr Lisa Doupe holds an MD and is a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. She’s a General Practice Psychotherapist. She’s taken special training in primary care psychiatry, cognitive behavior therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy and in disability management and health policy. Her medical practice specializes in care and treatment of persons whose high-risk behaviours led to involvement with the justice system. Her practice provides support for their family caregivers. She’s been a consultant to a community health clinic and to Correction Services of Canada, and involved with projects such as the Canada Round Table on return to function and return to work, and educating future physicians of Ontario in workplace health. She has special experience in addiction medicine and psychotherapy in supporting patients in returning to function. She has extensive experience in advocacy and advising legislatures in North America, Europe and Australia. View Guest page
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Ruth Drew
Ruth Drew is Director of Client and Information Services for the Alzheimer’s Association. She recently joined the national office after spending six years with the Oklahoma and Arkansas Chapter. She is a licensed counselor with experience in inpatient and agency settings. She is honored to work with people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and their family members by promoting programs that help them access needed information and support. She has presented at national and state conferences concerning Alzheimer’s disease and effective care giving strategies. She has served as a guest lecturer at University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and University of Tulsa. She also has a personal interest in the work of the Alzheimer’s Association as her late grandfather had the disease. She knows first-hand how devastating the effects of Alzheimer’s disease are on affected individuals and their families. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Ahmed El-Zoeiby
Ahmed El-Zoeiby obtained his bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy in 1994 from Cairo University, Egypt. He then worked as a teaching assistant in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Cairo, where he was also enrolled in graduate studies in Microbiology. In 1997, he won a scholarship from the Canadian International Development agency (CIDA) to complete a master’s degree in Microbiology in Laval University, in Québec. He continued his doctoral studies in the same field. After obtaining his PhD in December 2002, he moved to Toronto to work as a postdoctoral scientist at the University of Toronto. He then moved back to Cairo University to work as a Faculty member at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Faculty of Pharmacy from 2006 to 2008. In 2008, he moved back to Canada and completed his Pharmacy license requirements. He is currently a licensed pharmacist practicing in Ontario. View Guest page
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Martha Eleen
Martha Eleen is an honours graduate of Emily Carr College of Art, Vancouver, Canada. Her painting practice explores the relation between culture and landscape, and has received critical attention in the form of curatorial essays, reviews and publication. Her work has been exhibited in public galleries in Canada, U.S.A, Mexico and Japan. She lives in Toronto where she teaches painting and drawing at the Toronto School of Art. Her work is represented by Loop Gallery, Toronto. Her recent body of paintings, I, Huck , explores the landscape of the experience of knowing her son, Gabe. Her website is www.marthaeleen.com View Guest page
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Larry Ellis
Larry Ellis is President of SoftWright LLC, of Aurora, Colorado. He’s been an instructor on RF system design at many of the SoftWright TAP Engineering Seminars. He holds the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a Master's and Doctorate in Worship Studies from the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies. He’s been a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Colorado since 1974. He holds a commercial pilot’s license and is a certified scuba diver. He’s an accomplished organist. He’s served on church staffs for thirty years as a pastor of worship and music ministries. He’s the author of a newly released book, Forgiveness: Unleashing a Transformational Process. He and wife Jill have been married for 31 years. They have two adult children both actively involved in taking care of their grandparents. View Guest page
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Susan Eng
Susan Eng is Vice President, Advocacy, for CARP, which advocates for 14 million-plus Canadian Zoomers. She's a lawyer, prominent activist and frequent media commentator. Chair of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Services Board from 1991 to 1995, she tackled sensitive issues of public accountability, police use of force, anti-racism, fiscal responsibility, and initiated groundbreaking policy and organizational changes. She co-chaired the Ontario Coalition of Chinese Head Tax Payers and Families and with other groups successfully campaigned for a Parliamentary apology for 62 years of legislated racism under the Head Tax. Previously with the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, the YWCA of Greater Toronto and the national executive of the Chinese Canadian National Council, she now serves on the Governing Council of the University of Toronto, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. She's a director of the Yee Hong Community Wellness Centre for Geriatric Care. View Guest page
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Al Etmanski
Al Etmanski is an author, blogger (www.aletmanski.com), advocate and social entrepreneur specializing in innovative, multi-sector solutions to complex societal challenges. He is co-founder and President of Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network, (www.plan.ca), which assists families across Canada and globally in addressing the financial and social well-being of relatives with a disability, particularly after their parents die. He proposed and led the successful campaign to establish the world’s first savings plan for people with disabilities, the Registered Disability Savings Plan (www.RDSP.com). He’s currently partner in the J W McConnell Family Foundation’s Social Innovation Generation, (http://sigeneration.ca), dedicated to scaling up innovative solutions to deeply rooted social problems and exploring new methods of financing the social sector. He chairs the BC Government’s Advisory Council on Social Entrepreneurship Investment. He’s an Ashoka fellow (http://canada.ashoka.org). View Guest page
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Donald C. Fenn
Donald C. Fenn is Editor/Publisher/Founder of the Family Caregiver Newsmagazine. He’s spent a lifetime in media-related sales and marketing resulting in his wide and diverse experience. His clearly defined sense of purpose led him to start or co-launch in Canada many interesting media ventures including People Magazine, Martha Stewart Living, and Home and Garden television. He has his own media representative firm, Fenn Company Inc, which celebrates its 30th year in 2010. After launching health care dot-com businesses in 2003, he turned his efforts to the challenge of Family Caregiving. Having spent over 11 years as family caregiver for his parents with Alzheimer’s disease and cancer, he was surprised at the lack of co-ordination of information and resources available for family caregivers. So, in March of 2004, he founded The Family Caregiver Newsmagazine and www.thefamilycaregiver.com. The company Caregiver Omnimedia Inc continues to be a leader in this burgeoning category. View Guest page
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Susan Fentie-Pearce
Susan Fentie-Pearce is a registered nurse, co-founder of the Ontario Autism Coalition, and the mother of four children, two of whom, Keith , 14, and Kyle, 16, have autism. In June 2010, the Coalition produced ‘No More Excuses!’ a recommendations report for the Ontario Government about services for individuals with autism and their families. Read more at http://www.ontarioautismcoalition.com View Guest page
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Jane Field
Jane Field, a former high school teacher and literacy worker, is a writer and singer-songwriter, a speaker and performer in the Toronto area. She was a wheelchair user for 15 years, quadriplegic for 6 of those years, before she met a doctor in 2002 who told her she had a treatable nerve disease. Since undergoing extensive treatment, she no longer requires a wheelchair, but continues to straddle the boundaries of identity and belonging in the disabled and non-disabled communities. View Guest page
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Deanna Finch-Smith
Deanna Finch-Smith is Executive Director of the Salvation Army Lawson Ministries in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The Lawson Ministries, which she’s been with for 16 years, supports adults with developmental disabilities in residential, day, and employment opportunities. Her 25 years of work in the social-service sector has given her a wide base of knowledge and experiences which she draws on to support individuals with developmental disabilities of many types. She and her husband Steve and their 2 boys live in Brantford, Ontario, where they are active in the sports world. The Lawson Ministries web site is www.lawsonministries.org View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Gail Fisher-Taylor
Gail Fisher-Taylor, along with her two sons, Kerr Wattie, and Skye Wattie, is a founder of Kilometres for Communication, http://kilometresforcommunication.com, a national awareness and fundraising campaign about empowering the voices of people who, because of disabilities, must communicate in ways other than with typical speech. Inspired by his brother Kerr, who usually travels in a wheelchair and speaks with blinks and a communication device, Skye launched this coast to coast cycling journey on Vancouver Island. Gail drives the support vehicle as Skye cycles, sometimes accompanied by Kerr in a bike trailer. They’re meeting with people who communicate in a variety of ways, and are speaking at awareness and fundraising events as they travel across Canada. Gail has been a psychotherapist in private practice for more than 20 years and, prior to that, she was an editor/publisher. She is passionate about voice, inclusion and accessibility for all people with disabilities. View Guest page
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Patricia Fleischmann
Constable Patricia Fleischmann is in her 25th year with the Toronto Police Service. She’s worked in all areas of law enforcement including uniform, investigative and plainclothes duties. Currently, she has administrative responsibilities for Vulnerable Persons Issues, such as abuse and neglect of older adults, persons with disabilities and mental health conditions. She’s a graduate of Durham College, McMaster University and Ryerson University. While at Ryerson University, she completed her Gerontology Certificate. She is an international elder abuse educator for police and non-law enforcement audiences. She is a founding member of the organization, Law Enforcement Agencies Protecting Seniors. She’s the author of two chapters in the 2010 e-book Aging, Ageism and Abuse. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Jerry Ford
Jerry Ford is a retired chartered accountant who has been advocating on behalf of persons with disabilities for almost 30 years and has had extensive involvement in the not-for-profit sector throughout his career. His accomplishments include being a founding member of Citizens With Disabilities - Ontario http://www.cwdo.org/ and Art de Triomphe www.artdetriomphe.org. As his disability progressed he became increasingly dependent on the assistance of others to enable him to live fully, then a friend suggested a service dog might be a good option for him. He applied to the Lions Foundation of Canada and, in October 2009, he went to Oakville to be trained as a dog handler. There he was introduced to Lilo, a yellow lab/golden retriever cross. Jerry remains very active with the capable assistance of Lilo, the incredibly talented Special Skills Dog provided by the Lions Foundation. Jerry, his artist wife Christine and Lilo live in Cobourg - email jford@eagle.ca View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Chris Fowler
Chris Fowler has been a professional Dog Guide trainer since 1994. In 1996 he co-founded the world’s first Service Dog program to assist autistic children and their families. He pioneered the puppy program and the training program. He mastered the various family assessments and services needed to ensure success for service dogs in assisting autism. Since 2004, he’s helped service dog organizations in Ireland, Spain, the US and Canada with starting their autism programs. In 2005, he received the RL Peterson Award for pioneering autism dog training and serving families with autism. He trained “Abby” who was inducted into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame in 2005 for her work with a child with autism. He received the Gerald Bloomfield of the Autism Society of Ontario in 2006 and the Paul Harris Award through Rotary Club International in 2008. Under his direction, over 170 dogs have been placed as Autism Dogs in Canada, including Zeus and Dublin, the dogs that Roxanne Davis talks about. View Guest page
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Sharon Galway
Sharon Galway Sharon, a Registered Nurse with a BSc degree, has over 30 years experience in health care, education and training. She has advocated for seniors as a regional Consultant with Ontario’s Strategy to Combat Elder Abuse. And she has worked as a Home Care Case Manager. While working in the community with seniors and through her advocacy and other work she recognized the need for new models of care, especially to help seniors to maintain their independence and to age well at home. Because Home Instead Senior Care’s model of care promotes the independence and successful aging at home of seniors and because its principles and values so closely align with her own, she decided to have her own Home Instead Senior Care office. Doing this, she knew, would ensure that care with compassion would remain an integral part of her life. She regularly appears as a guest speaker at senior-related events as well as organizing educational lectures on Elder Care. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
James V. Gambone
Dr. James V. Gambone is a leading authority on generational and intergenerational relationships. His books and articles and keynote addresses are currently being used by business, community and faith leaders to help them understand differences between generations, and then go beyond that, to help generations work more productively together. His newest publication is Who Says Men Don’t Care?, A Man’s Guide To Balanced and Guilt Free Caregiving. It’s aimed at the 22 million informal male caregivers in the US. Besides being a leader in the intergenerational field, Jim is also an award winning film and television writer, producer and director. His latest film, the Journey Home, deals with the future of elder care in the U.S. He lives with his wife and two border collie working sheep dogs in Orono, MN. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Mona Gandy
Mona Gandy was a licensed realtor in the state of Texas for 12 years. She sold residential real estate with the Phyllis Browning Co. in the San Antonio area. With the help of referrals from the relocation department, she listed properties for sellers and worked with first-time home buyers. She also did extensive marketing in her target areas to obtain potential clients. Her family caregiving began 3 years ago when she lost her father. She now spends time with her mother who would otherwise be alone, and handles all of her mother's financial requirements. She now also serves on a Charity committee formed to raise funds for the Savera Association in New Delhi, India. It’s a charity established in 1998 for the people of Shrinavaspuri, a slum dwelling. It has established a kindergarten to prepare children for formal education, a vocational school for girls, and a medical clinic. It’s raising funds and seeking sponsors to expand services to other slum areas in New Delhi. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Jaentra Gardener
Jaentra Gardener was diagnosed in 1977 with multiple sclerosis. She left no stone unturned in exploring any method that might help her overcome this debilitating illness. Since then she not only received, but also studied numerous therapies and techniques, such as massage, acupressure, and reflexology. She healed herself. She incorporated her experience and her studies in the numerous methodologies into a complementary medicine called Three Heart Balancing. In 2000, she founded Healing Hands Network to inspire, educate, and help people embrace healing as an option to help them achieve health. She believes that healing is a gift for all of us like the sun, moon, and stars and that anyone who wishes to learn can do so. Her vision makes healing available for everyone who wishes to receive. She sees a healing coach in every household and workplace which means people helping people stay functional and in optimal health. She’s host of Healing Journeys on http://SQR.FM. View Guest page
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Joel Gerstel
Joel Gerstel is the Executive Director of the American Parkinson Disease Association. Born and raised in Long Island, New York, he received his BA degree from New York University. In 1997 he was named the Association’s executive director. Previously he was director of operations and prior to that he’d served as a member of the Association’s board of directors. His previous administrative experience included nine years as development director for the Pride of Judea Mental Health Center, Douglaston, New York. Under his leadership, the Association doubled its operational budget, expanded its national network to become the largest grass-root organization serving Americans with Parkinson disease in the United States, and moved from rented quarters into it first national headquarters building. In 2003, he was appointed to represent the Parkinson disease community on the Transportation Security Administration’s Disability Coalition, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. View Guest page
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Samuel Getachew
Samuel Getachew is an Ethiopian Canadian activist based in Toronto. He has a passion for Canadian and American politics. He’s worked on many political campaigns including that of then Senator Barack Obama. He’s also passionate about international development as well as community activism. He writes a column for Tzta newspaper. He’s also written for www.swaymag.ca, the Toronto Sun and the Ottawa Citizen newspapers. He’ll be travelling later on this year to every province and territory within Canada to pay tribute to leading Canadians of the past such as Former Prime Ministers John Diefenbaker, Louis St Laurent and the father of Canadian Medicare, Tommy Douglas. View Guest page
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Sholom Glouberman
Sholom Glouberman is founding President of the Patients’ Association of Canada. He is also Philosopher in Residence at the Kunin Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit of Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, and an adjunct at the University of Toronto. He has a BA from McGill and a PhD in Philosophy from Cornell University. He gained much of his experience in the health field at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and the King’s Fund in London, England. He became an advisor to doctors, nurses and managers in Canada and internationally. He has produced various innovative management programs. He directed the health policy think tank at the Canadian Policy Research Networks. He has spoken widely in Europe, North America and Australia. His publications focus on complex health systems, health in cities, health care reform and the health care experience. He is currently hard at work on the nature of patient engagement in health care systems. His web site is www.healthandeverthing.org. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Rachel Goldberg
Dr. Rachel Goldberg has been with B’nai B’rith International since 2003. She’s the Director of Aging Policy, which covers health care, housing and other issues of particular importance for older adults. She develops and oversees community programs on age-related issues like Aging in Place, Identity Theft, Medicare, and Health Care Reform. She’s responsible for drafting and presenting policy options to the B’nai B’rith International’s Board of Governors. She advocates for B’nai B’rith International’s policies in Washington. Before joining B’nai B’rith International, she was an Assistant Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, where the courses she taught included Congress and the Presidency. She holds a PhD, a Masters in Government from Georgetown University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in History and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. View Guest page
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Christene Gordon
Christene Gordon, BFA, BEd, is Director of Client Services and Programs, The Alzheimer Society, Canada. She’s an educator whose experience includes music specialist, zoo educator, sexuality instructor and historical interpreter. She’s worked in the field of dementia care for over 20 years. Her dementia education was in Britain, and she’s now working towards an MSc in dementia care. She was drawn to the dementia care field following her family’s experience in caring for her Grandmother. “In the 1980’s there was not a lot of information available for family members so we befuddled our way through”, she says. Convinced that there must be a better way, she embarked on a learning path to better understand the dementia experience. The learning stood her in good stead while supporting her Dad in the care of her mother who was living with vascular dementia. Her message to care partners is that you can’t do it alone, you need a circle of care that includes family, friends and professionals. View Guest page
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Wendy Graham
Dr. Wendy Graham, MD, CCFP, FCFP, is founder of The Association of Family Health Teams and past Medical Director and Lead Physician with North Bay’s Blue Sky Family Health Team. She’s an extremely influential physician in primary care reform and collaborative care models for Canada. She’s addressed numerous international conferences on patient healthcare reform, including the UN’s. She’s a member of the Local Integrated Health Network, eHealth Ontario. She acts in a consulting capacity to several healthcare technology companies, including the Board of Directors of Pharmatrust. She holds an Assistant Professorship at the Queen’s University. She’s the recipient of numerous prestigious awards from the College of Family Physicians of Canada, Canadian Medical Association, and the Ontario Medical Association. Her past memberships include the Institute of Optimizing Patient Outcomes Board, the Canadian Council for Integrated Health Care, and Ontario Medical Association Board of Directors. View Guest page
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Brent Green
Brent Green is a marketing communication strategist, creative director, copywriter, author, speaker, trainer and consultant with focus on generational marketing. His firm, Brent Green & Associates Inc, of Denver, Colorado, was established in 1986. It develops integrated marketing communication programs for direct response media, integrated sales promotions, marketing public relations, and senior executive training. It’s received more than 50 national and international awards for creative excellence. He authored Marketing to Leading-Edge Baby Boomers: Perceptions, Principles, Practices, Predictions. His next book, Generation Reinvention, examines how Boomers are changing business, marketing, aging and the future. Part explores marketing to male Baby Boomers. He was the primary caregiver for his parents during their final years. Drawing on his care-giving experiences and knowledge of the Boomer generation, he has become a popular speaker for the hospice and home healthcare industries. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Katie Griffiths
Katie Griffiths is an Outreach Counselor with the Alzheimer Society Peel office locations. She’s worked with the elderly and their families since 1997. With her colleagues, she provides support for family caregivers caring for a family member with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. She believes that each family caregiver has a unique role and journey with Alzheimer’s disease or any dementia, for that matter. In her professional work, she sees their need for support in navigating this journey mentally, emotionally and physically. While the journey is always hard and demanding, she says, it nevertheless does bring some satisfaction and happiness for the family caregivers. The services she and her colleagues provide include phone support, one-on-one and family counselling, support groups, and information on services and supports needed through this journey. She holds a Bachelor of Arts-Sociology degree and a Gerontology Honours Diploma. View Guest page
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JR Harding
Dr. JR Harding works full-time for the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) as the External Affairs Manager. He often serves as a disability expert to guide private business and other stakeholders around the nuances of the Americans with Disabilities Act and independent living. He’s been privileged to serve former President Bush, Governor Crist, former Governor Bush, former Governor Chiles and his fellow disabled citizens. He currently lends his expertise and experience to the US Access Board, Commission for Transportation Disadvantage and the Able Trust board. He’s also served the Election Assistance Commission, the Governor's Commission on Disabilities, the Florida Building Commission Waiver Council, and the former Governors ADA Working Group. He’s a graduate of Leadership Tallahassee, class XIX and Leadership Florida, class XXVII. He frequently presents at national, state, and local conferences on abilities, needs, and obstacles facing persons with disabilities. View Guest page
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Rodney Harris
Rodney Harris is the Chief Executive Officer of the Motor Neurone Disease Association of Victoria, and has held this position for over 16 years. The Association provides a limited number of services that it is best placed and equipped to deliver, and works with community and health services to improve access and support for people living with MND. He has had an extensive engagement in community-based organizations, and has been on the Boards of a number of non-profit organizations. He has been a Board Member and Chairman of the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations. His work to develop palliative care services for people with life-threatening illnesses, particularly motor neurone disease, was recognized in 2005 when he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. He has a BA in Social Science and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Health Administration. He has undertaken leadership training at the School of Management, Mt Eliza, and at Stanford University. View Guest page
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Léony deGraaf Hastings
Léony deGraaf Hastings grew up in the financial industry, with her father, a top financial advisor for more than 40 years. She began her financial career in the family firm 14 years ago and since has built a successful practice as an independent Financial Advisor in Burlington, ON where she resides with her husband and three teenage children. Appreciating the time she spent with her grandparents as a child, and losing her Mom to breast cancer in 2000, she increasingly helps seniors and families with estate planning. She took specialized courses to earn her Elder Planning Counselor designation and is currently enrolled in the Certified Financial Planners self-study program. Her approach is to educate and assist retirees in simplifying their season of life by providing them with theinformation, choices and tools needed to make wise financial decisions. She is Chairperson for the Burlington Seniors & Law-enforcement Together Council educating seniors on crime-prevention. View Guest page
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Kenneth Herman
Dr Kenneth Herman is a Board Certified Clinical Psychologist and Fellow in the American Academy of Clinical Psychologists. He is also the author of the self-help book “Secrets from the Sofa: A Psychologist’s Guide to Achieving Personal Peace.” Dr Herman was the Director of The Psychological Service in Teaneck, New Jersey for many years. He has also taught on the university level, consulted in industry, conducted research, and lectured extensively in the field of Mental Health. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs. He currently promotes his book, which has been the recipient of many literary awards in the categories of Psychology, Mental Health, Health, as a Guide to College Students, and as The Best Personal Growth Book of the Year. Reader’s comments and reviews may be seen on his web site at: www.secretsfromthesofa.com. He also presently serves on the Board of Trustees of a free primary medical care facility in Hackensack, New Jersey for the uninsured. View Guest page
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Paul R. Hogan
Paul R. Hogan Founded in 1994 by Lori and Paul Hogan, Home Instead Senior Care grew into the largest senior-care business of its kind in the world. Since then, it has provided services to more than 500,000 seniors through a network of more than 800 franchise offices in North America, Europe and elsewhere. Paul was named the Entrepreneur of the Year for 2006 by the International Franchise Association. Paul and Lori’s success in exporting their home-care business concept was recognized in May 2008 at a White House ceremony, where they received the “E” Award of the US Department of Commerce. This is one of the highest honors the federal government presents for significant contributions to American exports. In 2008, the Hogans became anchor donors for the Home Instead Center for Successful Aging at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The goal is to find solutions with the potential to touch the lives of seniors around the world, to help them age more successfully. View Guest page
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Christine Holloway
Christine Holloway received Ilene, her hearing ear dog guide, in December of 2009. Christine’s hearing problems developed many years previously and steadily worsened. She was born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario, and is married with two adult children. She attended Queen’s University and the Nightingale School of Nursing, and taught at the St Joseph’s School of Nursing in Peterborough. In 1988, she began volunteering with the Lions Foundation of Canada. First, she was a “foster parent” for dog guides. In all, she fostered 18 of them. In 2005, she moved to Oakville as a volunteer at the Lions Foundation of Canada’s dog guides training centre. View Guest page
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Mabel Horton
Mabel Horton is a registered nurse with a Masters in Public Administration. Since 2002, she’s worked with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. Her work with the Assembly involves partnering with the federal and provincial governments, in such areas as eCHART, the Regional TeleHealth Partnership table. Her work also involves eHealth, as the eHealth Coordinator. Her Coordinator work focuses on teleHealth and Panorama, a communicable disease surveillance system being developed nationally and regionally. She previously worked in northern Manitoba and Nunavut as a nurse in an extended role, as a public health nurse with Manitoba Health, as an Aboriginal Liaison Coordinator for the Burntwood Regional Health Authority, with First Nation political organizations in health policy, on the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Continuing Care Research & Costing Project , and the Assembly’s Patient Wait Times Guarantee Project, in which Saint Elizabeth Healthcare was a partner. She’s from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation. View Guest page
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Gail Hunt
Gail Hunt is President & CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving, a non-profit coalition dedicated to research and national programs for family caregivers and professionals who serve them. Previously she was President of her own aging services consulting firm. She’s conducted corporate eldercare research for the National Institute on Aging and the Social Security Administration, developed training for caregivers with AARP and the American Occupational Therapy Association, and designed a corporate eldercare program for the Employee Assistance Professional Association. She was appointed by the White House to serve on the Policy Committee for the 2005 White House Conference on Aging. She was on the Advisory Panel on Medicare Education, is chair of the National Center on Senior Transportation, is a Commissioner of the Center for Aging Service Technology, and is Secretary of the Long-Term Quality Alliance. She’s on the Governing Board of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Linda Hurren
Linda Hurren is President and Director of York Autism Centre. Established in 2008, it offers services for children and families within the autism spectrum including IBI, social skills classes, tutoring services and camp programs. She’s now starting “The Making Small Talk Academy”, www.makingsmalltalk.com. A classroom within a typical school, it offers the full Ontario curriculum online. Students are supported as required to enable them as individuals to excel in areas of promise. Support includes development of social skills with their peers in the school environment. She’s experienced as a residential social worker living with adults in a community teaching independence skills. She’s worked in a newly established community classroom for children with Asperger Syndrome. After 4 years in the classroom, she set up her business to support to families struggling with the many challenges confronting their children. She started by offering social-skills classes from a local church hall. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Kristen Irvine
Kristen Irvine lives in Aylmer, Québec. She graduated with honours from the Personal Support Worker Program and Certification Exam at Ontario’s Thames Valley District School Board Adult and Continuing Education. She participated in the Information Series on Alzheimer’s disease. Her experience includes working with patients with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in a lock-down unit, work in private home care, and services of companionship sitting. She’s currently supporting her grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease, and who lives at the Glebe Center, a long-term care home. She also works with Down syndrome clients to help them to learn daily tasks, and to help them integrate into a social environment. She also volunteers as an activities administrator and coordinator. View Guest page
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Winston Isaac
Dr. Winston Isaac is a co-founder of The Walnut Foundation, a Men’s Health Interest and Support group dedicated to development and education of Black men and the Black community in taking responsibility for their health. He is Associate Professor in the School of Health Services Management at Ryerson University in Toronto. His holds undergraduate degrees in Science, Psychology and Business Administration. At the Master’s level, he holds degrees in Adult Education and Health Administration & Policy. He holds a PhD in Adult and Continuing Education. His academic career includes Program Director at the Michener Institute, Program Coordinator with Ryerson’s Chang School, and Director for Ryerson’s School of Health Services Management. He is a Certified Health Executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders. His healthcare experience includes Health Policy Analyst with the Ontario’s health Ministry and reviewer for accrediting health administration programs across North America. View Guest page
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Sherry Johnson
Sherry Johnson has adopted three granddaughters who have been with her for ten years. They came into her care through the courts in the State of Hawaii which removed them from their parents and placed them in foster care. Their biological parents’ rights were terminated and rescinded in 2000. Her daughter is the girls’ birth mother. The girls were exposed to drugs and alcohol prenatally. They had been severely abused and neglected by both parents, and by the foster care parents while in State custody. Sherry’s experience includes working with children and caring for them. It includes her life as a parent, former foster parent, step-parent, juvenile probation and parole officer, and all-round guardian. Her goal throughout is to assure the children of their rights. Through the concept of Kinship Care, she says, those who are entrusted with the care and nurturing of children within their own families are finding a greater voice both as advocates for the children and each other. View Guest page
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Steve Joordens
Professor Steve Joordens is a cognitive psychologist who specializes in research in memory and consciousness. A faculty member at the University of Toronto Scarborough since 1995, he’s taught a wide range of courses including Memory and Cognition, Statistics and, most recently, the Introduction to Psychology class. He won the Premier’s Research Excellence Award in 2001 for his research on memory and, with his PhD student Dwayne Pare, won the National Technology Innovation Award in 2009 for the development and research of peerScholar, an online tool to support the development of critical thinking skills. He has also won a number of teaching awards including the President’s Teaching Award, the highest award for teaching at the University of Toronto, and the Leadership in Faculty Teaching Award from the province of Ontario. He has twice been a finalist in TVO’s Best Lecturer Competition and most recently has recorded a course with The Great Courses entitled Memory Across the Lifespan. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Brianna Kane
Brianna Kane, is eighteen years old and attends St. Michael High School in Niagara Falls. She has two older brothers. One is training to become a doctor. The younger brother has Down syndrome and works for her mother at home. Her father is Chief of Police and her mother owns a business. She’s an assistant coach to the younger brother’s hockey team and a Big Sister to a 12 year old girl named Maddie, who has floating harbor syndrome, a rare genetic disease associated with multiple health problems. Maddie is a big part of Brianna’s life. Singing and writing are Brianna’s passions. She also loves to hike, snowboard and swim. She’s recently been accepted at College to study Event Planning. View Guest page
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Kathy Kastner
Kathy Kastner is Founder, Editor and Publisher of Ability4Life.com. She launched it in February 2010 to meet a need: information gaps faced by adult children caring for aging parents. With its monthly traffic increasing exponentially, Ability4Life has garnered keen interest. Prior to Ability4Life.com, she pioneered North America’s premier and award-winning hospital-based health education television networks, The Parent Channel® and Healthtv™. These networks broadcast health information to patients and healthcare professionals in the largest top-ranked teaching hospitals across North America. As CEO and chief strategist, she grew the service from a 45-bed pilot to an international, multi-talented organization, reaching more than 21,000 beds. She’s an invited speaker and participant at healthcare conferences and health forums. She’s conducted workshops, lectures and plenary sessions at respected international healthcare communications symposia in Canada and the US. View Guest page
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Marc Kealey
Marc Kealey is Chief Advocate, Kealey & Associates Inc. A graduate of the University of Waterloo in Ontario and educated at Kent State University in Ohio, he’s a lead voice in North America on health reform, integrated health and drug benefit plan enhancement, and healthcare policy. He is involved in various organizations and causes for patient advocacy. He’s served as the CEO of one of Canada’s largest pharmacy organizations. He’s advocated for the integrity of drug supply between Canada and the United States. He was the first co-chair of the Pharmacy Council in Ontario which led to expansion of practice opportunities for pharmacists in an integrated health system. He’s served as a senior executive in a Canadian Crown Corporation working in Canada, USA and elsewhere. He’s been an executive at a community hospital. He’s a member of the advisory board of the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy. View Guest page
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Teresa Kellerman
Teresa Kellerman is Director of the FAS Community Resource Center in Tucson, Arizona. She’s the adoptive parent of a young man with FAS. She’s a popular speaker because of her personal experience and success as a parent, her extensive knowledge of current research, and her unique use of skits, poems, and props. With her 30 years experience, she supports families, and consults with professionals. She trains educators, social workers and foster parents. She facilitates support groups for families and caregivers. She’s a certified FASD trainer for the US federal government’s FASD Center for Excellence, the US Department of Justice, and the Native American Alliance Foundation. She’s the Fetal Alcohol Resource Coordinator for the State of Arizona. She’s produced guidelines for teachers in positive behavior support programs. She’s an author, including a chapter in a popular book on FAS, “Fantastic Antone Grows Up” published by University of Alaska Press. Visit her www.fasstar.com www.fasstar.com View Guest page
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Sue Kelly
Sue Kelly is a registered nurse with a specialization in public health nursing. She’s Director of Health & Wellness with We Care Health Services, in Toronto, Ontario. For Alzheimer’s disease, she rolled-out to the We Care Network a dedicated care program, one of seven such programs on the Network. Also for Alzheimer’s disease, as part of her voluntary work, she’s the organizer of Alzheimer’s Coffee Break Day. She’s developed a partnership with the Canadian Diabetes Association which includes clinical programs and educational courses for personal service workers. She’s project manager for the “Remote Access to Care Technology partnership”, which provides wireless biometric screening for people with chronic diseases. She’s involved in organizing workshops on Home Telehealth. She’s facilitated courses for service providers in palliative care, among her other work and voluntary activities. And she also has personal family caregiver experience. View Guest page
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Viki Kind
Viki Kind is a clinical bioethicist, medical educator and hospice volunteer. She’s a family caregiver with many years of experience caring for four members of her family. Her most recent book, “The Caregiver’s Path to Compassionate Decision Making: Making Choices For Those Who Can't,” guides families and healthcare professionals through the complex process of making decisions for those who are losing or have lost the ability to think. Across the United States she teaches healthcare professionals to have integrity and compassion, and how to improve end-of-life care through better communication. Her approach to dealing with challenging healthcare situations is relied on by patients, families and healthcare professionals. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in speech communication from California State University at Northridge and a Master’s degree in bioethics from the Medical College of Wisconsin. She also has specialized training in mediation from Pepperdine University and UCLA. View Guest page
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Jason King
Jason King and Redford, a three-year-old male yellow Labrador, is Jason’s second Dog Guide. They have been partners for a year and a half. Jason is a member of the Peterborough Lions club, a volunteer with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, a spokesperson for Lions Foundation of Canada, and a devoted father and husband. He is happily married to his wife, Melissa. They have a 6 year old daughter Rhiannon. He’s just completed the Social Service Worker Program at Fleming College, his second diploma in the Service field. He already holds a Drug and Alcohol Diploma, and has aspirations of completing both his Bachelor’s degree and his Masters in Social Service studies. He wants to pursue a career in the social services field working with disabled individuals as a Community Developer and Advocate. He’s currently looking for work in Peterborough. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Estée Klar
Estée Klar is founder and executive director of The Autism Acceptance Project www.taaproject.com. She’s the mother of a young autistic son, Adam. She is a writer and a curator of art by profession, and a graduate student of Critical Disability Studies at York University. For her, art is the best way to present some of the more pressing and thought-provoking issues for autism, such as human rights, inclusion, art and writing, which she lectures on at universities and organizations throughout North America. She began this work when she noticed that autistic people are so often missing from committees in schools, workplaces, and community programs. She saw the need to change some perspectives on autism. She spent time traveling across North America to meet autistic self-advocates and their families. She began the Autism Acceptance Project to support autistic individuals to advocate for themselves so that they receive the accommodations they need to contribute to society as they are. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Colleen Krebs
Colleen Krebs hails from Aurora, Colorado. She’s the team lead for Homewatch CareGivers’ Pathways to Memory program. This is a targeted, memory-enhancing program designed to stimulate and enhance cognitive abilities for persons with Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and other memory impairing illnesses. She’s been with Homewatch CareGivers for little more than year, and in that time has taken over 40 classes from Homewatch CareGivers. University with specific focus on the company’s Pathways to Memory program, earning a wealth of continuing education credits along the way. She was recently honored by Homewatch CareGivers as its Caregiver of the Year. She’s currently working towards a degree as a certified nursing assistant. She has considerable personal and family experience as a family caregiver. View Guest page
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James P. Krehbiel
James P. Krehbiel, Ed.S., LPC, CCBT, is an educator, writer, licensed professional counselor and nationally certified cognitive-behavioral therapist practicing in Scottsdale, Arizona. He specializes in treating anxiety, depression and the emotional effects of pain management issues. He served as a teacher and guidance counselor for 30 years and has taught graduate-level counselor education courses for Chapman University. In 2005, he self-published ‘Stepping Out of the Bubble: Reflections on the Pilgrimage of Counseling Therapy’ (Booklocker.com). His latest book, ‘Troubled Childhood, Triumphant Life: Healing from the Battle Scars of Youth’ (New Horizon Press) is about the impact of troubled childhoods on adult functioning. He can be reached through his website at www.scottsdaletherapy.net. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Lori La Bey
Lori La Bey describes herself as a Driver of Change. Her mission is to shift society’s negative perception of aging and illness. She specializes in the psychosocial aspects of Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss. She believes that, by removing the fear, embarrassment, and judgment that together cripple our relationships, we can enhance our connections with the people we love and care for. On her Blog ‘AlzheimersSpeaks.com’ she provides a resource directory along with links to her YouTube Channel and more. She guides businesses, organizations, and individuals on how to improve service delivery and enhance relationships between Patients and Professional and Family Caregivers. She is a professional speaker who can be hired as a consultant on shifting business culture for providing personalized training to organizations and groups. View Guest page
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Cindy Laverty
Cindy Laverty founded The Care Company, based in Southern California. A caregiver support agency, it reflects her years of caring for her dying former father-in-law while his own children were unable to provide care and while she was also raising her own child. To deliver compassionate home care, her company employs “life managers”, who work with family caregivers and their families. Her life managers provide services such as nutrition and exercise recommendations, medical coordination, caregiver screening, household management, financial assistance and much more. Her aim is a caregiving process that’s less stressful for everyone involved. She’s become a formidable advocate for caregivers nationwide by establishing herself as “the compassionate caregiver’s best friend” with the first and only commercial radio program, The Cindy Laverty Show on KZSB AM 1290 in Santa Barbara, devoted to caring for the family caregiver. She’s the author of ‘Caregiving - Eldercare Made Clear & Simple’. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Joan Lesmond
Dr Joan Lesmond is the Executive Director, Community Engagement, at Saint Elizabeth Health Care, a non-profit charitable organization delivering health care in the home and community since 1908. She’s also Executive Director, Saint Elizabeth Health Care Foundation. She teaches at Ryerson Polytechnic University in the BSc program for nursing students in community health. She’s a Board member of the Ontario Community Support Association, the Ontario Hospice Association, Women’s College Hospital, the Association of Ontario Health Centres, and HealthForceOntario. She was previously Chief Nursing Executive and Director of Professional Practice at Casey House Hospice in Toronto. She is Past President of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario and Past President of its International Nurses Interest Group, Past President of Regent Park Community Health Centre, and a Past Board member of the Canadian Nurses Protective Society. Her qualifications are RN, BScN, MSN, and Ed.D View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Bill Lougheed
Bill Lougheed graduated in 1966 with honours from the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Denver. He was then recruited for the management trainee development program of Sheraton Corporation in Chicago. In 1969 he returned to Canada as Supervisor of Staff Training with Canadian Pacific Hotels, where he subsequently became Director of Personnel. He joined Ryerson University in 1974 and taught Human Resources Management at the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. He Chaired the School from 1981 to 1986. On retiring from the School in 2006, he received several awards in recognition of his service to the industry. He was appointed by the Government of Ontario in 2004 as a panel member to review the qualifications of selected Ontario colleges to be granted applied arts degree status in hospitality. On his retirement in 2006, the Ted Rogers School of Business, Ryerson University created the William F. Lougheed Hospitality & Tourism Management Award. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Amy MacFarlane
Amy MacFarlane is Founder and CEO of Recreational Respite Inc, www.recrespite.com, a company which provides for Creative living and innovative care. She took on the dedication and commitment to creating Recreational Respite after she recognized the need in the community for supportive and inclusive environments for people with cognitive impairments, physical challenges and developmental diversities. Her passion in the field of health care is united with a hands-on, educated and expert background in personal support work, health care/business development, therapeutic recreation, health sciences and gerontology. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Bev Mahone
Bev Mahone has nearly 30 years’ experience as a radio and television news journalist, including ABC NEWS and NBC NEWS. She’s a radio talk show host, author, and motivational Speaker. She describes herself as a Baby Boomer with A LOT to say. After her years of being in a controlled radio and television news environment, she now feels free to tell it like it really is. With her life as an African-American baby boomer female entrepreneur she’s plenty of stories to share. With all the knowledge and experience she’s gained from her broadcasting career she’s reinventing herself to give back by helping people learn what it takes to get noticed by the media and to prepare for a successful interview. She tells us that she’s also a wife, mother and grandmother dealing with issues like aging, menopause, transition, stress, divorce, second chances, new opportunities, transformation, racism, sexism, mortality … and grandparent family caregiving. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Alan Majer
Alan Majer is the founder of GoodRobot.com and AAH.ca. He has always been interested in how science, technology and society intersect to shape our future. Over the last 12 years, he’s pursued this interest directly in his career as a research analyst and writer. Now, he is exploring this frontier hands-on: experimenting with sensors, home automation, robotics, and collective intelligence. His current venture (aah.ca) uses technology to help elderly people live independently in their homes by sharing information with family and caregivers. Monitoring the activity within the home (when the fridge was last opened for example) allows families to know how their loved one is doing, or even alert them of unusual patterns. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Asko Marjanovic
Asko Marjanovic is a Partner in Avant Garde Real Estate, based in the Yorkville area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He’s a Professional Engineer, a management scientist, and a former computer executive who spent his career helping people make their businesses more productive. Now, as a member of the Toronto Real Estate Board, the Ontario Real Estate Association and the Canadian Real Estate Association he helps put together deals for people buying and selling their businesses and/or their residential properties. He also is an active member of his community and participates at the Executive level on the boards of various not-for-profit organizations. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Frank Markel
Dr. Frank Markel is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Trillium Gift of Life Network, a position he assumed in January 2005. The Network is Ontario's organ and tissue procurement agency. Under his leadership it has experienced a 33 precent increase in deceased organ donation. He often says that he has never known a cause as compelling as that of organ and tissue donation. Prior to joining the Network he held various senior positions in health administration, including Executive Vice President of the Rehabilitation Institute of Toronto, President and CEO of Hillcrest Hospital, and Vice President, Planning and Development at St. Joseph's Health Centre in Toronto. He holds a Masters and a PhD in mathematics from the University of Toronto. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Lori Schindel Martin
Dr. Lori Schindel Martin, RN, PhD, is Associate Professor, Associate Director, Scholarly, Research & Creative Activities, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Faculty of Community Services, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She’s Vice-Chair, Advanced Gerontological Education and, Chair, Gentle Persuasive Approaches Advisory Committee, President of the Gerontological Nursing Association Ontario, and an advanced practice nurse. She has extensive clinical background in the health care of older people and their families who are living with dementia. Her research focuses on the development of humanistic and person-centered health care practices and policies aimed at helping point-of-care staff support older persons with dementia during episodes of responsive behavior. The research includes knowledge transfer activities to enhance best practices related to responsive behavior of a physical nature, reluctance for bathing, and sexual expression. http://www.ageinc.ca/gpa.php View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Cynthia Martineau
Cynthia Martineau is a registered nurse with 25 years of health care experience. This includes 21 years in the Canadian Forces, where her responsibilities included National Practice Leader for Aeromedical Evacuation and medical operations officer for the Air Force on behalf of the Canadian Forces Medical Group. Her responsibilities also included overall management of a multi-site military healthcare centre and overseeing the operational aeromedical evacuation support for the current NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. She’s currently the Director of Local Health System Development for Ontario’s South East Local Health Integration Network, where she oversees health care planning and integration for all health care providers funded by the Network. She holds the Master’s in Health Care Management and two certificates in Health Care Administration in Acute Care and Community Health. She’s a Certified Health Executive. She has two daughters, Rachel, with Rett Syndrome, and Chloe. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Jack McCarthy
Jack McCarthy has been the Executive Director of the Somerset West Community Health Centre since 1989. The Centre provides comprehensive primary health care services targeted to the needs of residents in west central down town Ottawa. From 2004 to 2011, he was Chairperson of the Canadian Alliance of Community Health Centre Associations, a pan-Canadian advocacy body for CHCs. He is a past chairperson of the Ottawa Hospital Community Advisory Committee and the Central Ottawa Community of Care Advisory Forum for the Champlain Local Health Integration Network. He is involved in several research projects pertaining to primary health care and the link between primary health care and public health. In recognition of his many years of community service, he was honored with a community builder of the year award in 2009, by the United Way of Ottawa. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Social Work (MSW) from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1977. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Audrey Miller
Audrey Miller, MSW, RSW, CCRC, CCLCP, is the founder and Managing Director of Elder Caring Inc. Elder Caring is a Geriatric Care Management Company that provides consulting services to individuals, families and corporations across Canada. She is a Registered Social Worker, a Canadian Certified Rehabilitation Counsellor and a Canadian Certified Life Care Planner. She’s published several articles, available at www.eldercaring.ca, and is frequently asked to speak on caregiving, health and aging issues at home and in the workplace. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
John Mills
John Mills is the Founder and CEO of eCare Diary.com. As a caregiver for his father who suffered from Parkinson’s disease and a professional who spent over 20 years working in healthcare, he found care coordination to be difficult. He discovered eldercare to be highly fragmented and lacked a centralized source of information. His experience is focused primarily on healthcare policy, technology and insurance product development. He brings a unique perspective to the issues of long-term care and has used his expertise to develop eCareDiary’s website. He spent close to a decade working on healthcare policy, serving as Legislative Director to a member of a key healthcare committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. In this capacity, he served on President Clinton’s Task Force on Health Care Reform. He later worked on the Bi-Partisan Commission on Medicare Reform. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Bart Mindszenthy
Bart Mindszenthy is host of www.mycarejourney.com, a community for family members caring for aging parents and other loved ones. He’s co-author of the national best-seller ‘Parenting Your Parents: Support Strategies for Meeting the Challenge of Aging in the Family’, 2002, Dundurn Press, Toronto. In writing it, he drew on personal experience with his elderly parents and listening to hundreds of people deep into eldercare. Since the publication of Parenting Your Parents, he’s addressed numerous audiences and appeared on dozens of radio and television interview and talk shows and national television specials. His recent books are ‘The Family Eldercare Workbook & Planner’ and ‘Aging Parents: 200+ Practical Support Tips from My Care Journey’. He holds a Bachelor of Philosophy degree with a concurrent major in journalism. He’s partner in The Mindszenthy & Roberts Corp., a Toronto firm that specializes in issues and crisis communications management and strategic communications planning. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Pat Montgomery
Pat Montgomery is author, radio talk show host, and blogger. She’s a Registered Nurse, a business owner, a speaker and a trainer. She’s a mother of 3, a stepmother of 2, and a grandmother of 12. And she’s also a certified paranormal investigator. One of her books grew from something she was writing for her children. This was a list of things she learned as she raised them. When the list got to about 25 pages, she realized it was going to be a book of parenting advice distilled from her own experiences. She says that her talk show gives her the opportunity to pass on parenting advice and timely information from people who she says are much smarter than her. She also says that the idea of being a grandma scared her—the question “am I old enough to be a grandma?” bothered her. But she now sees the life of grandmother and grandparent family caregiver as a stage, like all the other stages in life. It is wonderful stage, she says. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Jeff Noble
Jeff Noble is an advocate, trainer and coach for caregivers who deal with the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Over the course of four years he’s been a foster parent, front line staff and an FASD coordinator for a private agency in the greater Toronto area. In 2009, he completed the FASD Certificate program from the Child Welfare Institute at the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. In 2010, he founded www.fasdforever.com a website in which he shares his experience with FASD and related matters. In just one year his site has reached the first page of Google and his community on Facebook has over 1,200 fans. He releases his new e-book ‘Making Sense of the Madness, a FASD Survival Guide’ on March 1, 2012. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Joan O’Callaghan
Joan O’Callaghan recently experienced family caregiving at home for her late mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. In her work life, Joan’s a faculty member at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, where she trains high school English teachers. She holds an Honours BA in English Language and Literature, an MA in English Literature, and a BEd. She’s received the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching from Queen’s University. She was named Professor of the Year by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Students Council, Most Engaging English Instructor and Most Inspirational Instructor. As well as her academic work, she has an active career in freelance writing, with three books and numerous articles. Her late husband, J Patrick O’Callaghan, who was prominent in the newspaper world, continues to be a major influence in her life. And all the activities of her busy life are closely supervised by her cat Benny. View Guest page
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Laurie Orlov
Laurie Orlov advises large organizations as well as non-profits and entrepreneurs about trends and opportunities in the age-related technology market. She spent more than 30 years in the technology industry, including 24 years in information technology and 9 years as a leading industry analyst at Forrester Research. She has been featured on Caring.com, MatureMarkets, SilverPlanet, Mobile Health News, and her blog entries are widely syndicated. Her segmentation of this emerging technology market and trends commentary has been presented in the Journal of Geriatric Care Management and ASA's Aging Today Online. She has been profiled in the New York Times and Huffington Post. She has a graduate certification in Geriatric Care Management from the University of Florida and a BA in Music from the University of Rochester. She’s consulted to AARP and is a participating expert on the Think Tank for The Philips Center for Health and Well-Being. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Bob Pearson
Bob Pearson has been addressing environmental safety mainly at the industrial level since 1975. Over the years his expertise has been applied to the development of various products that are now available to the general public. Several government agencies have relied on him and his team to make recommendations to elevate safety and reduce slips and falls. Workplace and in-home slip and fall prevention is a major concern to him. He truly believes that by taking a few minutes to review, identify and eliminate potential hazards we can all benefit. He is now and has been the President of Kimmel of Canada for the past six years. Prior to that he was in partnership with his now 79-year-old father. Their business was developed and based on providing quality products and services that were of great value. To this day he will tell you that he treats people in the way he would like his mother and father treated and that he expects that same commitment on the part of all his staff and dealers. Neila Curtin has worked with the aging population in many different capacities over the past 20 years. She has acquired hands-on experience working as an Activities Director, Marketing Director, Executive Director, and in corporate positions in the sector. In addition, she served as Executive Director of a home care agency. It is this experience that has given her a keen understanding of the difficulties experienced by people navigating the maze of lifestyle options available to the senior population. Currently, she responsible for the oversight of the operation of the retirement home portfolio with Greenwood Retirement Communities and is accountable for all aspects including labour relations, sales and marketing, financial management and in monitors quality in all of their residences to ensure adherence to corporate guidelines, policies and standards, provincial statues, regulations and standards of regulatory bodies and associations. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Deborah Peel
Deborah Peel, MD, is a practicing psychoanalyst and American health privacy expert. In 2004, she founded Patient Privacy Rights, now the leading US consumer health-privacy watchdog with 10,000 members, http://patientprivacyrights.org/. She fights to restore patients’ rights to control their health information in electronic systems to prevent generations of discrimination in jobs and future opportunities. She leads the bipartisan Coalition for Patient Privacy, representing 10 million Americans. The Coalition’s efforts resulted in strong new privacy requirements for electronic health records systems built with the billions in stimulus funds: a ban on the sale of personal health information without consent, audit trails, segmentation, breach notice, encryption, and the right to prevent disclosure of health records for payment and healthcare operations if treatment is paid for out-of-pocket. She’s been elected one of ModernHealthcare’s “100 Most Powerful in Healthcare” since 2007. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Judith Phillips
Judith Phillips is Professor of Gerontology and Social Work in the Centre for Innovative Ageing at Swansea University, Wales. She is director of the Older People and Ageing Research and Development Network in Wales, president of the British Society of Gerontology, editor of the Policy Press series ‘Ageing and the Lifecourse’, and a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. Her research interests are in social aspects of ageing, social work, social care, carers in employment, housing and retirement communities, intergenerational networks, carework and older offenders. In 2002, she won the Work-life Balance Trust award for non-fiction based on her research on juggling work and care for older people. She’s published over 100 papers and books. Her recent publications include Ageing at the intersection of work and home life: Blurring the Boundaries (Taylor and Francis, 2008 with Anne Martin-Mathews); Care: Key Concepts (Polity Press, 2007). She’s a qualified social worker. View Guest page
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Karen Pivnick
Karen Pivnick owns Topcat Relocation Transition Solutions. Inspired by her own 7 years of experience of transitioning her parents as they dealt with the emotional and physical challenges of aging, she set up Topcat to meet the needs of seniors’ moves and transitions. Topcat takes care of the details involved with planning, pre-move decisions and organizing, disposition of unwanted content, move logistics and complete set up of the new residence. She’s been principal caregiver for her parents for the past 7 years. Her first-hand experience in helping them through two separate moves to more supportive environments, dealing with their individual crisis situations, navigating the healthcare system and coordinating complex home care support has equipped her to advocate and to take an active role in assisting her clients to move forward. She’s a Certified Professional Consultant on Aging and Relocation Specialist. She lives in Toronto, Canada with her husband and 3 cats. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Meredith Roman Pizzi
Meredith Roman Pizzi is the Founder and Director of Roman Music Therapy Services, a music therapy agency which serves children and adults with social, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, physical, and educational needs. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Therapy. She completed her music therapy internship at Alternatives for Children in Long Island, NY. Her experience includes young children with and without disabilities, and individuals of all ages with complex medical and developmental needs, such as non-verbal learners, and individuals with conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorders, Down Syndrome, and Williams Syndrome. She has developed an early childhood music program called Sprouting Melodies. She supervises music therapy students in their training. And she provides numerous presentations and workshops to a wide-ranging audience. See her work at http://www.romanmusictherapy.com/473/index.html. Contact her at 781-665-0700 or mpizzi@romanmusictherapy.com. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Kenneth Pope
Kenneth Pope has practiced law in Ontario since 1980. He offers specialized support to individuals with disabilities and their families. He is dedicated to providing legal, tax and estate planning services to families in Ontario and across Canada. Through his experience in working with special needs families, he’s become an expert in writing wills with trusts which ensure that parents of children with disabilities can protect inheritances while preserving provincial disability benefits. He’s knowledgeable in Testamentary and Inter Vivos Trusts, asset protection, minimizing taxes on inherited assets (including income generated by those assets), Powers of Attorney, competency issues, contested and uncontested estate administration, Elder Law, and Succession Planning in general. He has an extensive background with non-profit and charitable organizations. He’s been a founding member, has served as president, and has been on the board and committees of numerous non-profit organizations. View Guest page
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Robert S. Porter
Dr. Robert S. Porter, an Emergency Physician by specialty, is editor-in-chief of The Merck Manuals. He oversees the staff and over 400 national and international medical specialists in the preparation and publication in print and online of all the Merck Manuals. These include the Merck Manual Home Health Handbook, which translates the professional version into everyday language. He led the transition of The Manuals from print-centric products to a continuously updated online reference source. He’s currently Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. Prior to joining Merck, he was a member of the Department of Emergency Medicine, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia PA. He holds the BA from Duke University and the MD from Hahnemann University, completed his medical internship at the Cleveland Clinic and Emergency Medicine and his residency at Mt. Sinai Medical Center of Cleveland, where he was chief resident in Emergency Medicine. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Al Power
Dr Al Power, MD, is Eden Mentor at St. Sarah’s Home in Rochester, NY, and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester. He is a board certified internist and geriatrician, and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians / American Society for Internal Medicine. His new book, Dementia Beyond Drugs: Changing the Culture of Care was released in February 2010. He’s a Certified Eden Alternative® Educator and a member of the Eden Alternative’s board of directors. He’s a widely travelled lecturer, speaker and consultant on dementia and other elder care topics. He’s a weekly contributor to Eden Founder Dr. Bill Thomas’ Green House ChangingAging on Facebook. He’s been widely interviewed by media nationally and internationally. He’s also a trained musician and songwriter with three recordings, including Life Worth Living: A Celebration of Elders and Those Who Care for Them. His songs have been recorded by several artists and performed on three continents. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Michael Power
Michael Power is a Toronto-based lawyer who advises both public and private sector clients on privacy and information risk management issues. During the course of his 25 years in law, he has held various positions, including Vice-President, Privacy and Security, at an Ontario Crown agency; a partner with Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP; and a member of the federal Department of Justice advising on trade and technology-related issues. He writes and speaks extensively on privacy and information security issues. He is the author of the Access to Information and Privacy Title of Halsbury’s Laws of Canada and co-author of the American Bar Association best-seller Sailing in Dangerous Waters: A Director’s Guide to Data Governance. He is a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers Society and the Law Society of Upper Canada. He also serves as a member of the senior advisory board of the magazine, Security & Privacy, of the IEEE, the world's leading professional association for the advancement of technology. View Guest page
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Carlos Quiñonez
Dr Carlos Quiñonez is a dentist and researcher, and Director of the Specialty Training Program in Dental Public Health at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto. His research interests focus on the politics and economics of dentistry, mainly as they relate to equity in oral health and access to dental care. He has clinical experience in various areas, including mobile and long-term care settings. View Guest page
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Gabriel Radvansky
Dr Gabriel Radvansky is an author of the recent research report, “Walking through doorways----how forgetting works normally”. He’s Professor, in the Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, where he has been on the faculty since 1993. He received his PhD in 1992 from Michigan State University. He has over 50 publications in various scientific journals and books. He was an associate editor at the journal ‘Memory & Cognition’, and is currently an associate editor at the ‘Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology’. His research largely focuses on memory and comprehension, with an emphasis on event cognition and aging. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Susan Reinhard
Susan Reinhard is a Senior Vice President at AARP, directing its Public Policy Institute, the focal point for public policy research and analysis. She also serves as the Chief Strategist for the Center to Champion Nursing in America at AARP, a national resource and technical assistance center created to ensure that America has the nurses it needs. Before joining AARP, Dr. Reinhard served as a Professor and Co-Director of Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, where she directed several national initiatives to work with states to help people with disabilities of all ages live in their homes and communities. In previous work, she served three governors as Deputy Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, where she led the development of health policies and nationally recognized programs for family caregiving, consumer choice and control in health and supportive care, assisted living and other community-based care options. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Leann Reynolds
Leann Reynolds is President of Homewatch CareGivers. Appointed President in 2006, she’s doubled the organization in size. She guides its strategic direction, manages the leadership team, and fosters the overall company culture. Prior to becoming President, she owned and operated her own Homewatch CareGivers franchise in Portland, Oregon, which opened in the summer of 2003. Working in this business gave her a real understanding of and compassion for the day-to-day lives of Franchise Partners, fueling her passion for creating a support-focused franchising organization. Prior to 2003, she worked for several large technology companies such as Hewlett Packard and EDS. She holds the BS of Business in Administration from the University of Colorado. She enjoys her family time in a household of men with her husband, three sons and their dog Herman. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Robert Ridge
Robert Ridge is President and CEO Canadian MedicAlert Foundation, a position he’s held since April 2008. His mandate is to continue to provide Canadians with the highest quality independent personal health information system available in the country. Prior to President and CEO appointment he held the position of Vice-President, having joined MedicAlert in 2001 and having worked broadly within the organization. He has more than 20 years of senior management experience spanning the for-profit and non-for-profit sectors in Canada. His experience includes senior management positions in the heavy construction, entertainment and public art sectors. He graduated from the Schulich School of Business at York University with a Master of Business Administration degree, with honours. He’s completed executive management studies at the Harvard Business School and the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a Certified Management Accountant. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Bruce Ritchie
Bruce Ritchie is Moderator & CEO, FASLink Fetal Alcohol Disorders Society, and a single father of a son who was diagnosed with FAS as an infant. With early diagnosis and intensive intervention and despite great challenges, his son graduated from high school as an Ontario Scholar and is now studying online for his BA. In 1991, Bruce was a founding director of the Fetal Alcohol Support Network, a branch of which went online with FASlink, now serving more than 400,000 people annually. He received Toronto’s St Michael's Hospital’s Award for Pioneer Work in the Area of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. In 2007, He led the Great FASD Horseback Ride and Trek across Canada. He received Eagle Feathers from First Nations and the Métis Nation Honour Sash in recognition of his work. He is a new technologies entrepreneur, has established precedents in family law and is a published researcher, author, photographer, artist and musician. Visit him at www.faslink.org www.faslink.org and www.acbr.com View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Alexa Roggeveen
Dr Alexa Roggeveen has been the Lead Researcher at Canada’s Sheridan Elder Research Centre since 2009, where she has designed and coordinated research projects on topics ranging from dance to computer use, and their benefits for older adults. Prior to her work at the Sheridan Elder Research Centre, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship at McMaster University, specializing in visual perception in older adults. She earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at the University of British Columbia in 2007. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Craig Ross
Craig Ross is Associate, Wills, Estates and Trusts, with the law firm, Pallett Valo LLP, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. He received his Honours BA from the University of Toronto in 2002 and his LLB from Osgoode Hall in 2005. Called to the bar in 2006, he’s practised exclusively in Wills, Estates and Trusts. His practice includes complicated estate planning for business owners, U.S. citizens, international Wills, and disabled beneficiaries; use of trusts in various ways to achieve estate protection and income tax savings; and representing and advising attorneys and guardians for personal care. He’s a founding member and director of the Estate Planning Council of Mississauga and a director of Community Living Mississauga. He’s frequently invited to speak to community groups, businesses and professional associations on issues of estate planning and estate administration. He’s presented on these topics for the Ontario Bar Association and the Law Society of Upper Canada. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Sarah Rowan
Sarah Rowan holds the Bachelors and Masters degrees in elementary education. She is a sister, mother, grandmother and friend. She was born into nurturing. In war, strong women of her family stayed behind to manage the land, and love and support one another. Her mama cared for her uncle as a wounded veteran with lingering injuries. When she was 11 years old, her father was killed in a motor vehicle accident. Mama, her extended family and community provided the love when daddy was no longer there. Experienced in family caregiving from an early age, Sarah lived what she believed. “Living the belief” was the strength for her support for her physician husband as he slipped into Alzheimer’s disease. It was the strength for her as she survived her breast cancer. And it is there in the messages she brings to audiences world-wide, messages of hope and faith and beauty and dignity, messages as distinct and compelling -- and yet as gentle and personal as a whisper. Sarah is the Heart Whisperer. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Andrew Rubin
Andrew Rubin is a screenwriter, producer, director, and editor in documentaries and narratives. The film, Ride with Larry, is to be a part of a movement to empower the lives of those with Parkinson’s today while fighting for a cure for tomorrow. He’s produced and directed six films that have premiered in various film festivals. He graduated from New York University's Tisch Film School. He’s currently working with a team of Parkinson’s advocates to create a documentary that puts a day-to-day face on the fight against Parkinson’s. Along with all those working to create Ride with Larry, Andrew has been personally affected by Parkinson’s disease in the immediate family. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Renee Ruiter-Kohn
Dr. Renee Ruiter-Kohn’s holds a doctoral degree in philosophy, with a specialty in community rehabilitation and disability studies. Her areas of expertise are career development and vocational/planning and service delivery. She provides various services including individual case management, interpersonal counselling and vocational counselling, working with insurers and lawyers conducting file reviews, preparing future care plans and supplying expert opinions for their clients. She is the Past Chairperson, Education Committee, Ontario Rehabilitation/Work Council, was an Examiner for Ontario College of Certified Social Workers. She chaired the York-Seneca Rehabilitation Services Program Advisory Committee and was a trustee on the board of Bloorview MacMillan Centre. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Laura Rutherford
Laura Rutherford and her husband, Mark, are the founders of Kate’s Voice -- a non-profit that grants music therapy programs to special needs classrooms. She is the mother of three children. Her oldest child, Kate, has multiple developmental and physical disabilities and inspired Kate’s Voice. Laura has seen firsthand the unique power music has to reach children with special needs. It’s her dream and vision to bring this music to as many such children as possible. To find out more about Kate’s Voice, go to www.katesvoice.org She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from St. Lawrence University and a Master of Arts degree in writing from Northeastern University. Besides spending time with her family, She enjoys writing, reading, running, spinning, and yoga. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Mark Rutherford
Mark Rutherford is Senior Director, Marketing, for Philips Lifeline which is part of Philips Healthcare. He oversees marketing for the Medical Alert and Medication Adherence Services. He joined Philips Healthcare in 2005 as Vice President, Consumer Marketing, Philips Lifeline. He works with personal emergency response devices, and medication adherence through Philips’ medication dispensing service. He’s involved in research on successful aging in place programs. All this work involves him with seniors, caregivers and healthcare professionals. His objective is to help people improve or maintain their quality of life and remain independent for as long as possible. At home he plays the role of caregiver to his special needs daughter. This is partially what drew him to this opportunity with Philips, his desire to help all people remain independent. His previous experience includes marketing and advertising. He has a BSc in Psychology from St Lawrence University. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Fred C. Ryall
Fred C. Ryall, CHS, is with Bearing Capital Partners, where he specializes in estate planning for business owners, professionals, executives and more specifically families who have special needs children. He played professional football for the Toronto Argonauts 1973-1974. He began his career in the Life Insurance business with London Life in 1975. He has 35 years of membership of The Financial Advisors Association of Canada (Advocis), and is Past President and now a board member of Advocis Peel Halton. He’s a board member of the Community Foundation of Mississauga, a member of the Estate Planning Council of Mississauga and a member of the Century Initiative program. Over the last 18 years he’s raised $400,000 for Cystic Fibrosis in connection with which he is recipient of the Julia award. He’s a former Board member of Jakes House, an organization for Autistic children. In 2008, he completed the Boston Marathon. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Elyn R. Saks
Elyn R. Saks is Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law; Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine; and Faculty at the New Center for Psychoanalysis. She has a BA, MLitt, JD, PhD, and Honorary LLD. She’s published four books and more than 40 articles and book chapters about law and mental health. Her most recent book, The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness (Hyperion, 2007) describes her struggles with schizophrenia and her managing to craft a good life for herself in the face of a dire prognosis. It’s won numerous honors. She’s a 2009 recipient of a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship (the so-called “Genius Grant”). She used this to found the Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics at the University of California. She lives with her husband, Will Vinet, in Los Angeles, California. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Haley Samuelson
Haley Samuelson holds a bachelor’s degree in Health Services Administration with an emphasis in Gerontology from the University of South Dakota. Since 2008, she’s been Director of Home and Community-Based Services for the Good Samaritan Society at the National Campus in Sioux Falls, SD. She’s responsible for the development of delivery systems for care and services for home and community. These include Home Health, Non-Medical Home Care, Hospice care, Home care and Community-based Technologies. Her responsibilities include carrying out the Society’s strategic plan as it relates to the diversification of Home and Community-based services across the Society. After graduating, she entered the Good Samaritan Society’s Administrator-In-Training program and she served as a licensed Administrator in Nebraska from 2002-2008. As Administrator she provided leadership with various community-based and other services. Her experience includes active involvement with various Nebraska organizations. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Hastings Saunders
Hastings Saunders is an exceptionally bright 9 year old boy with epilepsy. When medication didn't help much his seizures, and the side effects took over his personality, his mother, Sandra Saunders, a special education teacher, looked for alternatives. In April 2010, through the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides, she found Manny. He’s a seizure response dog guide trained by Canada Dog Guides. Since then, says Sandra, Hastings’ seizures have drastically reduced. Because he’s so grateful to the Lions Foundation for this special gift he is doing everything he can to give back to the Foundation. He’s created a movie about his story, which is shared at service-club meetings. He’s also raised over $800 for the Purina Walk for Dog Guides in the hope that other people will be able to have the same opportunities to benefit from seizure response dog guides as he’s done. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Ralph James Savarese
Ralph James Savarese is the author of ‘Reasonable People: A Memoir of Autism and Adoption’, which Newsweek called "a real life love story and a passionate manifesto for the rights of people with neurological disabilities." His thirteen-year-old son, who types to communicate, wrote the final chapter. Once written off as profoundly retarded, DJ is now 18 and a straight "A" student in an advanced curriculum at the local high school. Savarese is also the co-editor with his wife, Emily, of a special issue of Disability Studies Quarterly entitled ‘Autism and the Concept of Neurodiversity’. In addition to featuring the work of researchers in a range of fields, it also highlights the work of some twenty self-advocates from all along the spectrum. He is currently working on a book entitled ‘A Dispute with Nouns: Autism Poetry and the Sensing Body’. He teaches American literature, creative writing and disability studies at Grinnell College in Iowa. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Nicole Scheidl
Nicole Scheidl completed her law degree at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University in 1988 and practiced law for a number of years. During those years she also coached Queens’ synchronized swimming team to championship. She completed her Masters in Law at Queen’s University (1999) and then taught Law, Philosophy and History at Hawthorn School for Girls in Toronto. She also served as Lower School Principal at Hawthorn. Moving to Florida in 2005, she developed her business development skills in the IT sector. She was Director of Business Development at Agile Communications and QuickBills. Upon returning to Canada in 2008, she took up the position of Director of Business Development at Prolity Corporation. Leaving her position in high tech, she found herself at a crossroads and being inspired by Dr. Paul Nussbaum’s book, Save Your Brain, in June 2010 she founded Fit Minds Cognitive Health Products Inc. with Paul de Grandpré. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Donna Schempp
Donna Schempp is the program director at Family Caregiver Alliance. It’s a non-profit organization that helps family caregivers to get respite, and support for their caregiving roles. It serves people with chronic illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease, MS, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke, as well as caregivers of frail elders. Prior to joining it, she worked with Kaiser to increase use of community organizations by Kaiser patients. She was also senior case manager at Jewish Family and Children’s Services of the East Bay. She has experience as a medical social worker in hospice and home care and is involved in San Franciso’s End of Life Network. She is past president of the Board of Directors of Planning for Elders in the Center City in San Francisco and past chair of the ethics committee at Center for Elder Independence in Oakland. Her first career was working with children and families, so she has experience working with clients across the life span. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
John Schram
John Schram joined the Board of Directors for We Care Health Services in March 1996 and subsequently assumed the role of President and CEO of in 1999. He has managed a 20-fold growth in the We Care business since 1999 and has served on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Home Care Association since 2001. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Home Care Association in April 2007, and subsequently elected President-elect in November 2010. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Joyce Scott
Joyce Scott is the winner of 2010 national Family Caregiver of the Year Award. She lives in Marysville, Wash., is retired and cares primarily for her husband David. She’s 66 and he’s 68. She suffers from Type-II Diabetes and recently overcame lung cancer. He also suffers from Diabetes. She also cares for her homeless brother Russell, 52. Because of the exceptional care that Joyce provides David and Russell, she was awarded the 2010 Family Caregiver of the Year by Homewatch CareGivers. Her story has been widely featured. She says that she keeps busy and stays positive by participating in her Happy Hatters Club, which she helped create with the women in her neighborhood. The women meet each week and wear funny hats at social events they organize, put on skits and just basically have fun. She credits the group and her family with keeping her spirits up during difficult times. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Tracy Shepherd
Tracy Shepherd is President of the Canadian Chapter of the International Society of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC), which aims to make people aware of the potential that augmentative communication has to change the lives of individuals around the world who are unable to speak. She is also a member of the organizational committee for the Breaking the ICE conference, a national consumer-focused conference for people who use AAC. She’s a speech language pathologist who has practiced clinically in augmentative and alternative communication since 1991. She is a clinician at the Thames Valley Children’s Centre in London, Ontario. She’s also an Education Coordinator at the Centralized Equipment Pool operated by Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto. She co-developed an extensive educational program to train clinicians in Ontario working in the area of AAC. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Dave Siever
Dave Siever graduated in 1978 as an engineering technologist. He later worked in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Alberta designing diagnostic equipment temporomandibular joint dysfunction. He organized research projects, taught basic physiology and an advanced diagnostics course. He noticed anxiety issues in many patients suffering with temporomandibular joint dysfunction, which prompted him to study biofeedback. In 1984, he designed the Digital Audio-visual Integration Device. Since then, through his company, Mind Alive Inc., he’s researched and refined audio-visual technology specifically for use in relaxation, and treating anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorder, cognitive decline, insomnia and seasonal affective disorder, among other conditions. He also designs cranio-electro-stimulation and biofeedback devices. His products and services are listed at http://www.mindalive.ca/ View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Lynda Simmons
Lynda Simmons is a writer by day, college instructor by night and a late sleeper on weekends. She grew up in Toronto, Canada, reading Greek mythology, bringing home stray cats and making up stories about bodies in the basement. From an early age, her family knew she would either end up as a writer or the old lady with a hundred cats. As luck would have it, she married a man with allergies so writing it was. With two daughters to raise, she and her husband moved into a lovely two-storey mortgage in Burlington, a small city on the water just outside Toronto. While the girls are grown and gone, Lynda and her husband are still there. And yes, there is a cat – a beautiful, if spoiled, Birman. When she’s not writing or teaching, Lynda gives serious thought to using the treadmill in her basement. Fortunately, she’s found that if she waits long enough, something urgent will pop up and save her - like a phone call or an e-mail or a whistling kettle. View Guest page
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Debbie Sirota
Debbie Sirota is a single parent of four daughters. Her daughter Tamara, age 24, lives with schizophrenia. Tamara was diagnosed while in the Remand Centre, following a Protection Order advised by her then psychiatrist who diagnosed Tamara’s psychotic state as "bad personality". She’s experienced Tamara’s almost dying by walking away in 50 below weather without shoes. She’s Tamara's Substitute Decision Maker under the Vulnerable Persons Act for her health and financial affairs. She’s navigated many systems such as Justice, Forensics, Mental Health and Supported Living. She’s studying at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Social Work and she works full-time as a nursing assistant in major hospital’s ER. She sits on the Winnipeg Regional Community Mental Health Advisory Council, Continuity Care Advisory Council, and she’s a volunteer at The Schizophrenia Society and Shilom Mission. She says that she has learned advocacy from the best, and this has changed forever who she is. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Andrea Slane
Dr. Andrea Slane is an Associate Professor in the Legal Studies Program at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Ontario. Her research focuses on law’s engagement with digital technology, including how technologies affect our sense of, and ability to protect, privacy and other rights and associated harms. She has published on a range of Internet-related legal issues, including how Canadian privacy law deals with photographs of a person’s body (whether sexual or not), and what legal principles are or are not engaged where the law allows private businesses to voluntarily share customer and employee information with law enforcement. Dr. Slane holds a PhD in Comparative Literature and a JD in Law, and combines these fields by considering both the doctrinal content of law and how we imagine law to operate. Dr. Slane is also admitted to the bar in Ontario. http://is.gd/1V52gZ View Guest page
Episode Listing:
John Sloan, M.D.
Dr John Sloan designed his innovative family-doctor practice to keep his frail elderly patients out of the hospital. He visits them at home, and collaborates with home care nurses, mental health teams, and others in the community. The practice he founded has now been adopted by the Vancouver Hospital geriatric unit and is expanding. As well as his medical qualifications he holds a degree in English and Philosophy, and a graduate degree in Biology. He works as a senior academic physician in the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia, and has spent most of his 30 years' practice caring for the frail elderly in Vancouver. He is the author of “A Bitter Pill: How the Medical System is Failing the Elderly", published in 2009 by Greystone Books. Also the author of a textbook on geriatrics, he has lectured throughout Canada and in Europe and the United States, and is sought-after as an inspirational speaker on the care of the elderly. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Colleen Smailes
Colleen Smailes Colleen first became aware of Lou Gehrig’s disease when her husband Clayton was diagnosed in 2003 at the age of 31. He died in the summer of 2009. Her project for 2010 is becoming a coordinator for a Walk, a first for Kamloops, BC, her hometown, to raise awareness of the disease and funds for research to determine its cause and to find its cure. She lives on a small hobby farm with her two sons Nolan (7) and Justin (6). Currently an Elementary Teacher, she holds the Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Geography, minor in English and the Bachelor of Education, with a concentration in Early Primary Literacy. In addition to teaching, she coaches volleyball and basketball at the elementary level. She and her sons are active in sports outside of school, including soccer, hockey, swimming and skiing. She believes that from friendship, rearing of live stock and cultivation of the soil is learned the value of responsibility that is essential in life. View Guest page
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Noralyn Smiley
Noralyn Smiley is a senior who is family caregiver for her mother. Noralyn was born in Santa Ana California. She lived for two years in Maryland, Inglewood for nine years, Long Beach for one year, and moved to Vancouver in 1973. In 1958 she graduated, with honors, from the University of California at Berkeley. Her subject was Sociology. In 1993, she earned the Masters in Education from the University of British Columbia, her subject was special education. She’s taught pre-school, elementary school, and completed 25 years working with children who have learning disabilities. Her experience includes studying at the Cuernavaca Language School in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and working with the church her husband was pastoring through the issues of the 60’s – racism, justice for farm workers, civil rights, women’s issues, and the Viet Nam war. Her father died in 1994. Her mother moved to Canada in 2001. View Guest page
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Betty Smith
Betty Smith’s been married to Larry, the star of the movie, for thirty-seven years. She’s family caregiver for Larry. She’s an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of South Dakota and Associate Director of the Farber Center for Civic Leadership. She holds a doctorate in Political Science from the University of Connecticut, and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of New Haven. She’s served as the chief administrative officer for a city in Connecticut, as District Director for former Congressman Bruce A. Morrison, and as Democratic Committee Chair for the Town of Durham, CT. She’s served as Chair of the Clay County Historic Preservation Commission, founder of Leadership Vermillion and as a strategic planning facilitator for many local communities and governments. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Bob Smith
Bob Smith retired from the Mississauga, Ontario, Canada fire department in 1996. After several months of retirement, he decided to re-enter the work force. It gave his wife some space, he says, which is necessary after retirement. For about 10 years, he worked as a driver for the Toronto Auto Auction in Milton, Ontario. His wife Joan and he were childhood sweethearts who married in 1956. They are the proud parents of three lovely daughters and seven terrific grandchildren. In about 2004, Joan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. As time progressed she became less and less able to care for herself. For the last two years, he’s been her full-time family caregiver. View Guest page
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Donald Smith
Donald Smith is a native of Prince Edward Island, now a resident of Toronto. He is an inventor, artist and passionate animal lover and country music fan. Born with cerebral palsy and unable to speak in the conventional way, Don has used many means of communication over the years. As a child, his communication was mostly by non-verbal vocalizations, facial expressions and gestures. Later he learned Bliss Symbolics as well as some spelling and word recognition. Now he uses a computerized voice communicator. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
William (Bill) Smith
William (Bill) Smith serves as Managing Director of NSI’s Healthcare practice group. Most recently, he served as Vice President of U.S. Public Affairs and Policy for the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, Pfizer Inc., where he led the policy, government relations, alliance development, medical advocacy and public affairs team to support the company’s $23 billion U.S. commercial business. Before working for Pfizer, he held various positions throughout government, including Assistant Chief of Staff for two Massachusetts governors. At the federal level, he served as Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Public Affairs for the Office of National Drug Control Policy where he was closely involved in developing the President’s National Drug Control Strategy and communications plan. He also served as a leadership and committee staffer for Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives. View Guest page
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Janet Smylie
Dr. Janet Smylie is a family physician, public health researcher and research scientist. She leads an Aboriginal Research program at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health, at St. Michael’s hospital, in partnership with eighteen First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities and organizations. She’s an Associate Professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Her research addresses the health inequities that challenge Indigenous infants, children and their families. For her research she’s received a New Investigator award in Knowledge Translation. She’s practiced and taught family medicine in various urban and rural Aboriginal communities. She’s in part-time clinical practice at Seventh Generation Midwives, Toronto. She’s a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario, with Métis roots in Saskatchewan. View Guest page
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Barbara Snelgrove
Barbara Snelgrove is Director of Education and Support Services with Parkinson Society Canada. She collaborates with her education colleagues across Canada to develop resources and programs for people living with Parkinson disease, and their families. Her current projects include new resources for other Parkinson conditions, developing position statements on various topics such as pesticides, stem cells, and access to medications, creating a Canadian template for the successful UK “Get it on Time Program”, and managing Canada’s National Information and Referral Centre. She sits on Canada’s National Advocacy Committee and represents the Society on working groups such as Canada’s Coalition for Genetic Fairness and the Canadian Institute for Health Research’s Genetics Working Group. She’s a frequent guest speaker at conferences about caregiver support and dementia. She has extensively researched clinical topics and written about these in publications intended for public information. View Guest page
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Judith Snow
Judith Snow, MA, is a social innovator and an advocate for inclusion communities that welcome the participation of a wide diversity of people. She’s a visual artist and Founding Director of Laser Eagles Art Guild, an organization making creative activity available through personal assistance to artists with diverse ability: www.lasereagles.com. She has a background of 25 years of research design and implementation, most notably working with the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability. There she provided the design for a post-intervention instrument, trained interviewers to perform in inclusive community environments, and participated in analysis and report writing with the National Home of Your Own Alliance, a 23 state technical assistance program funded through the Administration for Developmental Disabilities. She does this work out of a background of being labeled disabled herself. View Guest page
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Marilyn Spencer
Marilyn Spencer graduated with an MBA in marketing in 1974. After working for fortune 500 companies, she started her own corporate communications firm, The Concept Werks, specializing in change management and employee communications. She considers herself to be an accidental caregiver. After her successful career in marketing and corporate communications, she, a childless only child, found herself the caregiver for her mother who is enduring the ravages of Alzheimer’s. With no experience in looking after anyone or anything dependent, without ever having to be involved in accessing community support services, of any kind, she was thrown into the caregiver’s world. Eleven years after realizing that something was not quite right with mother, the challenge continues. Her recent task was to find a dentist experienced with 91 year old Alzheimer’s sufferers. While she has never managed to manage the problem, the journey has been signposted with great people and some poignant experiences. View Guest page
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Ramesh Srinivasan
Ramesh Srinivasan is Sr. Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for the MedicAlert Foundation, which he joined in 2002. With his more than 20 years of strategic marketing and business development experience, he evangelizes MedicAlert’s emergency-oriented services. He led MedicAlert's initiative to enhance safety services for clinical trials. With the Alzheimer’s Association, he launched the ‘MedicAlert + Safe Return’, a 24-hour nationwide emergency service Alzheimer’s or dementia patients who wander or have a medical emergency. He’s delivered presentations at high-profile national conferences including the National Managed Healthcare Congress, Center for Aging Services and Technology, Department of Commerce, Department of Health and Human Services, and at Annual White House Conferences. He contributed to the guidance document for the protection of at-risk populations during an influenza pandemic sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. View Guest page
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Carol Stanley
Carol Stanley was born in England on July 7, 1944. At the age of 16 she took up work in shorthand and typing at the Bank of America, in London, England. At 18 she left home and travelled on a student work visa to Germany where she spent the next year in work that included housekeeper in a small village. During this time she learned German. Then she immigrated to Canada. She travelled steerage on the Empress of Canada where she met her future husband. They married in Cleveland, Ohio. She holds dual Canadian/American citizenship. Both their children are American citizens. In 1991 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had surgery and radiation therapy. Then she sent herself to college, where she graduated with a diploma in Recreation and Leisure. Her new career took her into health care, working mainly in geriatrics. She is now family caregiver for her 92-year-old father. During WW II he was a sergeant in the air force while her mother worked in factories to help the war effort. View Guest page
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Malcolm Stanley
Malcolm Stanley is a past member of the executive of the Ontario Autism Coalition, which he joined after his oldest daughter, Megan, was diagnosed with autism, in 2006. In 2008, he moved with his family to Pennsylvania, where he now lives and works.He can be contacted via twitter / skype: amstanley, and his blog is at http://soaringhorse.blogspot.com, or by email: a.malcolm.stanley@gmail.com View Guest page
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Ann Stewart
Ann Stewart is a social worker with a Bachelor of Science degree from Montana State University. After practicing in social work with the state of Montana, she moved to Alberta. For the past twenty years, she’s been executive director/client services serving the stakeholders of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Lethbridge & District Chapter. She’s developed programming according to members’ needs and requests. The programs include support groups for persons and young adults with multiple sclerosis, and in connection with chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency. The programs include support for caregivers, friendly visiting to persons with multiple sclerosis in long-term care, and active living for persons with disabilities. She’s currently developing a program for teens with multiple sclerosis. Since joining the Multiple Sclerosis Society, multiple sclerosis has entered her personal life, touching members of her extended family. View Guest page
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Krishna Stone
Krishna Stone is Assistant Director of Community Relations in the Communications Department at Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), based in New York. In 2003, she joined the Communications Department. Her responsibilities include managing media inquiries, coordinating site visits to GMHC, and organizing community events. She has extensive experience working with community-based organizations, faith communities, schools, hospitals and corporations. She’s an ordained minister of a non-denominational/non-traditional faith community, Sanctuary of the Beloved. She works in creating dialogue among faith communities, GMHC and other AIDS service organizations about the critical issues of the epidemic, including race, gender and sexual identities, substance use, religions and spiritualities. For the past 10 years, she’s been the volunteer announcer at the end of Heritage of Pride’s annual LGBT Pride March. She’s the proud mother of a righteous and beautiful 15-year-old daughter named Parade. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
JC Sulzenko
JC Sulzenko, ”JC”, known for her work with young or emerging writers, received the Ottawa Public Library’s Order of Friendship in 2010 for outstanding volunteer service as a judge in the annual Awesome Author's contest and as co-editor of the anthologies of winning entries. Her one-act play for children, "What my grandma means to say", pictures Alzheimer’s disease. It’s used by The Alzheimer Society of Ottawa, among others, in outreach programs for young people. The storybook adapted from the play launched at the Ottawa International Writers Festival. It’s available from General Store Publishing House (www.gsph.com). Her poetry and prose have been heard and published in national and local media and on-line. Various chapbooks and anthologies carry her poems. Her books for children, featured at the Ottawa International Writers Festival and at Kid Lit Galas, "Fat poems Tall poems Long poems Small" and "Boot Crazy." More on JC's work: www.jcsulzenko.com. Photo credit: Lois Siegel. View Guest page
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Chris Summerville
Chris Summerville is one of the eleven non-government directors of the Mental Health Commission of Canada appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. As a family member and a recipient of psychiatric services, Chris has been the executive director of the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society since 1995 and currently is also the CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada. As a provincial and national leader and advocate he serves on numerous boards and committees including The Mood Disorders Society of Canada, The National Network on Mental Health, the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health, and several ethics committees. With an earned doctorate, he is certified with the International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services as a Certified Psychosocial Rehabilitation Practitioner (CPRP) and as an ASIST Suicide Intervention Trainer with Living Works. He lives in Steinbach, Manitoba. He sees mental illness as not only a health issue, but also a social justice issue. View Guest page
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Christine Taylor
Christine Taylor has dedicated her education and career to bettering the lives of seniors. She’s the founder and President of Nursing Home Ratings Inc., a company which runs a national website (http://www.nursinghomeratings.ca/) that offers educational advice, information, links, blogs, and ratings that inform and educate the public. Because family members know the nursing homes best, all the website ratings and reviews are from them. With the ratings process, she assists family members looking to place their loved one in a nursing home. She’s also the founder of Aging Solutions Inc., a company which helps caregivers in many areas of eldercare. To help seniors to stay in their own homes as long as possible, she provides home safety inspections for seniors. For seniors outside the Greater Toronto Area, she provides telephone consultations which include consultations for family caregivers caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease. View Guest page
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Linda Teri
Dr. Linda Teri is a Member of the Medical & Scientific Advisory Council of the Alzheimer’s Association. She’s Professor of Psychosocial & Community Health at the University of Washington. She holds the PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Vermont in Burlington. She won the Alzheimer’s Association Pioneer Award for her work in psychosocial treatments to reduce behavioral problems in persons with dementia. She received the Gerontological Society of America’s most prestigious Lawton Award for a significant contribution in gerontology that led to innovation in gerontological treatment. She was a key researcher in several studies sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Alzheimer’s Association, among others. She founded the University of Washington’s School of Nursing’s deTornyay Center for Healthy Aging and served for five years as the Center’s Director. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Gerontological Society of America. View Guest page
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Craig Thompson
Craig Thompson is a freelance digital media producer specializing in the development of online support tools for the healthcare sector. He is also caregiver to a sibling diagnosed with lymphoma and support coordinator for a friend diagnosed with breast cancer. As part of his professional work, he is the executive producer of SharingStrength.ca, a Canadian online resource and support community for women and caregivers affected by breast cancer. He has 25 years’ experience in marketing, communications and information technology. As a professional engineer and certified mediator, he brings a unique perspective to the field of online support that uses technology as a virtual bridge to establish relationships and create experiences between people. He is Board Vice-chair at Progress Place Community Centre responsible for resource development and community outreach. Progress Place is a recovery centre and clubhouse in downtown Toronto for people with serious and persistent mental illness. View Guest page
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Dan Thompson
Dan Thompson is a Registered Rehabilitation Professional, Registered Vocational Professional, and Certified Life Care Planner. In 1980 he was involved a serious car accident from which he acquired quadriplegia. His life was changed forever: he was permanently disabled. His high school classmate with muscular dystrophy inspired him to understand his injury. But understanding didn’t mean becoming a victim. After discharge from hospital he founded the London & District Sports Association. He played wheelchair rugby and eventually he coached the Ontario Wheelchair Rugby Team to win the Canadian Championship. Through a series of responsible jobs in government and business, he learned to be a manager and a business executive. Twelve years ago he started what is now a prosperous and successful international practice as a Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant helping people with burns, amputations, brain injuries, orthopedic injuries, spinal cord injuries and congenital disabilities. View Guest page
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Susan Thouin
Dr. Susan Thouin completed her undergraduate degree in biochemistry at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and then graduated, as a physician, with honours from the University of Toronto medical school. She also completed her residency in family medicine at the University of Toronto and received a fellowship in emergency medicine. She is currently working as an emergency medicine physician in the greater Toronto area and enjoys teaching medical students and residents at the University of Toronto. She’s an owner of MD Care Connect. View Guest page
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Glyn Townson
Glyn Townson is Chair, BC Persons With AIDS Society. He’s been a member of the Society since 1987. He’s served on the Board of Directors since 2003. Before being elected Chair, he served three previous terms on the Executive Committee as Vice Chair. He is a regular writer and contributor to the Society’s bi-monthly magazine, Living +. His involvement in the HIV/AIDS movement extends far beyond the Society: he is an active participant in several community working groups and committees throughout Canada. He has been living with HIV since the early 1980s and continues to be a strong community activist for a variety of issues facing those living with HIV and other disabilities. View Guest page
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David A. Travland
David A. Travland holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Iowa with a clinical internship at Yale University. He served as Assistant Professor of Psychology at Wake Forest University in the late 1960s. He operated his private clinical practice in North Carolina for thirty years in addition to serving as an organizational development management consultant for dozens of companies throughout the nation. Much of his consulting took the form of sales training, management training and personnel selection using personality tests. He’s a former caregiver and Executive Director of the Caregiver Survival Institute, Inc., a non-profit social services agency. He is co-author, along with his wife Rhonda, of the award-winning book, ‘THE TOUGH & TENDER CAREGIVER, A Handbook for the Well Spouse’, as well as numerous caregiver articles in national magazines. He will be a psychology instructor at the University of Phoenix this spring. View Guest page
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Felicia Valo
Felicia Valo is a member of the Board of Directors of the ALS Society of Canada. She also chairs the Advocacy Committee of ALS Canada. Her late husband, Sidney Valo, battled ALS for 3 1/2 years before succumbing to the disease in December 2008. She hopes to continue her husband's legacy of building public awareness of ALS and its impact on families living with ALS. She is also passionate about sharing their harrowing journey living with ALS and her experience as a caregiver for her husband. View Guest page
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Nicky VanValkenburgh
Nicky VanValkenburgh is the author of ‘Train Your Brain, Transform Your Life: Conquer Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in 60 Days, Without Ritalin.’ It was selected as “Best Self Improvement Book of 2011” by the Mom’s Choice Awards in Chesapeake, Virginia. It also was a finalist in the Reader’s Favorite Awards and USA Today Book Awards. She is a motivational writer with 20 years’ experience writing for newspapers and magazines. She has a Master's degree in Journalism from Regent University, and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Eastern University. She is also a contributing writer for Upstate Parent, Low Country Parent and Palmetto Parent magazines, which are published in South Carolina, with a circulation of a quarter million people. She is also the Director of http://www.TrainYourBrainTransformYourLife.com/ which spotlights her book and 60-day brain training program for ADHD. View Guest page
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Micheal Vonn
Micheal Vonn is a lawyer and the Policy Director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, www.bccla.org. She has been an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia in the Faculty of Law and the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, where she teaches civil liberties and information ethics. She is also a regular guest instructor for UBC’s College of Health Disciplines Interdisciplinary Elective in HIV/AIDS care and is a 2010 AccolAID winner for outstanding contribution to the BC AIDS movement. She is founding member of the BC Health Privacy Coalition and a frequent speaker on medical privacy issues and electronic health records. View Guest page
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Mark Wandersee
Mark Wandersee co-hosts “Healing Journeys” a weekly internet radio show with Jaentra Green Gardener on www.SQR.FM. In 2000, they founded the non-profit Healing Hands Network to support healing coaches and provide healing touch to people in need. He’s a family caregiver, trained educator, public speaker, and healing coach. His involvement in Caregiver issues and Long-Term Care includes advocacy, direct care, family and resident council facilitation, legislative activities, stakeholder groups, staff in-services, client coaching, and training industry professionals and state health department surveyors. He’s a Certified Eden Alternative Associate. He’s the past Executive Director and board member of the Minnesota-based ElderCare Rights Alliance, a non-profit advocacy and rights organization. He’s authored numerous publications relating to care and protection of elders. He’s worked closely with senior management in the public sector, privately-held companies, and Fortune 100 corporations. View Guest page
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Catherine Ward-Griffin
Catherine Ward-Griffin, RN, PhD, is a Professor and Chair of Graduate Programs (Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, University of Western Ontario), and as a Scientist (Lawson Health Research Institute) in London, Ontario. Working in the areas of caregiving, health promotion, gender and social policy, her research focuses on relationships between formal and informal systems of care and relationships among health care providers, older adults and their families in home care and long-term care settings. Using a critical theoretical lens, she is particularly interested in the blurring of boundaries between paid and unpaid care work. She is currently studying the experiences and health effects of double-duty caregiving—those women and men who provide care at work and at home to older relatives. She’s received peer-reviewed funding from various national funding agencies. Findings of her research have been widely published in gerontology and nursing research journals. View Guest page
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Tom Warren
Tom Warren is a former member of the Peel Regional Police Service where he served in the Intelligence Bureau before his election to the Police Association. He comes from a long line of police personnel within his family, which includes his grandfather, father, mother, and two older brothers. He is an IT Network and Internet security specialist, as well as a data recovery and computer forensic investigator. He’s trained and assisted all levels of law enforcement in dealing with online crime. He was a pioneer in the development of information security best practices He’s currently a professor of information security at Conestoga College in Kitchener Ontario Canada. In 1997, he founded the company, Net-Patrol, which is dedicated to information security and data forensics. It’s internationally networked from Canada, the US, Australia, and Europe. View Guest page
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Mickey Wener
Mickey Wener is a registered dental hygienist and holds the Masters degree in Education. She’s an educator at the University of Manitoba’s School of Dental Hygiene and Faculty of Dentistry. She’s the holder of a prestigious research grant. She’s received numerous awards for her teaching and health promotion work. She’s focused on reaching out to under-served populations through community-based programs. She’s spearheaded legislative change in Manitoba to increase the potential for public access to dental hygiene care. Recently, family caregiving entered her personal life. She supports her aging parents who live far away with her sister. View Guest page
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Rochelle Wilner
Rochelle Wilner has held many positions with B’nai B’rith Canada, for which she served as National President for three years. She’s long been interested in issues affecting the community, such as education. She’s been active in programs for combating anti-Semitism, along with all forms of discrimination and hate. She’s worked with many multicultural, ethnic and community groups to encourage and promote mutual understanding, co-operation and partnership. She’s served on many anti-hate and Human Rights advisory committees. She’s a highly sought-after speaker. She’s the recipient of various awards for her efforts on behalf of the Jewish community and Canadian social justice. Her awards include the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal. She’s a certified teacher in the province of Ontario with additional qualifications in special education. In 2008, she was a candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the federal election. View Guest page
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Sara Winter
Sara Winter has a twelve year-old nephew on the autism spectrum. She’s been his aide at school for a decade. She’s the mom of two boys, one with ADHD, anxiety and celiac disease. She’s passionate about creating social, recreational and creative opportunities for underestimated kids. She’s been trained in key therapies. She created squag.com, a website that encourages mindfulness, self-reflection and original thinking for kids of 8+ with autism. Her parent/child communication system SquagpadTM is now being tested. She writes for The Huffington Post Canada, Autism Speaks Canada, Friendship Circle International, The Autism File Global, and Autism Aspergers Digest. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Stuart Wittenstein
Dr Stuart Wittenstein is an experienced teacher and administrator in programs for children who are blind or visually impaired. He’s in his 15th year as superintendent of the California School for the Blind. He’s president of the Council of Schools for the Blind, a national organization of superintendents of special schools for blind learners. He’s co-editor of the textbook “Collaborative Assessment: Working with Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired”. He’s the chair of the Editorial Advisory Committee of the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness. A strong advocate for Braille literacy, he’s taught Braille at Hunter College and Teachers College, Columbia University. He’s a major writer about specialized services for visual impairments. He’s a past president of the Division on Visual Impairments of the Council for Exceptional Children. In 1994 he received the division’s Outstanding Dissertation of the Year award. In 2006 he received the division’s Distinguished Service Award. View Guest page
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Rhonda Workman
Rhonda Workman is Head Trainer for Hearing Ear Dogs and Special Skills Dogs of Canada, Lions Foundation of Canada. She graduated from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Science Degree. She’s always loved animals and so, after graduation, she worked at the Guelph Humane Society. After that, she started at Lions Foundation Dog Guides. There she began in the Puppy Program, whelping and caring for puppies until they were old enough to be placed with foster families. She also guided the foster families with their puppies. Her next step was to become an Apprentice Hearing Ear Dog trainer, and she also worked with Special Skills dogs. Then she became Head Trainer of the Hearing Ear Dogs and Special Skills Dogs training programs. She lives happily with her wonderful daughter, cat and the best dog ever, her Australian Cattle Dog. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
John Wunderlich
John Wunderlich is an independent information and privacy consultant in Toronto. His background in privacy includes protecting employee data for a Canadian payroll and HR outsourcer, protecting patient data for an Ontario health agency, and being a senior policy advisor to the Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. John's current clients' concerns involve health records in a variety of contexts. John serves as a privacy member of the Ontario Cancer Research Ethics Board, and continues to write, speak, and teach on privacy related issues for public and private sector audiences across Canada. He describes himself as a middle-aged guy with chronic health issues, including Type II diabetes, who’s active in a political party. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Melanie York
Melanie York Diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease in September 2008, Melanie left her position as Executive Producer at YTV in February 2009. She no longer has the use of her arms and has a full-time caregiver to help her with daily activities. She is working to increase awareness of the disease. She holds the ECE degree from Ryerson University in Toronto. She began her career as an educator working with pre-school children. She then taught English as a Second Language in the community college system for six years. She transferred her child-care skills to the television world when she began her second career producing award-winning Public Service Announcements on bullying. Her strong research background was called upon when she worked on animated stories for Street Kids International. This work of hers was translated into numerous languages and globally distributed. She also developed programs for UNICEF and then moved to YTV where she worked as a producer for 12 years. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Paul Zook
Paul Zook was born in and has lived in Lethbridge, Alberta, all his life. Since 1978, he’s been a Power Electrician for the City of Lethbridge. In the same year he married Kim. They have daughters Nicole and Kaeley. In 1989 Kim was diagnosed with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. She’s now confined to a wheelchair, has no use of her left arm and only limited use of her right arm. He’s been her full-time caregiver throughout. Her care has been a challenge but, he stresses, her fantastic attitude since the day she was diagnosed has made it all so much easier. Our biggest obstacle, he says, has always been the costs associated with being disabled. He notes that, over the 20 years, so very little in the way of treatment has been offered to her. Chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency treatment is the first thing that seemed to offer some hope. She wanted to try it and, as her caregiver and husband, he says, he felt he must try to give her that chance. And that’s what they did. View Guest page
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Family Caregivers Helping Family Caregivers via Social Media
July 20, 2010
Hosted by Dr. Gordon Atherley
[Download MP3] [itunes] [Bookmark Episode]
Kathy Kastner and Nancy Coldham are experts prominent in media and strongly interested in social media. They share their knowledge and experience with family caregivers who’ve travelled the hard road of family caregiving and then turn around to offer a helping hand to family caregivers just starting their journey down the family caregiving road. They give us their impressions of family caregivers and family caregiving. They explain how social media works, and how family caregivers can use it to tell their stories. They offer advice to family caregivers who want to help other family caregivers, via social media. They explain the challenges for family caregivers who want to use social media and suggest the ways to overcome these. They tell us what success is in the use of social media, and how family caregivers can recognize success and benefit from it. They recommend things they want done by governments and healthcare systems to support family caregivers helping family caregivers.
Family Caregivers Unite!
Tuesday at 10 AM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Variety Channel
Family caregivers are the people who provide care to partners, parents, children, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, neighbors and even co-workers. They are the people who provide care when everyone else has gone home.
Dr. Gordon Atherley
In January 2010, Dr. Gordon Atherley started Family Caregivers Unite! with VoiceAmerica. With his background as a practicing physician, he knew that, for children and elderly adults with incurable health conditions, family caregiving is essential. With his background in medical research, he knew that medical care is insufficient for incurable health conditions, necessary though it is. With his background as an elected politician, he knew that incurable health conditions are challenging healthcare systems. With his background as an advocate for people struggling with incurable health conditions, he knew that family caregivers aren’t sufficiently recognized, respected and supported. But what he didn’t then understand were their needs. As host of Family Caregivers Unite!, he listened to them and their family members telling their stories of care, compassion and courage. Their stories taught him to understand their needs. Their needs to feel that they are not alone. Their needs to communicate with other family caregivers in circumstances such as theirs. Their needs to hear from family caregivers who, having travelled the road of family caregiving, are holding out a helping hand to those just starting out. Their needs to hear from family caregivers and others who have messages of hope. Their needs for trustworthy information. By explaining their needs, they taught him that Family Caregivers Unite! is social media that uses things like social networks to enable family caregivers speak for themselves. Retired from medical practice, he holds the British equivalents of the North American PhD and MD degrees, and LLD, Honoris Causa, from Canada’s Simon Fraser University.
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