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Episode Directory
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- 1/31/2012: Understanding our FASD Kids Listen Now
- 1/24/2012: Caring in Privacy Listen Now
- 1/17/2012: What my Grandma means to say Listen Now
- 1/10/2012: Helping family caregivers when there’s mental Illness in the family Listen Now
- 1/3/2012: Before and After Seniors’ Falls: What Family Caregivers Should Know Listen Now
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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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Bill Adair
Bill Adair has been Chief Executive Officer of the Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, http://www.sciontario.org/, since 1993. He offers a depth of provincial and national experience in the spinal cord rehabilitation field. As a former Ontario government employee, national task force leader and Director of the National Patient Services Program with the Canadian Cancer Society, he brings nearly three decades of expertise in non-profit management and strategic leadership. Prior to joining SCI Ontario, he was Director of the National Patient Services Program with the Canadian Cancer Society for 13 years. His extensive involvement in providing services to people with disabilities includes serving as the Director of the International Year for Disabled Persons, the Executive Director of a national task force which designed a system to coordinate cancer control efforts throughout Canada, and the Founding Executive Director of Wellspring. View Guest page
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Danish Ahmed
Danish Ahmed, www.ordinarywords.com born a blind Pakistani albino to immigrant parents on welfare, has beaten all the odds. He has been involved in countless model parliaments and special programs like Forum for Young Canadians, Presidential Classroom, the Future World Leaders Summit, and the Inauguration of then U.S. President, Bill Clinton. He’s founded a dot-com, written a best-selling book, is a keynote speaker, and is a respected icon in the personal development industry. He has several family members with disabilities, and his family has already been noted in the press as causing certain laws to change for people with disabilities. He is a social media expert, and his “Love Movie”, http://ontarioelections2011.blogspot.ca/2011/09/my-political-not-so-politically-correct.html, has been viewed by over a million people. 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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Dr. Nicole Anderson
Dr. Nicole Anderson, http://research.baycrest.org/nanderson, is a Senior Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest, and an Associate Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis; her Master's and PhD, from the University of Toronto. She’s a registered clinical psychologist practicing in neuropsychology. She researches memory and attention interventions for healthy older adults, older adults with mild cognitive impairment, and adults with acquired brain injuries. A Principal Investigator funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, she’s published many research papers and book chapters in international journals on aging, cognition and neuropsychology. In 2012, she and Drs. Kelly Murphy and Angela Troyer published ‘Living with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Guide to Maximizing Brain Health and Reducing Risk of Dementia’, www.baycrest.org/livingwithmci. 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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Craig Asano
Craig Asano is the Founder and Executive Director of the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada, http://www.ncfacanada.org/, a newly formed non-profit that is Canada’s Crowdfunding advocate. The Association works closely with industry partners, technology platforms, academia, affiliate groups and business associations to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding industry and voice across Canada. He has 15 years of experience as a marketing strategist, software technologist and start-up entrepreneur in technology, finance, manufacturing and real estate sectors. He’s an exceptional start-up incubator with strong business, analytical and organizational expertise combined with dynamic interpersonal and leadership qualities. He’s worked extensively in Australia, UK, Japan and Southeast Asia. He’s passionate about the digital channel, emerging trends in culture and technology and insights into the digitally driven, mobile and socially connected consumer. View Guest page
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David Ashdown
David Ashdown has since 1990 been involved with Community Concerns for the Medically Fragile, www.ccmfonline.com. First established in 1989, it was registered as a charity in 1990. It’s an organization driven by parents who recognized that the needs of their medically fragile children were unmet by the existing systems. Its Board’s members always include parents of medically fragile children because these parents are the true experts in the care of the medically fragile. He was President of CCMF in the past and also during the construction of Standing Oaks, the home to serve the medically fragile population that CCMF built in 2004 in conjunction with the Ontario March of Dimes, Ministry of Health and the Sarnia Rotary Foundation. He’s served on many of CCMF‘s committees. He’s advocated for the needs of the medically fragile in the community by speaking to numerous clubs, organization and churches. He and his wife Lori have a son Nicholas, who is 32, and is living at Standing Oaks. 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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Kim Banting
Kim Banting is a Registered Nutritional Consultant. She graduated from Global College of Natural Medicine with honours and is a member in good standing with the International Organization of Nutritional Consultants. She began her own business, Flourish, in 2009. Previously, she worked as a personal chef. She was inspired to make a career change while working with a client using a whole-foods diet and an elimination process to target food sensitivities. Witnessing his health improvements over a period of weeks convinced her to return to school and marry her passion for food with optimal wellness. Now she strives to educate her clients about the impact food has on their individual health. She emphasizes that while a particular food may be health-promoting for one person, it may detrimental for another. She believes that it is possible to improve any health condition by choosing the correct food for to suit the person’s biochemical individuality. http://is.gd/nAw32K View Guest page
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Mary Bart
Mary Bart is founder and Chair of an Internet based registered Canadian charity called “Losing Our Parents”. In 2012, the Board of Directors changed their operating name to “Caregiving Matters”, www.caregivingmatters.ca, to better reflect the focus on offering education and support to family caregivers. Her father died of cancer in 2005; her mother, of Alzheimer’s disease in 2008. As her parents’ principal caregiver for 10 years, she has extensive experience in helping aging parents, dealing with family dynamics, and working with public and private organizations supporting seniors. She understands the joys, the challenges and also the pain, sorrow and stress of this difficult chapter in our lives and is determined to help others. She is a regular contributor to several national publications on family caregiving. She was a featured author in a book called “Open to Hope”, a series of real life stories of people who have learned to move past their grief. 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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John Bennett
John Bennett is the Newfoundland & Labrador Regional Director and Provincial Advocate for Cystic Fibrosis Canada, www.cysticfibrosis.ca. He has been a tireless volunteer and advocate since his son John was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in July 2010 at just 2 ½ months old. As Regional Director, his role is to act as a liaison between the CF Canada Board of Directors and the Newfoundland and Labrador Chapter. As Provincial Advocate, his responsibilities are to create awareness about CF, fundraise and to advocate for those affected by cystic fibrosis the most common fatal genetic disease affecting Canadian children and young adults. His career has spanned a number of sectors, from business manager with Staples to public servant in both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Today, his passion lies with Investors Group as a financial consultant, John.Bennett@investorsgroup.com. He lives in St. John’s with his fiancé Gillian and son John. 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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Jonathan Bida
Jonathan Bida is a lawyer in the class action group at Koskie Minsky LLP. He has appeared before all levels of court in Ontario, including the Court of Appeal for Ontario. He has acted in numerous class actions including a several class proceedings where an institution or school has allegedly failed in its supervisory obligations to prevent abusive conduct towards residents or students. He has also published on the subject of class actions. View Guest page
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Ian Blumer
Dr. Ian Blumer is a diabetes specialist in Toronto, Canada. He’s medical advisor and director of the Charles H Best Diabetes Centre and has a teaching appointment with the University of Toronto. He’s a member of the executive of the Canadian Diabetes Association and has been awarded the Canadian Diabetes Association’s Special Dedication Award. He’s a faculty member of Taking Control of Your Diabetes and Chair of the Endocrine Society’s Diabetes and Pregnancy Clinical Practice Guidelines committee. He’s authored or co-authored books on doctor-patient relationships (What Your Doctor Really Thinks), diabetes (Diabetes for Canadians for Dummies, Diabetes Cookbook for Canadians for Dummies), prescription drugs (Understanding Prescription Drugs for Canadians for Dummies), celiac disease (Celiac Disease for Dummies) and, under the pen name of Sidney Gale, published the young adult novel, Unto The Breach. His website is www.ourdiabetes.com. 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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Sharon Brigner
Sharon Brigner is a Deputy Vice President for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, www.phrma.org, a trade association in Washington, DC. A registered nurse, she holds a Master’s degree in Health Systems Management. She also works as an Emergency Room Nurse on the weekends at INOVA Reston Hospital in her northern Virginia community. Previously, she worked for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. Her work experience includes the General Accounting Office, Congressional office of Senator Chuck Robb, the Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics at George Mason University, and the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. At Texas Woman’s University in Houston she served as President of the National Student Nurses’ Association and President of the Texas Nursing Students’ Association. 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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Jordan Bruce
Jordan Bruce grew up in London, Ontario. He moved to Toronto, Ontario to study Computer Science at Sheridan College followed by Ryerson University, to obtain his Database Administrator Developer Certification. For the past 9 years he’s worked at the corporate office of Canada’s largest pharmacy/retail store. He currently holds the position of Senior Database Administrator. He survived three heart attacks (2008, 2010, 2013), one small stroke (2009) and massive stroke causing left-side paralysis (2011), as well as epilepsy (2012) due to the massive stroke. After numerous tests and a line-up of doctors he remains un-diagnosed. Today he has full movement in his left side. He is back at work and still practices physiotherapy for his fine motor skills. View Guest page
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Michael Bryant
Michael Bryant is a Harvard-educated lawyer, former Ontario cabinet minister and university lecturer. He was Ontario’s youngest-ever attorney general from 2003-2007, and served in the Aboriginal Affairs, Economic Development and Democratic Renewal portfolios, in addition to being government house leader. He clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada for the current chief justice, was litigator at McCarthy Tetrault LLP, and senior advisor at Norton Rose LLP. He lectured in law at King’s College London, was an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall Law School, and is now a lecturer at the University of Toronto in political science and a fellow at the Rotman School of Management. He is a principal at Ishkonigan Consulting, led by former First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine. He recently authored a #1 Globe & Mail bestseller, “28 Seconds: A True Story of Addiction, Tragedy and Hope”, 28 Seconds. He lives with his two young children in Toronto. 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 Buzan
Tony Buzan, an internationally renowned expert on the thinking process, creativity and innovation, http://www.thinkbuzan.com/intl, was named by Forbes magazine as one of the world’s top 5 speakers. He’s the inventor of Mind Mapping, used some 250 million people, and is the world’s foremost expert in Mental Literacy. He’s authored 100 bestselling books that, in 150 languages, are read by millions worldwide. He’s an authority on principles of learning, productivity and efficiency, and his consultancy has been sought by leading companies including Microsoft, IBM, Disney, British Telecom, and Oracle. His positioning as one of the world’s top speakers was achieved through the appreciation of his audiences, many of whom have described his seminars and workshops as life-changing, and lauded him for his complete mastery of his subject, his engaging manner and human touch, and routinely praised him for his energizing, affirming and amusing lectures which inspire and enthuse. View Guest page
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Dr. Teena Cahill
Dr. Teena Cahill, www.teenacahill.com, authored “The Cahill Factor: Turning Adversity into Advantage”, a powerful personal story about wisdom, resilience, and caregiving. She writes for leading national consumer media and professional publications, and blogs at www.BeWell.com. She’s an expert at www.strengthforcaring.com, a website that is cornerstone of the Johnson and Johnson caregiver initiative. Her occasional articles are published at www.wellspouse.com. Her academic credentials include a doctorate in clinical psychology, a master’s degree in counseling and bachelor’s degree in education. She is a former adjunct professor for undergraduate and graduate studies. She’s actively involved with community-based volunteer groups dedicated to families, caregivers and history. She serves on the Honorary Board for the Well Spouse Association, is a Community Advisor for the Renaissance Learning Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. and a former board member of the YWCA in Princeton. N.J. 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
Episode Listing:
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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Dr. Tiffany Chow
Dr. Tiffany Chow is Senior Clinician-Scientist at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute and staff Behavioural Neurologist at Baycrest's Sam and Ida Ross Memory Clinic. She holds a dual appointment as Associate Professor of Neurology and Geriatric Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She authored, ‘The Memory Clinic’, The Memory Clinic, in which she shares stories of hope and healing for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and their families. She developed a popular website for children who are caregivers to middle-aged parents with dementia and an educational activity book for children too young to access the internet, Baycrest-Dr. Tiffany Chow She serves patients with early-onset dementias in her Baycrest clinic. Her research explores neuroimaging to identify reasonable biomarkers for frontotemporal dementia, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease. She actively participates as a Medical Advisory Council member of the international Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. View Guest page
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Bill Clark
Bill Clark is a British movie maker. His recent Writing and Directing credits include the feature films Starfish and “The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey”, which was chosen for Ibiza, Boston, Edmonton, Heart of Gold Film 2007 Festivals, and was Winner Best Film, Salt Lake City Film 2007 Festival. He makes documentaries and, commercials for which he has 600+ credits. His current experience also includes Creative director for Smyths Toy Store Group. His work includes Director of Films and industrial theatre shows for major international companies. His pop promos, music business work, photography and art direction credits include Slade, Kate Bush, Pink Floyd, The Hollies, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Def Leppard, Soul II Soul, Leonard Bernstein, Sir Georg Solti, Lynn Anderson, and Elton John. He was Festival Director Stamford Children’s film festival 2010, Guest lecturer, Film & Video at York University, 2009, 2010, Lecturer Anglia Ruskin University Film & Video module 2010. 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
Episode Listing:
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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Marie Cortes
Marie Cortes grew up in Montreal, Quebec. She moved to Toronto, Ontario to study Graphic Communications Management at Ryerson University. Since graduating in 2005 she has worked in pre-press and graphic design for several companies. She currently works at head office for one of Canada’s foremost food service companies. She met Jordan at a dog park in 2008, and they have been together ever since. Marie has been by his side through it all. Although young in age, she says, the hardships of health have strengthened their relationship and allowed them to grow as a couple. They are proud to say they recently got engaged. View Guest page
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Penney Cowan
Penney Cowan, a person with chronic pain, is Chief Executive Officer and founder, in 1980, of the American Chronic Pain Association, http://www.theacpa.org/. The Association provides peer support and education in pain management skills for people with pain and their families, and works to build awareness about chronic pain among professionals, decision makers and the general public. She’s a Consumer Representative for the FDA/CDER Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee. Her awards include the Jefferson Medal for Outstanding Citizen by the Institute for Public Service, Washington, The American Pain Society’s John and Emma Bonica Public Service Award, and she’s listed in Who's Who in America, 24th Edition. She authored ‘Patient or Person, Living With Chronic Pain’, and the all manuals and materials used by the Association. In 2002 she began the Partners for Understanding Pain campaign under the direction of the ACPA, with more than 80 partner organizations in 2013. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
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
Episode Listing:
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
Episode Listing:
Jeff Curtis
Jeff Curtis is the Chief Privacy Officer for Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, www.sunnybrook.ca, a 10,000+ employee acute care, research and teaching hospital in Toronto. He is a Director and Chief Privacy Officer in the hospital’s Information Services group responsible for information privacy assurance, freedom of information compliance, IT risk management, and corporate strategic planning, activities. He is also the Privacy and Security Officer for the Hospital Diagnostic Repository Services in Ontario, a diagnostic imaging repository for 35 hospitals across four local health regions. He holds a degree in Economics, an MBA from the University of Toronto and an MSc from the University of Reading, UK, where he is currently a doctoral candidate in information security research. MyChartTM is Sunnybrook’s award-winning personal health record currently with over 12,000 patient and non-patient users. 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
Episode Listing:
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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Donna Davis
Donna Davis is Co-chair of Patients for Patient Safety Canada, http://www.patientsforpatientsafety.ca/, and a mother, a wife, and a nurse. The death from medical error of her 19 year old son started her on a journey to ensure effective communication between providers and patients and families. She contributed to the revision of the Canadian Disclosure Guidelines, the revision of the Canadian Incident Analysis Framework, the CPSI Patient Safety Education program, National Collaborative on the Prevention of Falls in Long-Term Care, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health Critical Incident Review working group, and the Safe Surgery Saves Lives. A World Health Organization Patient Safety Champion and recipient of the 2011 Nurse of Distinction award, she knows first- hand where improvements are needed and works tirelessly giving presentations and sitting on health-related and government committees across Canada connecting the research and statistics to real people. 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
Episode Listing:
Fran DeFilippis
Fran DeFilippis was the owner and operator of Inprint Business Printing Centre Inc., in Toronto, Canada. In 2000 she sold the business to her largest competitor. In 2001, after the birth of her second child, she became a chocolatier and started a part-time truffle company to keep her business skills polished. She was happily settling into young parenthood, with two children, Kirsten, and Marcus, when a workplace tragedy suddenly struck. Many things changed for her since that fateful day. Her life and her family's lives were forever changed. She was recently awarded a degree in child development, and she is now applying knowledge she acquired. She volunteers at Hospice King Aurora and is a volunteer of Threads of Life, A Workplace Tragedy Family Support Association, and is a member of its Speakers Bureau. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
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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Diana B. Denholm, PhD, LMHC
Diana B. Denholm, PhD, LMHC, has been a board-certified psychotherapist for more than 30 years. For over 11 years, she was the primary caregiver to her husband during a series of grave illnesses. She gives guidance, support, and resources in her critically acclaimed book, ‘The Caregiving Wife's Handbook: Caring for Your Seriously Ill Husband, Caring for Yourself’, www.caregivingwife.com. She is a professional speaker and writes articles for Psychology Today, PBS, Stroke Network and various other publications and magazines. She has been featured in the New York Times, AARP Magazine, The Kiplinger Letter, Consumer Reports and The Washington Post. 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
Episode Listing:
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
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Jason Dunkerley
Jason Dunkerley works at the Active Living Alliance for Canadians with a Disability, http://www.ala.ca/content/home.asp, where he coordinates the All Abilities Welcome program. He’s a founding member of Achilles Ottawa, a running club for blind and visually impaired runners. Sport has been important in his own life. He and his two brothers grew up with severe visual impairment resulting from a congenital eye condition. They all attended a school for blind students where sports were encouraged. He took up competitive running with the help of a guide runner. In 1998 he qualified for his first national Para Athletics team. He has since represented Canada at four Paralympic Games, capturing 1500 metre silver in 2000 and again in 2004, and winning 1500 metre bronze in 2008 with his long time guide runner Greg Dailey. At the 2012 London Paralympic Games he and new guide runner Josh Karanja won bronze in the 1500 metres and silver in the 5000 metres for totally blind athletes. View Guest page
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Kory Earle
Kory Earle is President of People First of Canada. When it comes to the right to live in community, he says, he knows his history. As a young self-advocate, he speaks of those who have worked to ensure that he and future generations will never have to experience life in an institution. Through their words, actions, lives, and sometimes their deaths, he acknowledges the important work of self-advocates in closing institutions. He also acknowledges the many partners, allies, families, friends, and supporters it takes to ensure the right to live in community. But, he cautions, closed institutions are no guarantee of a good life in the community. http://www.peoplefirstontario.com/ View Guest page
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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 for Advocacy at CARP, the national, non-partisan, non-profit organization, CARP, committed to advocating for social change that will bring financial security, equitable access to health care and freedom from discrimination for all Canadians as we age. Under her leadership, CARP Advocacy has helped to shape the public discourse on key issues such as pension reform, investor protection, mandatory retirement, workplace age discrimination, home care, age-friendly cities, and driving for seniors. Increasingly, CARP has become a trusted source of public policy input at all levels of government and the media. In 2012, she was named one of the The Hill Times’ Top 100 Lobbyists. 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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Jill Farber
Jill Farber is Vice-Chair, Board of Directors, Autism Speaks Canada, http://www.autismspeaks.ca, a position to which she was named Vice- in January 2012. She has been a member of the Board since September 2006 and has acted as the Chair of the Family Services Community Grants Review Committee since the launch of the program in 2010. Prior to her involvement with Autism Speaks Canada, she was a behavioural consultant and an instructor and trainer for children with autism spectrum disorder. 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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Dawn Fields
Dawn Fields is an independent film producer and the president of Palm Street Films, a feature film production company based in Los Angeles. She has over fifteen years of production experience working for such companies as Twentieth Century Fox, LucasFilm, Tri-Star, ABC, NBC Universal, Morgan Creek, Rat Productions, Lorimar, Orion and Aaron Spelling. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, she worked in the southeastern film market for over ten years before moving to Los Angeles in 2000. In LA she’s worked as a producer, director and editor. She also has a background in development, acquisitions and independent distribution. And she has several other feature films in various stages of development and production. 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
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Barry Fish
Barry Fish graduated from McGill University in the late 1960's with both civil law and common law degrees. He is the senior partner in his law firm, Fish & Associates Professional Corporation, http://www.familyfight.com/, which he established in 1973. He is a member of the Society of Estate Practitioners and has had lengthy experience in the field of estate disputes. He is a co-author of three popular books entitled: "The Family Fight, Planning to Avoid it"; “The Family War, Winning the Inheritance Battle”, and “Where There’s an Inheritance”. He is a frequent radio and television guest and a contributor to various publications such as the currently published “Advisors Seeking Knowledge”. He is married, has two children and two grandchildren. View Guest page
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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
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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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Anika Francis
Anika Francis was first exposed to schizophrenia at the age of three when her mother was diagnosed with it. She understands the issues facing children of mentally ill parents. Early on, she experienced schizophrenia’s ravaging affects as she tried to support her mother and cope with the emotional roller coaster created by her mother’s illness. To make sense of her world, she cultivated a powerful drive and focus. She excelled academically and went to an Ivy League college where she discovered her interest in writing, http://bridgeross.com/francis.html, and traveling. Her love of learning and writing led to a career developing training programs. Based in Atlanta, she owns a company that focuses on transformational learning. Yoga played an important role in her transformation and healing. She has taught yoga for the past five years and trained to be a certified yoga therapist. She is passionate about teaching people how to use yoga for mental wellness and healing. View Guest page
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Sakeenah Francis
Sakeenah Francis developed schizophrenia over thirty years ago. Like many with schizophrenia, she struggled to cope with her illness and was in and out of mental hospitals. Devastated by her mental illness, she went from homecoming queen to homeless. After walking down the middle of a busy street during a relapse, she hit rock bottom and made a conscious choice to stay on her medicine for her sake and her family’s. She has been in recovery for the past fifteen years. Passionate about raising awareness about mental illness and eliminating stigma, she is a mental health advocate. She served on the board of trustees for the Bridgeway Mental Health Center for two years and is currently serving on NAMI Cleveland’s Multi-cultural Advisory Board, http://www.nami.org/. A consumer mental health speaker for National Alliance on Mental Illness’s ‘In Our Own Voices’, she’s given over 50 speeches sharing her experiences living with schizophrenia and being in long-term recovery. View Guest page
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Suzan E. Fraser
Suzan E. Fraser is a lawyer specializing in constitutional and administrative law with over 15 years’ experience in public interest, social justice, children’s rights and mental health issues. She regularly appears as counsel in a variety of forums including the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Ontario Review Board, the Consent and Capacity Board and Ontario’s Coroners courts and all levels of court in Canada. She leads and is a member of the Court of Appeal for Ontario’s Amicus Curiae Panel for Mentally Disordered Offenders. Her career has been dedicated to advancing the rights and interest of vulnerable people by representing them, their families and public interest groups in a variety of forums. Through this work, she has developed a unique understanding of the discrimination and vulnerability that persons with mental health problems face, the experiences of their caregivers and the systemic challenges to advancing their rights. View Guest page
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Dave Gallson
Dave Gallson is the Associate National Executive Director of the Mood Disorders Society of Canada, www.mooddisorderscanada.ca. In 2002, he created a seven-week skills development program for persons with mental health challenges. He led this program’s expansion to six cities across Canada. By 2009 it had assisted to return to work over 1,000 Canadians living with mental illnesses, plus 200 to return to school. The program was recognized by the ‘Sharing the Flame Excellence in Learning’ from the Canadian Council on Learning. He is Co-Chair of the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health, and has served on the Canadian Psychological Association Task Force on Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments. He is well known in the mental health community, having developed a wide government and stakeholder network through his reputation of leadership through caring He is engaged nationally on many committees and panels where he speaks from both a professional and personal experience. 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
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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
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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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Dr. Allissa Gaul
Dr. Allissa Gaul is a Naturopathic Doctor practicing in Calgary who has a keen interest in family medicine ranging from pediatrics to palliative care. She’s currently president of the College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta and is a member of the Canadian Naturopathic Coordinating Council. Over her years of practice, she’s observed the stresses and strains experienced by family caregivers of children with special needs, of elderly parents, or of adults with chronic illness. She’s the founder and director of Resonance Wellness, www.resonance-wellness.com, a center dedicated to Conscious Family Medicine, which empowers her patients with knowledge, perspective and hope. She believes that when patients and their advocates are empowered, they can choose a course of action that supports well-being, even when options seem limited. 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
Episode Listing:
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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Dr. Michael Gordon
Dr. Michael Gordon, is a medical professor, ethicist and one of Canada’s best known geriatricians. He has published several books, including Late-Stage Dementia: Promoting comfort, compassion and care; Moments that Matter: Cases in Ethical Eldercare; Parenting your Parents (the fourth edition is due for release next fall); and his memoir Brooklyn Beginnings: A Geriatrician's Odyssey. His work to advance the understanding of aging, ethics and end-of-life care is valued by public and professional audiences. Born in the United States, his educational and training experiences span the United States, Scotland, Israel and Canada. He is currently the medical program director of Palliative Care at Baycrest Health Sciences and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Naguib Gouda
Naguib Gouda joined the Alzheimer Society of Canada in December 2011 as its Chief Executive Officer. Previously he was Executive Director, Member Services and CEO, OMA Insurance Inc., at the Ontario Medical Association. He managed government-funded programs and insurance programs for physicians in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. He also co-led the Canadian Medical Association and its provincial and territorial counterparts to reach an Alliance Agreement for their Wealth Management and Insurance lines of business. He’s also held positions in marketing, strategic planning and project management at Manulife Financial and the Bank of Montreal, and served as Executive Director, Alumni and Advancement Services, at York University. He holds an MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business. He’s a lifelong volunteer, having served on the boards of the Toronto Distress Centre, Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada and the United Way of Greater Toronto. 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
Episode Listing:
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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Joseph Hammang
Joseph Hammang is Senior Vice President, Life Sciences for ML Strategies, www.mlstrategies.com. He’s author of 60 scientific publications and is inventor or co-inventor of 35 U.S. patents. He holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience. Previously, he was Senior Director of Worldwide Science Policy for Pfizer Inc. Prior to his appointment at Pfizer, he was Vice President for Science, Technology and Business Development at the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation and Head of Science and Technology at the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council. In 1999, he was appointed Governor Lincoln Almond’s Advisor for Science and Technology. He also held positions at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, in Alzheimer’s disease research and at CytoTherapeutics, Inc., Providence, Rhode Island, as Director of Cell and Molecular Neuroscience and Director of the Ophthalmology Therapeutic program. 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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Jennifer Harrison
Jennifer Harrison is the Professional Practice Advisor at the College of Respiratory Therapists of Ontario and has been a registered respiratory therapist for over 18 years. She has practiced direct patient care in various acute-care hospital settings, urban and suburban. A highlight of her career was working in a small community hospital just east of Toronto, where she was the only respiratory therapist on shift. Working there, her knowledge and experience were put to the test every day. She developed a strong sense of connection to her patients and the surrounding community. In addition to her respiratory therapist diploma, she holds an honors degree in Human Biology and a degree in Adult Education. She’s passionate about adult learning in providing safe and ethical care to the public. She believes that truly patient-centered care should include the patient, family and all of the caregivers on an inter-professional, collaborative team. 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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Lee Helmer
Lee Helmer is the Director of a peer-led organization in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada, known as T.E.A.C.H., (Teach, Empower, Advocate for Community Health). Its services encompass managing anxiety workshops, self-esteem groups, concurrent disorders groups, peer mentors, and the circle of care for families. Each staff member and the forty volunteers providing services have struggled with their own mental health challenges. They are in the forefront of advocating for the principles of recovery--hope, meaningful activity, self-awareness, supportive relationships, and empowerment--and building on strengths to enable people to have a meaningful life. He is a father, a grandfather, a husband, and a career professional who has contended with acquired brain injury and a bi-polar illness. View Guest page
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Joe Henry
Joe Henry is Manager of Student Access at Humber College. He’s a higher education professional with over 10 years of experience supporting people with disabilities. He’s Director of Communications with the Canadian Association of Disability Services Providers in Post-Secondary Education. He holds a 2012 DiverseCity Fellowship, a year-long development program dedicated to making the Greater Toronto Area a better and more inclusive place to live, work, learn, and play. As Past-Chair of the College Committee on Disability Issues, he speaks frequently about equity and inclusion on campuses. He’s written on disability issues for The Toronto Star, The Huffington Post, and for sector- specific media published by the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services, among others. Having completed his Masters in Education (M.Ed) in Adult Education and Community Development, he’s now pursuing his Doctorate in Education (Ed.D) at Northeastern University in Boston. 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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Shirley Hickman
Shirley Hickman in 2002 co-founded Threads of Life, A Workplace Tragedy Family Support Association. She’s the Executive Director and Family Program Manager. A traumatic workplace tragedy had changed forever her life and her family’s lives. Since then she’s focused on making a difference in workplace health and safety. In 2007 she received the YMCA of London’s Women of Excellence Award for Community Volunteerism and Humanity. In 2008 she became the third recipient of the IAPA-CME Health & Safety Leadership Award, which recognizes outstanding individuals who have contributed to innovation in and advancement of health and safety in the workplace and the community. In 2009, she presented at the International Labour Organization’s World Day for Safety and Health in Geneva, Switzerland, and to the XVIIth World Congress on Health and Safety. Her story has been showcased in the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s campaign for heightened injury prevention. View Guest page
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Stuart Hickox
Stuart Hickox is an award-winning social entrepreneur with over 15 years’ experience in strategic communications management. He also served nine years as Managing Editor of the Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science. He is the Founder and President of One Change, http://www.onechange.org/, a charitable foundation with a unique and empowering message: Simple Actions Matter. What started in 2005 as a way to help people save money and cut greenhouse gasses has evolved into an innovative business model based on community-based social marketing. One Change designs and delivers creative community engagement campaigns that produce measurable results for utilities, governments and corporations. View Guest page
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Brian D. Hodges
Brian D. Hodges, MD, PhD, FRCPC, is Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Education at the University of Toronto, the Richard and Elizabeth Currie Chair in Health Professions Education Research at the Wilson Centre for Research in Education, Senior Fellow, Massey College, and Vice President, Education at the University Health Network. He leads the AMS Phoenix Project, A Call to Caring, http://www.theamsphoenix.ca/, an initiative to rebalance the technical and compassionate dimensions of healthcare. His research focuses on the nature and construction of various aspects of health professional education and practice: competence, assessment, professionalism, and globalization. Together with colleagues at McGill University, he is currently undertaking a 3-year project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, to study the discourses of excellence, diversity and equity in Canadian medical schools admissions processes. 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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Steven Holmes
Steven Holmes is the Chief Bouncing Officer of Springfree Trampoline. He founded the company in 2003 and has overseen its growth to over 340 employees globally. He’s responsible for operations in North America and strategic business development and growth initiatives word wide. Previously he founded VerifEye Technologies Inc., a world leader in security surveillance for the mobile workplace. Previously he participated in the creation and growth of ClubLink Corporation, Canada's largest private golf course operator, and Advantex Marketing International. Born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and currently lives in Toronto. He Chairs the Board of Tyndale University College and Seminary and the Board of the Paul Henderson Legacy Foundation. The Holmes Family is actively involved in the Youth Unlimited in Toronto and the Canadian Camp Association, among others. He’s a charted accountant and holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Ryerson University. 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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Alicia Howes
Alicia Howes, founder of Your Soul Story, www.yoursoulstory.com, and international soul connection expert, has explored thousands of Soul Stories worldwide for over a decade. Her health crisis 14 years ago led not only to her own healing but also to a whole new way of looking at life as a healer: intuitive coach and teacher. Exploring soul story records is the most effective tool for healing that she’s encountered. She’s passionate about sharing it with others. With her intuitive insight, caring approach and powerful guidance, she empowers her clients to start, expand and end all kinds of chapters in their lives. She focuses on helping her clients connect to their authentic self, author their stories, and let go of all the stuff that stifles their joy. She sees her clients' potential and shines that back to them with love, light and often shared laughter. An experienced speaker and teacher to large and small groups, she loves to connect with people through radio, TV and seminars. 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
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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
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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
Episode Listing:
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
Episode Listing:
Krista James
Krista James is National Director of the Canadian Centre for Elder Law, www.bcli.org, and a staff lawyer with the British Columbia Law Institute. Her work involves policy analysis, legal research, law reform, public legal education, and providing advice to government on legal issues impacting older people and family caregivers. She works with people from health care, law, labor, finance and justice. She’s written and spoken on abuse and neglect of older people, financial elder abuse, financial literacy, adult guardianship, mental capacity and family caregiving. She was lead author of the Centre’s study paper, Care/Work: Law Reform to Support Family Caregivers to Balance Paid Work and Unpaid Caregiving. She’s currently developing educational materials for older people and practitioners and volunteers who work with older people. Prior to joining the Centre, she practiced labor law. She’s worked with legal clinics, women’s centers and community organizations serving low-income people. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
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
Episode Listing:
Dr. Will Johnston
Dr. Will Johnston has practiced family medicine for over 30 years. His practice has included emergency room, obstetrics, and the full age range of general medical practice including care of older people. He has performed dozens of legal competency assessments, a task which has increased his familiarity with various aspects of elder abuse. He became concerned about the dangers of assisted suicide and euthanasia in 1990. He debated this topic with Dr. Jack Kevorkian on CBC television in 1993. He has since become more concerned by warning signs that all is not well in those few jurisdictions which permit assisted suicide and euthanasia. He is keen to warn those who wish to preserve their autonomy and end-of-life choices that assisted suicide laws may not deliver on these objectives. He is the Chair of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition of BC, www.epcbc.ca. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
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:
Steve Kalaydjian
Steve Kalaydjian is a student of Social Work at Dalhousie University; Program Assistant at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; Telephone Support Volunteer at Toronto Distress Centers; and Peer Support Volunteer at the Family Resource Centre at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. After 15 years of working in the private sector in Information Technology, he now channels his energy to the field of mental health. He brings a renewed sense of purpose and a relatively fresh perspective of working in a helping profession. He believes strongly in conveying a message of hope to people with mental illness and their familie and friends, and yet is acutely aware of some of the challenges they may face. 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
Episode Listing:
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
Episode Listing:
Chris Kata
Chris Kata is Director, Caregiving Matters, www.caregivingmatters.ca. His professional experience includes over 14 years of complex e-business and e-commerce application design and project management. He spent the first part of his professional life as a partner at Whitecap Canada Inc., in Toronto. In 2006, he says, he got hooked on the internet marketing side of the business when customers kept asking him why his corporate website outranked theirs. The internet marketing side of the business would not leave him alone, he says, so he started Spark Internet Marketing with three other partners. Until 2012 he spent all of his time and experience developing the business with his partners and enjoying the services they offered their customers. In January 2012 he decided to make another move and join the outstanding team at Axiom Real-Time Metrics as their Chief Innovation Officer working on new product development, marketing and new business initiatives. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
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
Episode Listing:
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
Episode Listing:
Kathleen Kelly
Kathleen Kelly is Executive Director of Family Caregiver Alliance, a national US nonprofit organization providing direct family caregiver support services, public policy development, research and public awareness. She oversees the Bay Area Caregiver Resource Center’s direct services in the San Francisco Bay Area, California policy collaborations, and the National Center on Caregiving. The Alliance promoted the first legislation in the country for supportive services for family caregivers. It was first to recognize needs for specialized services for family caregivers caring for adults with chronic conditions. During her tenure, it grew from a grassroots program to a national organization providing leadership on supporting family caregivers with best practice interventions, public policy, state system development and leading-edge research. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughters. She has been a caregiver for several family members over the years. http://is.gd/R0ICUI View Guest page
Episode Listing:
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
Episode Listing:
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
Episode Listing:
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:
Dr. Marshall Korenblum
Dr. Marshall Korenblum is Psychiatrist-in-Chief of The Hincks-Dellcrest Centre, www.hincksdellcrest.org, a children’s mental health treatment, research, and teaching center located in Toronto, Canada. He is also Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, at the University of Toronto. He is also on staff at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre’s Division of Youth Psychiatry in Toronto, and consults to a Children's Aid Society. His main interests are in Mood Disorders in adolescents, and in public education. To that end, he has been instrumental in producing a number of educational videos, designed to de-stigmatize mental illness in youth, and he has worked closely with schools and children's mental health agencies to promote awareness of psychological issues. He was Chair of the Education Committee of the Canadian Academy of Child Psychiatry for two years, and Director of Postgraduate Education for the Division of Child Psychiatry, University of Toronto, for more than ten years. 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
Episode Listing:
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:
Arthur Kupperman
Arthur Kupperman has been an entrepreneur for more than 30 years, after deciding to leave the field of public accounting. His most recent venture, My Web Portal, Inc., was started in July 2009 with the idea of building niche market web portals to allow marketers to focus on specific demographics as well as provide viewers with an easy way to use the internet for areas of interest to them. His first niche market portal was designed for the 55+ demographic and the beta web portal was released mid-February 2010. This portal has grown on a consistent basis and the concept is therefore validated (www.myseniorportal.com). The next niche market portal will be designed, developed and released before the end of 2012. 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
Episode Listing:
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:
Barbara Lebo
Barbara Lebo, MBA, BComm, CAAP, NIB, is CEO, (Chief Encouragement Officer) of Lebo Media Services which she has owned and operated for 25 years. This is a strategic marketing and advertising sales consulting agency, specializing in reaching hard-to-reach professionals such as doctors, lawyers, dentists, accountants and veterinarians in Canada and the US. Married for 24 years, at age 52, she has a daughter of 13 years, a son of12, and a son of 7, Braeden, who lives with autism. A dynamic public speaker and presenter, she leads life-transforming workshops. Her latest workshop, “I’m ready to be happier now, one mom’s journey with autism”, deals with the entire journey of autism, from before diagnosis to school. Like her other workshops, it explains how our attitudes affect our behaviors, contribute to our fears, move us forward or hold us back, influence what we can and cannot control, impact our families and our lives, and can free us from feelings of resentment and regret. 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:
Dr. Lance Levy
Dr. Lance Levy is a Pediatrician and Bariatric Nutrition specialist who, since 1985, has run a multi-disciplinary practice in Toronto treating severely overweight children and adults. His long-term interest in clinical research focuses on finding the treatable causes of weight gain and of weight loss failure in children and adults. His research has already established that untreated mood disorders, chronic pain syndromes, sleep disorders and disorders of impulse control (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - ADHD, Binge Eating Disorder and Night-time Eating Syndrome) are primary causes of weight gain, and of an inability to keep weight off after dieting. He’s published peer-reviewed research proving that treating these clinical problems results in sustainable weight loss. He works closely with bariatric surgeons in Toronto assisting patients to obtain the best results both before and after weight loss surgery. drlancelevy@rogers.com 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:
Amy MacFarlane
Amy MacFarlane is Founder and CEO of Recreational Respite Inc., http://recrespite.com/, which provides for creative living and innovative care. It assists individuals with special needs arising from cognitive impairment, physical challenges or developmental disabilities by recognizing, engaging and strengthening their residual abilities and interests and integrating them successfully into their communities, and by providing them with the services of multi-skilled teams. 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 mental and physical challenges and developmental diversities. Her passion in the field of healthcare is united with a hands-on, educated and expert background in personal support work, health care/business development, therapeutic recreation, health sciences and gerontology. She’s actively involved with Family Caregivers Unite. 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:
Tibor Maknyik
Tibor Maknyik was born in Hungary in 1945, educated in England from age 12 and emigrated to Canada at age 23. He’s a tool and die maker and plastic injection-mold maker with a mechanical technologist degree. After working at several companies he accepted a plant manager’s job in a manufacturing plant with more than 200 employees. Five supervisors reported to him. He worked there for 20 years. In 2006, when the plant was sold and all manufacturing was shipped to Mexico, he took early retirement to care for his wife Elizabeth whom he married in 1973. Born in England, she migrated to Canada. Their two wonderful and successful sons are both married with children. In 1997 at age 53 Elizabeth began to display signs of forgetfulness that started to affect her job. Misdiagnosed by three doctors, she was finally diagnosed in 2003 with Alzheimer's disease. He cared for her at home until 2008, when he was no longer able to care for her. She was then admitted to a long-term care facility. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Susan Manwaring
Susan Manwaring is the National Chair of Miller Thomson’s Charities and Not-for-Profit Group, www.millerthomson.com/charities-nfp. She provides specialized tax and general counsel advice to charities and not-for-profit organizations in Canada and Internationally. She advises on establishing charities and non-profit organizations and works with them to address their operational and governance concerns. She is knowledgeable in the law relating to charitable expenditures and day-to-day questions of charities, including charities working outside of Canada. She also assists clients faced with tax audits and/or other regulatory issues. She is regularly called upon to advise charities and non-profit organizations on compliance and taxation matters under the Income Tax Act (Canada), as well as other relevant provincial tax regulations. She assists clients with charitable giving issues and with regulations relating to receipting of charitable foundations and expenditures of charitable funds. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Jacqueline Marcell
Jacqueline Marcell was so influenced by caring for her parents, both with Alzheimer's disease which went undiagnosed for over a year, that she wrote 'Elder Rage', the best-selling Book-of-the-Month Club selection with 360 5-Star Amazon reviews and a candidate for a film. Its 50-plus endorsements include Hugh Downs, Regis Philbin, Johns Hopkins Memory Clinic, and the National Adult Day Services Association’s Media Award. She’s also received the National Association of Women Business Owners 'Advocate of the Year' at their Remarkable Women Awards. She’s given numerous prestigious presentations, including the California Governor’s Conference, National Security Agency, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, and Florida House of Representatives. She’s been interviewed by the TODAY SHOW and CNN, and featured in an AARP BULLETIN cover story. She hosts the 'Coping with Caregiving' radio show at www.wsRadio.com/CopingWithCaregiving. Her website is www.ElderRage.com. 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:
Diane Marshall
Diane Marshall has served in the role of Executive Director of the Residences of 1425 Bayview, http://www.residencesofbayview.com/, since 2008. Her career choices have always been informed by organizations and work for which she has a passion. This has made for an eclectic background dedicated to facilitating innovative learning, transformational experiences and collaborative partnerships. Her extensive experience spans public and private sector in human resources and program development in the aboriginal community. She is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and a Life Coach. Mental health and addictions is particularly close to her heart. In the ‘70s in Montreal, her own family was personally involved in creating ‘Portage’, a community which has become an international model for addiction treatment. 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:
Britta Martini-Miles
Britta Martini-Miles has been Executive Director of the Lighthouse Program for Grieving Children, http://www.grievingchildrenlighthouse.org/, in Oakville since November 2011. A German national, she completed her undergraduate degree in her home country, followed by a MA in International Relations at Penn State in 1989. After many years of international assignments in Europe, the US, and South Africa she, her husband, and their three grown children settled in Oakville, Ontario, in 2005. She immersed herself in the local community as a volunteer and as executive director for local not-for-profits. She has a track record in fundraising, marketing, not-for-profit management and organizational development. She’s delighted to be able to lead the Lighthouse to become a highly recognized and respected grief resource and support center for Halton and Peel. 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:
Mary Jane McNally
Mary Jane McNally is the Senior Director of Nursing at Toronto Western Hospital and University Health Network, where she provides leadership for advancing academic nursing practice, education, and research. She’s held progressive operational and professional practice leadership positions within acute care and primary care. She’s leading innovative programs that interface with long term care and convalescent care. She received her BScN and MN degrees from the Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, where she currently serves as a Clinical Appointee. She’s received the Ontario Hospital Association Ted Freedman Award for Education Innovation and a 3M – Health Care Quality Team Award. She’s known as a national and international speaker on workplace violence in the health sector and innovation in care delivery models. Her other areas of interest include inter-professional collaboration, hospital/community partnership and practice informatics. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Donna Messer
Donna Messer is the “Queen of Networking”,http://ow.ly/jppRm. She’s an author, speaker and coach, and an inspiring and passionate motivato who’s addressed thousands of people on three continents. A former broadcast journalist, she’s the author of more than 4,000 articles published around the world. Her book ‘Effective Networking Strategies’ is a Canadian best seller. Her new book, ‘Cycles of Life, Keeping You on Track’ weaves wisdom, philosophy and innovation together to illustrate how build the relationships needed for success. She hosts radio and television programs interviewing Canadians with a story to tell. She’s social-media savvy, and knows the importance of international visibility. She’s on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. She serves on the Executive Board for Women in Food Industry Management, is an active Rotarian and is on the board for The United Way of Oakville. 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:
Angelo Minardi
Angelo Minardi, born in Sicily, Italy, immigrated to Canada at age 3. He and his wife Catia have two children, Sofia and Luca. In 1997 he graduated with a BA in Sociology from The University of Toronto. He began work at the Bank of Montreal. Desiring more meaning in his life he pursued studies in theology at St. Augustine's Seminary in Scarborough, Ontario, where he completed his Master’s degree. He is Chaplain at the Cardinal Ambrozic Catholic Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario. He continued his studies in Spiritual Direction at Regis College at the University of Toronto. He also works as an instructor with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association teaching theology, and with the Bachelor of Education Continuing Studies program at the University of Ontario’s Institute of Technology. He meets with young people to help them see the presence of God in their daily lives, and he provides spiritual direction for seniors at the Oak Ridges Retirement Residence in Richmond Hill. 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:
Carolyn Murray
Carolyn Murray is a musician, composer, artist, community volunteer – and caregiver. A graduate of the New Brunswick Teachers’ College and the University of New Brunswick (B.A.), she retired from elementary school teaching several years ago after a career begun in her teens. She continues to serve her church and wider community in volunteer roles, in addition to being a faithful caregiver to her 95 year old parents and assisting her husband with his continuing recuperation following a serious accident. She is Organist and Music Director at All Saints Anglican Church in Saint John, NB. She is also volunteer leader of a residents’ choir at her parents’ retirement community, where her father is one of her most enthusiastic choristers! www.carolynmurraymusic.com View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Wendy Newman
Carolyn Murray is a musician, composer, artist, community volunteer – and caregiver. A graduate of the New Brunswick Teachers’ College and the University of New Brunswick (B.A.), she retired from elementary school teaching several years ago after a career begun in her teens. She continues to serve her church and wider community in volunteer roles, in addition to being a faithful caregiver to her 95 year old parents and assisting her husband with his continuing recuperation following a serious accident. She is Organist and Music Director at All Saints Anglican Church in Saint John, NB. She is also volunteer leader of a residents’ choir at her parents’ retirement community, where her father is one of her most enthusiastic choristers! www.carolynmurraymusic.com 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
Episode Listing:
Megan O’Toole
Megan O’Toole is a veteran Canadian journalist frequently sought after for interviews on her work. With thousands of articles published by major media outlets from coast to coast, she has held key positions at both of Canada’s national newspapers, editing the front page of The Globe and Mail before joining the National Post’s elite reporting team. Her stories are regularly syndicated via the Postmedia chain of newspapers. Covering everything from legislative politics, to crime, to breaking news, to business and the arts, she’s generated scores of unique features and investigative projects over the years. A trained photographer, she is also a published photojournalist. http://meganotoole.ca/finding-grace/ View Guest page
Episode Listing:
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:
Matthew J Padberg
Matthew J. Padberg is a principal and partner in The Padberg & Corrigan Law Firm, www.padbergcorrigan.com, which concentrates exclusively on civil litigation, medical malpractice, aviation law, workers’ compensation, general personal injury law, and wrongful death. He concentrates his practice on representing individuals and families who have been impacted by either personal injury or death. He’s represented persons injured or killed through acts of medical negligence, product liability, nursing home abuse, aircraft accidents, helicopter accidents, work site accidents, construction site injuries, including crane accidents, death caused by electrocutions and chemical exposures. He received his law degree from the University of Missouri—Columbia in 1983. While in law school, he worked at the Missouri Supreme Court and was a law clerk for the Eastern District Court of Appeals. Since 2001, he’s served as an adjunct professor of law at the St. Louis University Law School. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Jill Paterson
Jill Paterson is a Project Manager for the Historica-Dominion Institute, Historica-Dominion Institute She oversees Canada’s largest oral history project which since 2009 has interviewed over 2600 veterans of the Second World War and the Korean War. She has worked, primarily, on the Memory Project Archive and Speakers Bureau since 2006 but has also managed programs such as the Sir John A Day education campaign. She holds an MA in Public History from the University of Waterloo and a MA in History from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. She has travelled from St. John's to Whitehorse, and all points in between, in search of veterans who are willing to share their story. 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
Episode Listing:
Leona Pinsky
Leona Pinsky holds the Bachelor of Arts degree and the Bachelor of Law degree. She trained and worked as a lawyer. She and her husband of 25 years have four children. She stopped working before their third child. Their youngest, born in 1999, has cystic fibrosis. She’d planned to return to work but their child with cystic fibrosis has very complicated health. As a result, she chose to stay at home and focus her energies on her family. Her doing so minimizes the disruption of cystic fibrosis to their lives. She finds fulfillment outside of the home by working for Cystic Fibrosis Canada, www.cysticfibrosis.ca, a cause to which she’s dedicated. And for which she is amply qualified through her proven ability to fundraise, exceptional volunteer and not-for-profit experience including policy formation, advocacy, strategic planning and fundraising, her legal training, strong understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a not-for-profit director, and her comfort with vigorous debate. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
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
Episode Listing:
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
Episode Listing:
Marilyn Pytka
Marilyn Pytka found herself in financial, physical, professional and personal ruin after spending over 20 years as her mother’s family caregiver. She was forced into litigation immediately following her mother’s death. She then found herself fighting for herself and her young child in a legal system that marginalized, denigrated and trivialized her. She says that Canada has laws to protect women who give up their careers to care for their family, but lacks laws to protect family caregivers, usually women from low-income families, caring for family members. Determined that Canadian family caregivers, their families and future generations will not suffer the fate she has experienced, she’s testified before a Parliamentary Committee and addressed federal and provincial politicians about the need for legislation to protect people such as herself from the infringements of their rights and compensation after years of caring for a loved one who is elderly, ill or dying. mapytka@sympatico.ca View Guest page
Episode Listing:
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
Episode Listing:
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:
Dr. Mark Ragins
Dr. Mark Ragins is the Medical Director at the MHA Village Integrated Service Agency in Long Beach, California, an award-winning model of recovery based mental health services. He has worked there since its beginning in 1990 as a psychiatrist for the adult service coordination teams, the Homeless Assistance Program, the Transition Age Youth Academy, and now the Welcoming Team. Many of his writings are posted at www.mhavillage.org including his short book ‘A Road to Recovery’ which is also available at amazon.com and has been translated into Japanese and Korean. He was featured in Steve Lopez’s book ‘The Soloist’. He has won a number of awards including the APA’s Van Amerigan award and USPRA’s John Beard award for his outstanding lifetime contribution to psychiatric rehabilitation as well as being selected as a distinguished fellow by the American Psychiatric Association. He has become one of the true pioneers and leaders of recovery based psychiatry. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Candace Ray
Candace Ray joined the Lighthouse Program for Grieving Children, http://www.grievingchildrenlighthouse.org/, as Program Director in January of 2013. She brought with her over 20 years of experience in social work and public education. While employed as a social worker, she completed her Master’s degree in Education at the University of Vermont in 1992. She spent the next four years as a Special Educator in a public high school and earned a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Education at the University of Vermont in 1998 before moving to Canada. In addition to her experience as a teacher and social worker, she has spent over 10 years coordinating programs and working with volunteers at Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring organizations in both Canada and the United States. She is passionate and committed to supporting children, youth and their families as they face difficult life challenges. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Dr. Geoffrey Reaume
Dr. Geoffrey Reaume is Associate Professor in the Critical Disability Studies graduate program at York University where he has taught since 2004. His research is informed by his experiences as a psychiatric in-patient and out-patient as a teenager and young adult. He has been involved in the psychiatric survivor/consumer community in Toronto since 1990. His doctoral dissertation was published as Remembrance of Patients Past: Patient Life at the Toronto Hospital for the Insane, 1870-1940. He is a co-founder of Psychiatric Survivor Archives, Toronto (founded 2001). Since 2000 he has given over 100 history tours of the patient built nineteenth century Toronto Asylum boundary walls, now marked by nine wall plaques, at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health based on research from his book. He introduced and has taught Mad People’s History at all three universities in Toronto. He is the recipient of the 2009-10 Faculty of Graduate Studies Teaching Award at York University. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Dr. Anna Reid
Dr. Anna Reid, President, 2012–2013, Canadian Medical Association, http://www.cma.ca/, received her medical degree, in 1986 from the University of Ottawa. She completed her family practice residency in 1988 through the University of British Columbia. She completed further critical care and trauma training in 2000. She was a rural and community family practice locum from 1988 to 1995 in the North West Territories and British Columbia. She practiced comprehensive family practice in Nelson, British Columbia, from 1995 until 2000, enjoying especially palliative care and geriatric work. She was an emergency and intensive care unit physician at Kootenay Lake Hospital in Nelson between 2001 and 2008. In 2008 she was recruited to Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife North West Territories, where she practices emergency medicine and hospitalist work. She is deeply concerned about the homeless, mentally ill and addicted patients who face inequities in access to care. 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:
Erika Richards-Harding
Erika Richards-Harding was born in Chicago Illinois. She attended Culver Military academy, a boarding school in Indiana, where she first met JR. At college she earned a journalism and dance degree. Her first job brought her to Lake Tahoe where, during a reporting assignment, she was asked to plan parties for a living, from which grew her company, EVENTUS. She worked with the Atlanta and Salt Lake Olympics and travelled widely. Her travels took her to Atlanta, where JR reached out and asked her to attend the FSU GATOR football game. As he says it, that was the hook and all he had to do was reel her in. She recently passed the USPTA tennis certification exam and now teaches tennis. Other successes include writing “Now What” with JR and their continued advocacy. She’s served on the Chamber of Commerce for persons with Disabilities, The Tallahassee Equal Opportunity Council and currently serves on the Board for the local center for Independent Living, Ability 1st. 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:
Peter Rosenthal
Peter Rosenthal has been Professor of Mathematics at the University of Toronto since 1967. His interest in law stems from his interest in social justice. He’d had a long career as a paralegal representing protesters charged with summary conviction offences, people before administrative tribunals, including workers fighting denials of compensation, and a lawyer in a disciplinary hearing before the Law Society of Upper Canada. He subsequently attended law school, graduated from the University of Toronto in 1990, and was called to the bar in 1992. He has since represented protesters, including members of the Black Action Defence Committee, of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, and G20 activists. He’s conducted criminal, civil and constitutional litigation at all levels of courts, and acted at many coroner's inquests. He still teaches mathematics at the University of Toronto and researches in mathematics. He’s also Adjunct Professor of Law, teaching "Litigation and Social Change." 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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Mary Schulz
Mary Schulz has been the Director, Information, Support Services and Education at the Alzheimer Society of Canada since 2006. She has spent her career in healthcare, providing individual and family counseling to clients facing crises associated with life-limiting illness, chronic disability and cognitive impairment. She has also helped to plan and implement programs and services in settings throughout the health-care continuum. She obtained her Bachelor degree in Social Work from Ryerson University and holds a Masters degree in Social Work from York University. In her current role, Mary, along with her counterparts across provincial Alzheimer Societies, is leading the Society’s Culture Change initiative to foster person-centred care of people with dementia living in long-term care homes. View Guest page
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Jonathan Schwartz
Jonathan Schwartz was President and CEO at Sun Microsystems prior to its acquisition by Oracle. He was also the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lighthouse Design, Ltd., a software company platform, ultimately acquired by Sun. He’s one quarter Indian, one quarter Welsh on his mother's side, and one quarter Hungarian, one quarter Russian on his father's side. He holds degrees in mathematics and economics. In 1986, he was nearly killed while riding on the Amtrak Colonial train that crashed in Chase, Maryland. He says the incident had a profound impact on his life. He is now the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of CareZone, https://carezone.com/. He developed CareZone, which launched in February 2012, with Walter Smith an Apple and Microsoft veteran. He says CareZone was started for people like him who must simultaneously care for children and parents but find social networking sites to be inappropriate, and insufficiently targeted toward the act of caregiving. 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
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Dr. Nancy Sears
Dr. Nancy Sears is a registered nurse in Ontario Canada. She holds the baccalaureate of Science in Nursing, a Master’s in Public Administration and a PhD in Health Administration from the University of Toronto. Her doctoral studies focused on health service organization and management. Her current research focuses on harm that individuals receiving health care can experience. During her career, she’s been responsible for the planning and delivery of home care services to a mixed urban and rural population, healthcare services in a long-term care facility, and leading the planning for healthcare services for a population of over half a million people. She currently teaches the BScN program in nursing at St. Lawrence College, http://ow.ly/k4H1D. She’s an elected member of the governing council of the College of Nurses of Ontario, and chair of the College’s Discipline Committee. She is involved in research that examines patient safety in home care across Canada. View Guest page
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Bob Seed
Bob Seed is the lead plaintiff in a class-action bid against the Brantford school for the blind and visually impaired, which he attended from 1954 to 1965, and which is the focus of the class action discussed in this Episode of Family Caregivers Unite!. He’s a professional broadcaster who is General Manager of Thunder Bay Information Radio in Thunder Bay, Ontario. His experience includes Announcer/Operator and Music Librarian, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC Radio, Thunder Bay, and Announcer/Host, All Night Radio Program CJLX Radio, Thunder Bay. He’s an Amateur Radio Operator. His call sign, VE3GIS, was issued in 1965. He has extensive experience with volunteer work including assessment, field placement and fund-raising services. View Guest page
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Rosemarie Senisi
Rosemarie Senisi was self-employed before she married another self-employed person. ‘Relentless hours’ is how she describes their life then. On becoming a parent she wanted to be just a mom. She’s now Mom of 4 children, 3 living with neurological conditions. When her youngest, who lives with autism, was 3 months she was diagnosed with cancer. Her mom had just recovered from cancer, so she was tested as a precaution because she always gets what her mom does. Now, every year, she participates in the Ride to Conquer Cancer, 200 km from Toronto to Niagara Falls. She rides to empower her kids, she says, to show them that no matter how difficult a task seems they have at least to try, that they only get to the finish line if they go to the starting line, and that there is nothing they can't accomplish in their lives. Her one wish is that they live their lives. Her kids are her life’s highlights. She wouldn't give up the chaos, fighting, mess, homework, laughs, smiles, hugs, for anything. View Guest page
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Andy Shaw
Andy Shaw, andyshaw56@gmail.com, a journalist, is Canadian Press Chief at MEDICA, the world’s largest annual medical trade fair. He’s freelance writer for Canadian Healthcare Technology and other trade magazines. He’s been a globe-trotting sports reporter and broadcaster for CBC Radio, Broadcast News (radio), CBC-TV, CTV, TSN, UPI, Canadian Press, Maclean’s Magazine, the Globe and Mail, and other newspapers. He’s been a reporter at six Olympic Games, multiple world championships, summer and winter Paralympics, and the Stoke-Mandeville Games where disabled sport began. His experience includes Vice-President, Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association, Sports director/commentator for Ottawa radio stations CKPM, CBO, CKOY, weekend announcer CJOH-TV, and Vice-President, Travel Media Association of Canada. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Lucie Shaw
Lucie Shaw and her husband David own and operate Nurse Next Door in Mississauga, Ontario. The idea to start a business came to them during the time that they were looking for someone to take care of David's aging parents. When exploring various options, they came across BC-based Nurse Next Door Home Care services and they realized the company was a perfect fit with their values. They were looking for an opportunity where they could give back to the community by supporting aging parents and their families. At Nurse Next Door, they are able to care for families’ loved ones with care levels ranging from companionship right up to nursing, including end-of-life care. She is excited to be able to bring seniors and their families the peace of mind they need through focused, personalized home care services. “Our talent is caring”, she says, and our goal is to make lives better one visit at a time. www.nursenextdoor.com View Guest page
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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:
Eleanor Silverberg, BA Psych, MSW, RSW
Eleanor Silverberg, BA Psych, MSW, RSW, is a self-employed Counseling and Grief Specialist for Care Providers. After 15+ years in dementia care professionally as a Community Outreach Social Worker and personally as a family caregiver, she focuses on assisting dementia caregivers to strengthen their resiliency and prevent burnout. She provides group counseling and presentations for family caregivers, and conducts on- site and online training seminars to healthcare frontline workers who serve dementia family caregivers. She trains healthcare workers in applying the 3-A Approach, Acknowledge, Assess, Assist (TM), she developed for addressing caregiver grief. She’s observed that the loss and grief experienced by family caregivers impacts their well-being and manner of providing care. Her publication about the 3-A Approach is an educational resource for professionals available on the Canadian Virtual Hospice website. Her website is www.eleanorsilverberg.com View Guest page
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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Tracy Soloninka
Tracy Soloninka is a recognized leader in oncology and palliative care. At Durham Regional Cancer Center she’s the manager of the outpatient palliative care program. She has extensive experience in the United States and Canada in developing hospice/palliative care home delivery programs. She received her undergraduate degree in nursing from Arizona State University and her Master’s Degree in Oncology from the University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Her research focus has been on caregiving at end of life and the challenges facing those individuals who commit to supporting a loved one through the dying process. A strong proponent of the right to die at home, she understands the struggles faced by caregivers that accompany patients on this journey. She has become a vocal advocate for caregiver benefits that would enable family members to dedicate the time required to support the myriad physical, psycho-social and spiritual demands during this unique experience. 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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Janet Sperling
Janet Sperling was trained as an entomologist, which is when she first learned about Lyme disease. After completing an MSc on the physiology of beetles, she took time off to raise 4 boys. When the oldest in 2004 fell desperately ill at the age of 15, she was faced with the prospect of caring for a severely ill teenager as well as his three younger brothers. After nine months with no clear diagnosis, she and her husband decided to explore the possibility of Lyme disease. The treatment that followed the diagnosis allowed their son to return to his former good health. Intrigued by the challenges and complexity of the diagnosis, she now volunteers as a board member for the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation. View Guest page
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Jan Spilman, MEd
Jan Spilman, MEd, is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, Compassion Fatigue Specialist, and Mental Health Educator with a passion for helping people-who-help-people to live well with the stress of their personal and professional caregiving. She specializes in designing and delivering renewing, interactive, wellness-oriented workshops on Compassion Fatigue, Chronic Sorrow, Double-duty Caregiving, Personal and Professional Wellness, and the Enneagram to groups of family caregivers, professionals, and volunteers across the country, www.caregiverwellness.ca. Her professional career includes 10 years as an acute and critical care nurse and nurse-manager, and 19 years as a trauma therapist in private practice. For 7 years she was also family caregiver for her husband until he died from heart failure in 2004. Since then, she’s focused upon the work she loves best, teaching caregivers practical, realistic ways of healing their trauma and loss and improving the quality of their lives. 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
Episode Listing:
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
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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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Dr. Chris Summerville
Dr. 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, he has been the executive director of the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society since 1995 and is also the CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, 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 Psychosocial Rehabilitation Practitioner and as an ASIST Suicide Intervention Trainer with Living Works. He lives in Steinbach, Manitoba. He sees mental illness as an issue not only in health, but also in social justice. 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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Lisa Taylor
Lisa Taylor is the Associate Registrar for College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario. The College regulates the practice of dental hygiene in Ontario and is committed to ensuring that the public benefits from the highest standards of excellence in practice by the 12 thousand dental hygienists it regulates. She holds a diploma in Dental Hygiene from Algonquin College, a Bachelor of Arts (Law and Business) from Carleton University and a Bachelor of Education (Adult) from Brock University and a Master of Education (Health Professional Education) at the University of Toronto. She practiced clinically as a dental hygienist for 20 years before joining the College in 2005 as Practice Advisor. She is an advocate for oral health and was the 2011 recipient of the Peacock Award for leadership and excellence in championing a bold, creative and impactful strategic communications initiative focused on the link between oral health and overall health. 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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Dr. Pamella Thomas
Dr. Pamella Thomas is Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director of the Institute for Health and Productivity Management’s WorkPlace Center for the Working Caregiver, http://is.gd/d5go2D. She’s Adjunct Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Rollins School of Public health, Emory University. She’s former Director of Wellness and Health Promotion at Lockheed Martin Corporation. She’s also former Director of Wellness and Health Promotion and Medical Director for LM Aeronautics, where she supervised medical services to over 7,000 employees. In 2002, her duties expanded to include Health and Productivity Management as well as Disease Prevention for over 28,000 employees located in Georgia, Texas, California and elsewhere. She’s served as Chair of the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency Program Advisory Board. She is a preceptor for resident practicum and has trained residents from various occupational medicine programs including Harvard and Oklahoma. View Guest page
Episode Listing:
Norine Thomason
Norine Thomason has been caregiver to her husband Bill since he was diagnosed in 1969 with multiple sclerosis, which progressed significantly over time. They are very supportive of each other. She says that the family has worked around the challenges of MS and tried to carry on as normally as possible, although caring proved difficult at times. The breadwinner in the family, she worked as an elementary school administrative assistant until she retired several years ago. Her workplace offered her the flexibility to attend to him when needed. She realized that she couldn’t advance her career because she needed to be able to go home to him at a moment’s notice. She raised two children and acted as both mother and father at times. The family faced financial dilemmas, such as paying for the children’s university education, as well as home renovations and vehicle modifications for him to live as comfortable as possible. She is an active volunteer at the MS Society, http://mssociety.ca/en/. 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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Johanna Trimble
Johanna Trimble, http://www.isyourmomondrugs.com, is a passionate patient advocate and a World Health Organization Patient Safety Champion. She is on the steering committee of the BC Patient Voices Network and belongs to Patients for Patient Safety Canada. She is a public member of the Patient Safety Advisory Committee, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. In 2010 she won a “best poster” award at an international conference for her poster: “Is Your Mom on Drugs?” about the overmedication of her mother-in-law. She presented a plenary talk on overmedication at the 2011 Canadian Cochrane Symposium. She also champions the improvement of home and community care to end the reliance on hospital and residential care, often neither the choice nor the optimal care setting for the frail elderly. She is a member of the provincial Optimal Prescribing Update and Support team and the Polypharmacy Working Group. These teams develop continuing education for doctors in BC on safe prescribing practices. 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
Episode Listing:
Frank Viti
Frank Viti is President and CEO, Autism Speaks Canada, http://www.autismspeaks.ca, a position to which he was named in November 2012. His key responsibilities include strategic planning, program innovation, marketing, corporate partnership development and establishing new fundraising initiatives. He’s been a key leader in North America’s non-profit and governmental sectors for over two decades. He’s worked within healthcare, social services and environmental agencies. His experience includes President and CEO for Merit Ontario, President and CEO for Asthma Society of Ontario and Vice President, Revenue for Ducks Unlimited. He has also held management positions with the Canadian Cancer Society and the Lung Association. He has also worked in all three levels of government. 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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Kathy Walker
Kathy Walker has a Masters in Social Work, is a registered social worker, and worked as a mental health case manager for 15 years. She’s taught social service students at the Community College level. She’s currently a Director and Secretary of the board of a nonprofit agency newly formed to develop supportive housing for people with serious mental illnesses. It was begun by family caregivers who feel isolated within the current mental health system. Recently, she’s trained as a group facilitator of the Strengthening Families Together Program for the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario. She’ll be facilitating family psycho-educational groups in her community. She’s a single parent and mother of a son with schizoaffective disorder. Even though she is a social worker, she has experienced difficulties communicating with service providers who diminish her input regarding her son’s care. She is using her maiden name to protect her son’s identity. 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
Episode Listing:
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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Jim Wilson
Jim Wilson is President and founder of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, is himself a victim of Lyme disease and is the father of victims of Lyme disease. He’s been involved in networking with Lyme victims and providing them with scientific information for over 15 years. His background in the investigation of medical malpractice and legal liability has given him insight into medical research. In the medical research on Lyme disease he found conflict of evidence and conflict of interest. Both of these, he says, are rife within the medical industry. 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
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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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Jan Wong
Jan Wong is a third-generation Canadian who grew up in Montreal speaking English, some French and zero Chinese. In 1972, she traveled alone to the People's Republic of China. At 19, she talked her way into Peking University, becoming the first of two Westerners to study in China during the Cultural Revolution, a tale she recounts in ‘Red China Blues, My Long March from Mao to Now’, http://www.janwong.ca/redchinablues.html. She became a journalist in 1979 as the first news assistant for The New York Times bureau in Beijing. In 1981, after graduating with a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, she became a staff reporter at The Gazette in Montreal and, later, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail. She’s the recipient of numerous US and Canadian awards. She’s currently a columnist for Toronto Life magazine, a professor in journalism at St. Thomas University and a columnist for the Halifax Chronicle Herald. 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
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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
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Joel Yanofsky
Joel Yanofsky, http://Joelyanofsky.com, is the author of the essay collection ‘Homo Erectus: And Other Popular Tales of True Romance’, the novel ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, and the biography ‘Mordecai & Me: An Appreciation of a Kind’, which won the Mavis Gallant Non-fiction Prize and The Canadian Jewish Book Award. His most recent book is the memoir ‘Bad Animals: A Father’s Accidental Education in Autism’, which won the 2011 Mavis Gallant Non-Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for the B.C. National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. He’s a regular book reviewer for The Montreal Gazette and has won two National Magazine Awards as well as The Malahat Review’s Creative Non-fiction prize. He’s written for a variety of publications, including Canadian Geographic, Walrus, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, The Village Voice, Reader’s Digest, and The New York Times. View Guest page
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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
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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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Before and After Seniors’ Falls: What Family Caregivers Should Know
January 3, 2012
Hosted by Dr. Gordon Atherley
[Download MP3] [itunes] [Bookmark Episode]
Bob Pearson is President of Kimmel of Canada. Neila Curtin is responsible for oversight of the operation of the retirement home portfolio of Greenwood Retirement Communities. They say how and why they got involved with problems of seniors’ slips and falls, and how these influence their work. They discuss ways to prevent fail seniors’ slips and falls, explain where the risks are greatest at home and in facilities, and say what family caregivers should think and ask about. They discuss what happens after a senior’s serious fall, what emergency planning involves, and what family caregivers should know. They discuss the things that family caregivers should consider when a senior who’s had serious fall is discharged from hospital. They describe the things they would like to see done to improve slip and fall prevention and to improve the support for people and their families when a family member is recovering from a serious fall. They share their personal messages with family caregivers.
Family Caregivers Unite!
Monday at 10 AM PT on VoiceAmerica Empowerment and Tuesday at 10 AM PT on VoiceAmerica Variety
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. Family Caregivers Unite! empowers family caregivers by engaging them with each other, by sharing with them other family caregivers’ inspiring experiences, exciting ideas, and world-leading innovations in business and activism. Family Caregivers Unite! connects them with sources of trustworthy, understandable and useful information. Family caregivers united, empowered and informed get listened to!
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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