End of Life Awareness Pin
This pin was produced and designed by the Center for Health Policy Development, Inc., a non-profit, Hispanic health advocacy agency in San Antonio, Texas.
Symposium presenters will be wearing the pin to support the right of everyone to receive quality care when they are diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Unfortunately, the fact is that too many people die alone and in pain. For Latinos or any special population, this is not consistent with the importance of la familia y la comunidad, or family and community, in our lives.
When faced with a terminal illness or that of a family member or friend we all need to know about quality end of life care so that our last days are what we want them to be . . . peaceful, surrounded by loved ones and enriched by our cultural preferences.
We realize how hard it is to talk about a terminal illness and dying. But if we don’t have the conversation with loved ones before the crisis and take action, how will you know their wishes? Are you willing to have the health care system make decisions for you? Don’t you want the care you or a family member receives at the end of life to respect your culture, your beliefs and your values? If yes, please wear this ribbon and let others know that we cannot leave our ultima voluntad, or last will, to chance.
Steven Alberts, MD, MPH
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
Presentation: Approaches to Nutrition Support for Cancer Patients with Advanced Gastrointestinal Cancers
Dr. Alberts is a professor of Oncology in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and a consultant in the Division of Medical Oncology. In addition, he is the medical director for the Clinical Research Office and the coordinator for Upper Gastrointestinal Malignancies, North Central Cancer Treatment Group. He also serves as the chair for the Gastrointestinal Cancer Disease-Oriented Group for the Cancer Center. He received his MD from the University of Washington and MPH from the University of Hawaii. Dr. Alberts completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, and fellowship training in Hematology/Oncology at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. He is board certififed in Oncology. Dr. Alberts's research interests are focused in gastrointestinal malignancies, epidemiology, cancer prevention, and cancer in American Indians and Alaska Natives. Dr. Alberts has developed an international reputation for his working in the treatment of upper gastrointestinal malignancies. He conducts a variety of clinical trials for this group of diseases. He has a variety of publications outlining this research and is the coauthor of several book chapters.
Audrey Armstrong
Alaska Native Medical Center Volunteer, Anchorage, Alaska
Alaska Elder providing Symposium Opening, Second Day and Closing Prayer
Ms. Armstrong is Koyukon Athabascan. She was born in Galena, Alaska, and raised in Nulato, Alaska. She is a 2006 recipient of the YWCA "Women of Achievement" award. She retired after working 34 years at the Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC) in Anchorage, Alaska. Audrey was the Manager of Auxiliary Patient Services, and Director of the ANMC Volunteer Program. She is a member of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, serving as the Regional Governor recruiting students for the organization.
Leland Barger Sr., Inupiaq Tribal Doctor
NANA Regional Corporation and Aqqaluk Trust, Inuunailiqput Department, Kotzebue, Alaska
Presentation: Traditional Healing Among the Inupiaq: Caring for the Body, Mind and Spirit
Beloved I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as the soul prospereth (111 John 1:2). "It is the wish of our God in Heaven that all of mankind live in the abundance of good health; therefore it is everyone's responsibility on earth to help one another live life to the fullest in good health and for that to happen we all need the wisdom of almighty God to do that."
Mr. Barger is Inupiaq. He was born and raised in Noatak, Alaska. He began working as a Tribal Doctor at age 16. He attended South Central Seattle Community College, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, and graduated with honors from the Career Academy in 1998. Mr. Barger currently works for the NANA Regional Corporation and Aqqaluk Trust as the Director of the Inuunailiqput Department, an Eskimo language and culture preservation program. Mr. Barger is the grandson of well-known Tribal Doctor Della Keats.
Sean Cardinal, MD
Providence Alaska Medical Center, Palliative Care and Fellowship Program, Anchorage, Alaska
Presentation: Is There Anyway Out of Here?? Our Teachers' Delirium
Dr. Cardinal is a Fellow of the Palliative Care and Fellowship Program at Providence Alaska Medical Center.
Bob Edwin Chaney Jr., PhD
Southcentral Foundation, Behavioral Health, Anchorage, Alaska
Presentation: So Many Patients Die After We Get Close to Them: How Do We Heal Ourselves?
Dr. Chaney has been a practicing Psychologist for over 25 years. He has been working with the Alaska Native Medical Center and Southcentral Foundation for the past 16 years. He is specialized in the areas of self-regulation, pain management and recovery from trauma and loss. In recognition of his numerous cross-cultural contributions, the Alaska Psychological Association presented him with the 2006 Cultural Humanitarian of the Year award. Through his years of experience he has developed a mind-body approach to healing that emphasizes non-judgment and cooperation. This approach is founded in a working knowledge of the mechanics of survival. His clinical contributions have been utilized by indigenous communities throughout Alaska. Dr. Chaney is currently the Director of Employee and Community Assistance with Southcentral Foundation.
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York
Presentation: CHF Management at the End of Life: It Takes an Interprofessional Team
Timothy Domer, MD
Fort Defiance Indian Hospital, Fort Defiance, Arizona
Presentation: Palliative Care for Dementia--Who is the Patient?
"Palliative care is an interdisciplinary system in which holistic care is given. No condition requires such an approach more than does dementia. With advancing dementia the family and care givers often suffer more than the patient. This must be recognized and addressed for satisfactory palliative care to be provided.”
Dr. Domer is the Director of Home Based Care/Elder Care Programs at Fort Defiance Indian Hospital in Fort Defiance, Arizona. He received his MD from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, completed residency in Internal Medicine at the Christ Hospital in Cinncinnati, Ohio, and fellowship training in Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care at the University of New Mexico Medical College.
Xavier Gómez-Batiste, MD, PhD
Institut Català d’Oncologia, Barcelona, Spain
Dr. Gómez-Batiste is Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Public Health Palliative Care Programmes at Catalan Institute of Oncology, Spanish Ministry of Health, Catalan Department of Health. Other current positions include serving as the Director of the "Qualy" Observatory End of Life Care and the Catalan Directory of Palliative Care Services and Director of the Master of Palliative Care at the University of Barcelona, which has trained approximately 500 doctors and nurses and has the unique reference in Catalonia for advanced training in palliative care. Dr. Gómez-Batiste is a member of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology, and was a founding member of the Catalan Society for Palliative Care (served as President from 1989-1992) and the Spanish Society for Palliative Care or SECPAL (served as Vice-President from 1992-1998).
Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, Alaska
Presentation: Traditional Healing Among the Inupiaq: Caring for the Body, Mind and Spirit
Plato is recorded as stating, "This is the greatest error in the treatment of illness, that there are physicians of the mind and physicians of the body and yet the two are indivisible." Over the past century we have learned a great deal about the mind and body, and yet for the treatment of illness engaging the spirit through the individual, the family, and the supporting community appears to enhance the quality of life beyond the clinical assessments of working with just the other two factors. We must better understand and utilize the body, mind, and spirit to maximize well-being. We need to involve the spirit of what is ingested, the spirit of family, the spirit of the caregivers, the spirit of place, and the interconnection to all. Individuals hold on until the last relative arrives or a significant event takes place, so that the spirit can then rest and there be peace.
Dr. Hild is a Associate Professor at Alaska Pacific Univeristy (APU) in Anchorage, Alaska. He is the Director of the Health Services Administration Program at APU. He has conducted health research utilizing Alaska Native traditional knowledge since the late 1970s. Dr. Hild is a member of the American Public Health Association's Task Force, which prepared "The National Arctic Health Science Policy." He has received the Alaska Public Health Association's Long-term Service Award. From 2004-07 he was the Principal Investigator for a National Institutes of Health award from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities - Alaska Native Science Research Partnerships for Health. He also served as Co-PI for a National Library of Medicine award to the University of Alaska/APU Consortium Library for the hosting of the Arctic Health Web site to make information on Alaska Native health disparities and traditional knowledge more accessible (www.arctichealth.org). Dr. Hild has worked actively with the Tribal Doctors of the Maniilaq Association and the Tribal Healer Program of the Norton Sound Health Corporation on the use of indigenous knowledge of healing to expand allopathic services He is the Coordinator of the State funded Rural Alaska Hospital Internship Program to offer graduate students experiential learning.
Mary Lou Kelley, MSW, PhD
Lakehead University, Ontario, Canada
Presentation: Implementing Palliative Care in Long Term Care Homes: Where Do We Start?
"Residents of long-term care homes represent one of society’s most frail and marginalized populations. Much can be done to support them and their families when they face end-of-life issues.”
Dr. Kelley is a Professor in the School of Social Work at Lakehead University and at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Thunder Bay, ON. Her work focuses on promoting interdisciplinary research and education in gerontology and palliative care. Mary Lou's research and publications focus on health and social services for older adults, rural health, long-term care policy and delivery, palliative care, and interdisciplinary gerontology education. She is co-chair of the End-of-Life Care Network for LHIN #14. Mary Lou is principal investigator of the five-year participatory action research project “Improving Quality of Life for People who are Dying in Long Term Care Homes, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. This project, taking place in four long term care homes, will result in a tool kit of interventions for developing palliative care in long term care.
Anchorage, Alaska
Tsimshian Dancers providing opening dance on last day of Symposium
Lepquinm Gumilgit Gagoadim (Our Own Dance in Our Hearts) Tsimshian Dancers is a multi-generational Southeast Alaska group based in the Anchorage area. Their youngest member is one years old and the eldest member is 83 years old. Dance group leader, Marcella Foster, and Elder-Leader, Theo Bayou, both of Metlakatla, established LGG in May 2005.
Since LGG was established, they have performed in Anchorage, Palmer, Bethel, Fairbanks, Juneau and Metlakatla, Alaska; Puyallup, Washington; and the National Museum of American Indian Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The dance group took first place in the Indian Dance Competition at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics in 2007!
LGG dancers are known for their large bentwood box drum, theatrical presentation with masks and humor. LGG thrives to teach about the Tsimshian culture, language, songs and dances, expressing how their culture is a living, breathing thing.
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York
Presentation: CHF Management at the End of Life: It Takes an Interprofessional Team
Dr. Lindenberger is an assistant professor in the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. As a clinician-educator in the Geriatrics Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) at the JJ Peters VA Medical Center, Dr. Lindenberger provides education in geriatrics and palliative care to health care trainees of all levels and from multiple disciplines. She is a recipient of the Geriatric Academic Career Award (GACA), and her education and research focus is on the training of interdisciplinary teams caring for patients with advanced chronic illness. Her areas of scholarship include Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), advance care planning, hospital care for the frail elderly, and geriatrics and palliative care education. Dr. Lindenberger is a co-director for the “Advanced Course in Geriatrics and Palliative Care for Frontline Primary Care Providers,” a 40- hour CME course sponsored by the Consortium of New York Geriatric Education Centers (CNYGEC).
Roderick MacLeod, PhD, FAChPM
Goodfellow Unit, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Presention: Who Cares? What People Near the End of Life Say About Caring
"Care seems such a nebulous concept that we often don't think too much about what it actually is. We need to learn more about it in order to effectively teach those who will care near the end of life."
Dr. MacLeod is Medical Director of Hibiscus Coast Hospice, Whangaparaoa , Auckland. He is Honorary Clinical Professor in General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Auckland, and Adjunct Professor in the Departments of General Practice and Medical and Surgical Sciences at University of Otago, Dunedin School of Medicine. He has a longstanding interest in education in palliative care completing his PhD work in 2002, with a submission entitled, "Changing the way that doctors learn to care for people who are dying." Dr. MacLeod has published widely in the area of palliative care in national and international peer-reviewed journals. His book, Snapshots on the Journey--An Anthology of Poems Through Death and Remembrance, was published by Steele Roberts, Wellington in 2002.
Greg G. Marino, DO, FACP
Alaska Native Medical Center, Oncology Clinic, Anchorage, Alaska
Presentation: Everyone Is Part of the Palliative Care Team--Including You!
Dr. Marino is the clinical director for the Oncology Clinic at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska. He received his BA from the University of Notre Dame, DO from the Chicago College of Osteophathic Medicine. Dr. Marino also served in the US Navy and was on staff at the Naval Hospital in San Diego, California. He is board certified in Oncology, Hematology and Internal Medicine, and has a particular interest and dedication to palliative care and the Alaska Native people. He dotes on his five grand daughters under the age of seven years.
Lisa A. Marr, MD
University of New Mexico School of Medicine - Palliative Care Section, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Presentation: How Can I Be Honest with a Patient About Their Prognosis and Still Maintain Hope and Trust
Dr. Marr is the Section Chief of Palliative Care at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is also an Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Division of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Palliative Care Section, and Director of Palliative Medicine Fellowship (in preparation). She received her MD at the University of Maryland Medical School, completed residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and fellowship training in Palliative Medicine at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2007, Dr. Marr was one of two recipients of the Edward J. Lennon Endowed Clinical Teaching Award, which is awarded annually by the Medical College of Wisconsin Society of Teaching Scholars to recognize excellence in clinical medicine and education by faculty at the early stage of their academic career.
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
Presentation: Best Practices for Palliative Pain and Symptom Management--How Can I Confidently Make the Change from Dosing for Cure to Dosing for Palliative Care? What Can I Do When Access to a High-level of Care Is Limited?
Dr. Moynihan is Education Chair and Consultant in the Division of Medical Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He is also an Associate Professor of Oncology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, the Immediate past Director of the Palliative Care Consult service and Associate Medical Director of the Mayo Clinic Hospice. He received his MD at the St. Louis University School of Medicine, completed residency in Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and fellowship training in Hematology and Oncology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He has extensive publications in medical oncology, has thrice been voted the Teacher of the Year in Medical Oncology, and received the Distinguished Clinical Teacher award from the University of Minnesota Medical School.
Desiree Simeon, BS, RD
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Wellness and Prevention, Anchorage, Alaska
Presentation: What's Food Got to Do with It?
Ms. Simeon is a Nutrition Research Program Manager with the ANTHC Wellness and Prevention Program in Anchorage, Alaska. She received her Bachelor's degree in Dietetics from Kansas State University, completing her dietetics internship through the University of Alaska Anchorage. She is an Adjunct Professor with the University of Alaska Anchorage, teaching courses on Alaska Native Traditional Diet and General Nutrition for Health Sciences, and is one of the authors of the Traditional Food Guide for Alaska Native Cancer Survivors. Ms. Simeon is participating in ANTHC's Leadership Excellence through Advancement and Determination (LEAD) program. The program provides leadership experience and training to ANTHC’s Alaska Native/American Indian employees, and assists them in achieving their career goals.
Shannon Smiley, MD
Alaska Native Medical Center, Oncology Clinic, Anchorage, Alaska
Presentation: I Think It's Time to Meet with the Patient and Family: What Do I Say?
Dr. Smiley is a staff physician for the Oncology Clinic at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska. Previously she was an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Instructor in Medicine with the Department of Medicine, Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, New York. She received her MD from St. George's University School of Medicine; completed residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and Maine Medical Center, and Pathology at the University of Vermont School of Medicine; and fellowship training in Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Hematology/Oncology at Roswell Park Institute and University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Smiley's research and publications focus on blood and marrow transplantation. She is a member of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Medical Ethics Committee, Anchorage, Alaska, and Medical Monitor with the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Karen Steinhouser, PhD
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Presentation: Are You At Peace?
Dr. Steinhauser is a Health Scientist with the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, VA Medical Center, Durham, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Medicine, Senior Fellow with the Duke University Center for Aging, Associate Faculty Scholar with the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life, and Associate Director of the Program on the Medical Encounter and Palliative Care, Duke and VA Medical Centers. Dr. Steinhauser received her doctoral training in sociology at Duke where she specialized in the study of medical sociology and aging. Dr. Steinhauser's primary interests are end of life care, medical sociology and patient-provider relationships. Specifically, she investigates the composition and measurement of quality of life for patients and their families at the end of life.
Charlotte Ann Syme, BSN, MSN, PhDc
British Columbia Cancer Agency, Pain & Symptom Management/Palliative Care, British Columbia, Canada
Presentation: Crossing Over from Cure to Care
"The cancer control system is positioned to receive people becoming cancer patients. There are many very deliberate activities which shape this process, and much institutional effort invested. What happens for people, after all this deliberate shaping, when their cancer is found to be incurable? What shapes this dying self for the person, and what are their needs in this space between being a cancer patient and becoming a dying person?"
Ann is the Provincial Leader of Pain & Symptom Management/Palliative Care at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in British Columbia, Canada. Ann holds Adjunct and Clinical faculty positions at the University of Victoria's School of Nursing and the University of British Columbia's Division of Palliative Care. She is a member of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer: Clinical Practice Guidelines and Cancer Journey Advisory groups. She has been the recipient of the British Columbia Hospice Palliative Care Association's Award of Excellence (2008) and Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology Award for Excellence in Education (2004). Ann recently completed two Canadian Institute Health Research - New Emerging Team grants.
Virginia (Ginger) Thompson, RPh
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
Presentation: Best Practices for Palliative Pain and Symptom Management--How Can I Confidently Make the Change from Dosing for Cure to Dosing for Palliative Care? What Can I Do When Access to a High-level of Care Is Limited?
Virginia (Ginger) Thompson, R. Ph. is a pharmacist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Her responsibilities include being a member of the Mayo Hospice interdisciplinary team and a clinical hospital pharmacist in Hematology and Oncology. She is a preceptor for students and residents in hospice and pain management and a presenter for the End of Life Nursing Consortium. She is a pharmacist formulary reviewer and a contributor to the Mayo Clinic Internal Medicine Board Review. She is also a member of the Mayo Foundation Palliative Care Task Force and the pharmacist for the Palliative Care Consulting Service.
Kevin J. Whitford, MD
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
Presentation: What Is An "Emergency" with Palliative Care Patients and How Should I Handle?
Dr. Whitford is the medical director designee and consultant with the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He received his MD from the University of Iowa College of Medicine, and completed residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas.
