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Speaker Bios

• Self Care: Taking Care of YOU

   Donna Schempp, Family Caregiver Alliance

• Dementia Communication

   Elizabeth Edgerly, Alzheimer's Association

• Relaxation Techniques

   Fran Sheridan, MSW, Pathways Home Health, Hospice and Private Duty

   Soodabeh Mokry, RN, Pathways Home Health, Hospice and Private Duty

• HICAP, Medicare and MediCal

   Connie Corrales, HICAP - Council on Aging Silicon Valley

• Caregiver Stories of Healing and Hope

   Caregiver Panel

 

Self Care: Taking Care of YOU

Donna Schempp, Family Caregiver Alliance

Donna Schempp, LCSW, is the program director at Family Caregiver Alliance. FCA is a non profit organization that helps caregivers to get respite and support for their caregiving roles. FCA serves people with chronic illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, MS, Parkinson’s, Stroke, etc as well as caregivers of frail elders. Previous to coming to FCA, Donna worked with Kaiser to increase use of community organizations by Kaiser patients and was 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 SF 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. Since her first career was working with children and families, she has experience working with clients across the life span.

Dementia Communication

Elizabeth Edgerly, Alzheimer's Association

Elizabeth Edgerly, Ph.D., is Chief Program Officer of the Alzheimer’s Association, Northern California & Northern Nevada as well as a clinical psychologist. Dr. Edgerly oversees all chapter programs for persons with dementia, their families and professionals. She is instrumental in the development of new programs to better meet the needs of persons with dementia throughout Northern California & Northern Nevada. Dr. Edgerly is also the lead presenter and national spokesperson for the Alzheimer's Association’s Maintain Your Brain program and has appeared on television, radio and in numerous national and local publications, speaking on this topic. In addition to her work with programs, she staffs the chapter’s Medical Scientific Advisory Council.

Dr. Edgerly is a graduate of the University of Maine, Orono; she completed her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at State University of New York at Binghamton, NY in 1994. After completing her postdoctoral fellowship at Palo Alto VA Medical Center, she consulted with the Interdisciplinary Team Training and Development Program with the center. Dr. Edgerly joined the Alzheimer’s Association in 1995.

Dr. Edgerly has had her work published in numerous scientific journals including the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and the Journal of Psychopathology & Behavioral Assessment.

Relaxation Techniques

Fran Sheridan, MSW, Pathways Home Health, Hospice and Private Duty

Fran Sheridan, LCSW is a Medical Social Worker who has worked at Pathways Home Health, Hospice & Private Duty for 11 years. Prior to joining Pathways, she was a social worker at the Adult Protective Services in Mendocino County. She earned her Masters in Social Work from Sacramento State University.

Fran’s initial interest in Integrative Therapies began when she was working in Mendocino where many of her colleagues were Reiki masters. Her patients often suffer from dementia and she has found that using relaxation techniques help her communicate more effectively with people with cognitive issues. Fran has since been trained in Reiki Level 2, comfort touch, aromatherapy and guided meditation.

She has traveled as a representative of the National Organization of Social Workers to hospice and hospitals in Cambodia. Fran is also certified in Drug and Adult Studies and has volunteered at the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic.

Soodabeh Mokry, RN, Pathways Home Health, Hospice and Private Duty

Soodabeh Mokry, RN recently relocated from Portland Oregon to join Pathways Home Health, Hospice & Private Duty as a Home Health Nurse. In her responsibilities as a home health nurse, she visits patients who are coping with an injury or chronic illness.

Soodabeh, a nurse for 29 years, was born and raised in the Middle East. She moved to the United States in 1990 and continued her education to earn an RN degree. Upon graduation, Soodabeh joined the staff at the Providence Health System for 13 years. During her time with Providence Health, she worked in several departments including surgery, oncology, home health and palliative care.

Soodabeh specifically joined the Pathways team to explore how Integrative Therapies including relaxation techniques, comfort touch, Reiki, and other non-pharmacologic interventions can help patients as they cope with life threatening or serious illnesses.

HICAP, Medicare and MediCal

Connie Corrales, HICAP - Council on Aging Silicon Valley

Connie Corrales is the Director for the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) administered by the Council on Aging Silicon Valley. HICAP is an advocate for senior health-care rights and assists in obtaining entitlement to senior health-care benefits. The Program provides objective counseling and information allowing consumers to make informed choices about Medicare, Supplements, Medicare Advantage, and long-term care insurance.

For the past thirteen years Connie Corrales has specialized in promoting the rights of senior citizens and disabled persons. As the HICAP Director, Corrales supervises 30 HICAP counseling sites countywide. She is also responsible for recruiting and supervising 26 HICAP volunteers and oversees their counseling, outreach, and community education activities.