Upcoming Speakers
Past Speakers
Kathleen Rusnak is a thought-provoking, humorous, and dynamic speaker on issues concerning spiritual care at the end of life, the relationship between loss, grief and faith, issues of faith, spirituality and theology for the Christian World after the Holocaust. Her insights have emerged and evolved from her naturally introspective and reflective way of being in the world, and her deep desire to motivate people to seek a higher level of consciousness in their daily lives and in their relationships with others. Kathleen has been the chaplain for two hospices in New Jersey, the Director of Spiritual Care at The Connecticut Hospice, the pastor of three Lutheran congregations in New Jersey, and the Director of the Holocaust Study Department at Nes Ammim, a Christian kibbutz in Western Galilee, Israel (1998-2000). She is an ordained Lutheran minister, with a Ph.D. in Psychology and Religion from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Kathleen has published numerous articles and is currently writing a book entitled, Because You've Never Died Before: The World of the Dying. Kathleen is the Pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Cresskill, New Jersey.
John N. Migliaccio, Ph.D., President of Maturity Mark Services Co., and the American Institute of Financial Gerontology has specialized in marketing and marketing communications programs for the mature markets since 1980. Projects include innovative programs in housing, insurance and financial services marketing, publishing, research, and pre_retirement/retiree programs for clients such as American Express Co., IBM Corp., Sun City Center, Montgomery Ward, AdultCare, MetLife, State Farm Insurance Co., The Equitable Foundation, The Bayer Co., Kraft Foods, Meredith Publishing, National Alliance for Caregiving, Pulte Homes, Hearthstone Assisted Living, SeniorPATH.com and many others.
He is a Founding Member of National Association of Senior Living Industries, serving on the NASLI Board from its inception in 1985 until 1993 and again as a Board and Executive Committee member and Chair of the Mature Market Commission from 1996-1999. He has also served on the Board of the American Society on Aging on multiple terms, as Chairman of ASA's Business Forum on Aging, and numerous other leadership positions with ASA and the %0+ Housing Council of the National Ass'n . of Home Builders. He received the ASA Leadership Award in 2003 for his outstanding contributions to the field of aging and business. He conducts seminars, workshops, research and consulting projects around the country on successful marketing to the 50 and over population, communications, and relationship marketing programs, and co-authored the popular marketing guides to the mature consumer "77 Truths about Marketing to the Mature Consumer." Maturity Mark Services Co. was retained for one of the nation's most comprehensive research projects on the Baby Boomers for the U.S. Administration on Aging, as well as national research on Boomer caregivers for the National Alliance for Caregiving.
Elizabeth Burden, LICSW, MPH is Senior Clinical Social Worker at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, a state public health hospital in Massachusetts. This hospital serves a complex, underserved patient population. She provides training and supervision to social work staff, as well as consultation to multidisciplinary medical teams and discharge planning. For ten years, she has coordinated the Boston Geriatric Providers Meeting. As Clinical Instructor at Tufts Medical School, she has presented lectures and lead seminars for the Geriatric Psychiatric Fellowship Program. Her workshops on hoarding, dementia and delirium, and elder suicide have been presented throughout New England. She was also a featured consultant in the documentary, Packrat by Kris Britt Montag. She earned her Master’s degrees in Social Work and Public Health from Boston University.
Richard Comshaw, PhD, APRN received his doctorate in 2004. He specializes in mental health issues affecting older adults and has been a geriatric nurse practitioner for many years. He currently works for Connecticut Mental Health Specialists as Director of Clinical Research and as a Geriatric clinician in numerous nursing facilities and health care organizations. Dr. Comshaw works with care teams to assess psychiatric and behavioral issues, and to develop effective pharmacological and non-pharmacologic intervention plans. He is also a member of the speakers’ bureaus for several pharmaceutical companies.
Pat Tadel, MSN, RN, CHPN, Thanatologist, is a clinical ethicist
and bioethics mediator who received her post-doctoral certificate in ethics from the MacLean Center for Clinical Ethics, University of Chicago. She is Patient Care Administrator for Hartford/Waterbury VITAS Innovative Hospice Care . In addition to her responsibilities at VITAS, Patrice is an adjunct faculty and visiting lecturer at a number of Medical Schools and Schools of Nursing. Her professional affiliations include Board member of the Illinois Hospice & Palliative Care Association, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, American Society for Bioethics & Humanities, Association for Death Education and Counseling, Oncology Nursing Society, and Midwest Center for Practical Bioethics, and more. She has published professional articles and speaks to national audiences on end-of-life care, ethics, communication, cultural competence, grief and other palliative clinical issues. She is involved in ongoing research in end of life care. She is a site leader for the WIT Project, and ELNEC trainer. She has worked in hospice and end of life for over 16 years in various roles, including field nurse/case manager, Director of Nursing, performance improvement specialist and interdisciplinary clinical educator. She is committed to increasing access to hospice, community education, and outreach to underserved populations. Individualized care at the end of life which demonstrates collaboration with the patient and family and therefore assures meaningful life experiences are a personal driving force in her work.
Shelley O'Brien, MS has served as a Regional Ombudsman for the State of CT, Department of Social Services, Elderly Protective Program since 1987. As Regional Ombudsman, she is responsible for investigating allegations of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of individuals 60 years or older. In addition, she has served on numerous boards and committees and has co-authored several articles pertaining to elder abuse and neglect which have appeared in such journals as the Gerontologist.
Beth Schave-Bemis, Regional Manager, United Methodist Homes, Planetree Continuing Care Specialist
Beth Schave-Bemis joined United Methodist Homes in 1998 and has advanced the organization with her enthusiasm and focus. Recognizing that each senior living project is as unique as the people who live there, she successfully started up Middlewoods of Farmington, an assisted living residence and supervised operations during the transition of the United Methodist Homes’ purchase of Middlewoods of Newington, also an assisted living residence. In addition to these responsibilities, Ms. Schave-Bemis also works with The Long Hill Company, the management division of United Methodist Homes as an Operations Specialist. Under the award winning direction of Ms. Schave-Bemis, Middlewoods of Farmington and Middlewoods of Newington are the past recipients of multiple “Best Practices” awards from CALA (Connecticut Assisted Living Associate). Staff that she has mentored has received multiple leadership and customer service awards as well. Ms. Schave-Bemis previously worked as an activities director and marketing director, and has been in the independent living and assisted living health care fields since 1990. In 2006, Ms. Schave-Bemis began working with Planetree Continuing Care staff to plan the implementation of Planetree at the Middlewoods of Farmington community. In 2007 she started training with Planetree to become a Planetree Continuing Care Specialist and currently works with organizations just starting on their Planetree journey. Ms. Schave-Bemis earned a Lifetime Administrator certification through the Assisted Living Federation of America. She received her Master’s Degree in Human Development/Gerontology from St. Joseph College in West Hartford, Connecticut, and holds an undergraduate degree in Human Development and Family Relations with a concentration in Gerontology from the University of Connecticut.
Bonnie B. Gauther, MA, graduated from Colby College with the intent of pursuing teaching, and landed in the field of geriatrics. She began working at the “Hebrew Home” in 1979, and received her Masters in Gerontology from St. Joseph College in 1985, as one of the first graduates of the program. Ms. Gauthier’s contribution to this field is extensive, and she has been appointed to many boards, including the AAHSA as well as CANPFA’s Task Force on the State Survey and Enforcement Process. A more extended bio will be given at the presentation.
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