What Every… Needs to Know About Palliative Care
Course Author Bios |
Kathy Brandt, MS, the Principal of the kb group, has over twenty-five years working in hospice, palliative care, aging, and caregiving at the national, state, and local level. Kathy helps organizations identify and maximize their capacity through business development, project management, marketing, engagement, strategic planning and systems design.
For more than 16 years Kathy helped lead the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, working her way up through the organization to become the Senior Vice President, Office of Innovation and the Executive Director of NHPCO’s Mary J Labyak Institute for Innovation. For seven years Kathy worked at Suncoast Hospice where she created a community engagement model, Project DECIDE, which led to Suncoast being named as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded Rallying Points Regional Resource Center.
Kendra Deja, LCSW, MSN, GNP-BC, ACHPN is a geriatric nurse practitioner who completed her MSN at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Prior to becoming a nurse practitioner, Kendra received a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked as an LCSW in the VA system and for several community hospice programs.
Kendra has worked as a nurse case manager for community hospice and as a palliative care nurse practitioner in the VA, long-term care, on an inpatient palliative care consult service, and in an outpatient palliative care clinic embedded in an NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Kendra joined the CSU Institute for Palliative Care as the Manager of Clinical Curriculum and also serves as faculty for the Institute’s APRN Palliative Care Certificate course. Kendra is an Advanced Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse (ACHPN) and is an ELNEC trainer. Kendra is married and used to have lots of hobbies which have now been replaced by chasing around her 5 and 3-year old boys.
Nadya Dimitrov, DPM, PAC is Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of PA Education at Stony Brook University. She is also Assistant Director of the PA Post-Professional Masters program. She teaches and advises students in both programs. As a practicing podiatric physician, at the present time she works as an attending and supervises podiatric residents at the Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. She has been an active member of the PAs in Hospice and Palliative Medicine (PAHPM) for the past four years, and currently serves on the Board of Directors. Her current endeavors on a scholarship level are focused on palliative care education for practicing PAs and other healthcare providers, and in the development of inter-professional graduate level courses to address the clinical and policy aspects of this medical specialty.
Dr. Dimitrov received her BA from University of Colorado in liberal arts and psychology, earned a BS as a Physician Associate from Stony Brook University, and a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine from the NY College of Podiatric Medicine. She maintains her certification and licensure in both professions.
Karl Steinberg, MD, CMD is a geriatrician and board-certified family physician with a subspecialty certification in hospice and palliative medicine, and certification as skilled nursing facility and hospice medical director. Dr. Steinberg got his undergraduate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Harvard in 1980, then taught high school in New York, NY for three years.
He attended medical school at The Ohio State University, graduating in 1987, then completed his family medicine residency at University of California San Diego in 1990. He is involved in education as adjunct faculty for California State University San Marcos’ Institute for Palliative Care and Case Western Reserve University’s graduate school of biomedical engineering in the department of wireless health.
Dr. Steinberg serves on AMDA—The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine’s board of directors and is chair of their Public Policy Committee, also serving as the Editor-in-Chief of AMDA’s monthly periodical, Caring for the Ages. He also serves as chair of the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California. Dr. Steinberg has been a hospice and nursing home medical director since 1995 and is probably best known for taking his dogs on rounds with him on most days.
In collaboration with:
Carol Lovci, RN, MSN, Associate Dean for Health Sciences Online, Consultant for Cal State San Marcos palliative care programs, and a Case Management specialist for LA CARE health plan. Mrs. Lovci has spent more than 30 years as a healthcare professional and more than a decade in higher education.
She completed her Masters in Science of nursing with an emphasis on Leadership and Management from Walden University, Bachelors in Science from University of Phoenix, and Associates in nursing sciences from New York Regents program. Her ongoing commitment to learning has earned her a Certificate as a Director of Staff Development in California, National Board Certification in Case Management (CCM) and as a Certified Hospice and Palliative Care nurse (CHPN).
Monique Parrish, DrPH, MPH, LCSW is Director of LifeCourse Strategies, a health care consulting firm specializing in technical services and support for non-profit and public organizations addressing the health and social service needs of individuals with chronic illness and disabilities.
Dr. Parrish has worked extensively with older adults and their families and has written and lectured widely on aging, caregiving, and palliative care. In addition to her consulting practice, Dr. Parrish provides part-time clinical social work services to a center for homeless women.
Sue Wintz MDiv BCC is Director, Professional and Community Education at HealthCare Chaplaincy Network in New York, New York. With over 30 years of experience as a professional chaplain, consultant, educator, and community leader, she has worked extensively with patients and families facing serious injury and illness, end of life, and grief and bereavement.
She has written and lectured across disciplines on the importance of spirituality in person-centered care, best practices in professional chaplaincy, cultural competence, and grief. She is board certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains and is a past president of that organization.