Barak has had a long and varied career with the NM Department of Health. He is now “mostly retired,” although he continues to serve as an analyst for the NM Senate when they are in full session. Over the last nine years Barak has gotten deeply involved in end of life issues and was a founding member of the NM End of Life Options Coalition. 

The Elizabeth Whitefield End-of-Life Options Act was signed into Law by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on April 8th. This Law will provide New Mexicans living with terminal illnesses, more choices and options around how they live out their final days. Barak will now serve on the initial board of a new non-profit that is being created called End of Life Options NM to help implement the new law.

Here are links to some of the resources Barak mentioned in our chat:   

https://endoflifeoptionsnm.org/ 

https://compassionandchoices.org/

https://theconversationproject.org/ 

https://www.nmmost.org/

Today my guests are Edgar and Rachael from The Montecito Santa Fe. The Montecito, is a Senior Living community that offers independent, assisted and memory care services to their residents.   

Edgar is the Executive Director at Montecito and Rachael is Director of Community Relations. We’ve been working together in the community of Santa Fe for many years. I always enjoy every opportunity I have to spend time with these two.   Listen in on our chat about what it looks like to reopen our local senior communities safely. ❤️ 🏡

Today my guest is Tommy Hernandez of the Alzheimer’s Association’s New Mexico Chapter. Tommy is the Public Policy Director for the association. The associations overall vision is ultimately to see a world without Alzheimer’s Disease, or any type of dementia illness.

The organization has initiatives aimed to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s Disease and other types of dementia, support research for treatment, prevention and hopefully one day a cure. They also provide education and support for family caregivers. In addition to this, Tommy and others in similar roles play an active part in advocating at a policy level for those who’ve been affected by dementia related illnesses. 

I’m really thankful to have Tommy on today to chat about what he and the association have been up to.

Today my guest is Karen St Claire of the Parkinson’s Foundation. I’ve known Karen for a number of years now and she’s just amazing, definitely a major difference maker. Her impact among the community of those who are living with Parkinson’s or caring for a loved one living with the disease cannot be underestimated.   When Karen and I connected the other day she told me about the Parkinson’s Moving Day event that’s coming up next month, Saturday, May 22nd. And event to raise funds for the Parkinson’s Foundation.   Home Instead have signed on as sponsors for the event. We’re happy to support. And so I thought I’d bring Karen on today, April is Parkinson’s Awareness a month,  to have a chat about the event and introduce her to you all and chat about resources available to those impacted by Parkinson’s Disease.

Today my guest is David Davis, in addition to being the director of the Memory Care Alliance of Northern New Mexico, David is also the president of the Santa Fe Healthcare Network.

The Santa Fe Healthcare Network is an organization we’ve both been board members with for several years together. It's a unique group comprised of professionals working for a variety of organizations that most predominantly tend to serve the population older adults in Santa Fe and other surrounding areas.  

I brought David on today to discuss the Santa Fe Healthcare Network, specifically how the group maintained activity, offering support to member organizations and the community throughout this last year of the pandemic, as well as to talk about plans for the future of the network and how we can make a greater and greater impact for communities older adults and those helping to care for them.

Today my guests, at least in our surrounding area, need very little introduction… Jytte Lokvig and Ruth Dennis are our among our communities most well loved and appreciated dementia experts. I had the pleasure of working with Ruth and Jytte over the last year since the pandemic hit, developing an amazing conference that we were able to pull off just last month called "dementia possibilities". 

If this is news to you, don't worry, the reason that I have brought Ruth and Jytte on the show today is so that we can reminisce about the conference and also highlight all of the archived content that is now available online for everyone to partake of. So many wonderful experts came together for this event. Wherever you are on your caregiving journey, there will be content you can benefit from. 

Thanks for spending time with us today.

Today our guest is Laura Hendrie of “Partnering in Care”. Laura is certified as both a Dementia Care Consultant and Trainer thru Positive Approach to Care, an organization led by world-renowned dementia educator, Teepa Snow. In her journey that led her to this passion, Laura has played the role of caregiver, writer, public speaker, a palliative care and hospice volunteer, and teacher.  I’ve known Laura for a few years now. We’re both members of the Santa Fe Healthcare Network, a group of passionate individuals and organizations serving our communities elders. Passion is definitely a word that she embodies regarding her work, recently Laura let me know of some really exciting news, that she’s been invited to do a training for our local police and fire department. I’m happy to have her joining me today to chat a little about that.

Today I’ll be speaking with some wonderful friends who also happen to be presenters for the upcoming Dementia Possibilities Conference that will be happening online February 8th-12th. The conference brings together a large team of experts with the goal of supporting both those living with dementia as well as those who are providing care.   

Details at http://www.dementiapossibilities.com/ 

Our guests today are Hope Carwile, Susan Balkman, and Ruth Dennis. The three of them are teaming up for a presentation for Dementia Possibilities titled “Grief Wilderness: Discussing the Journey of Grief, the Different Types of Grief, Grief Impact and Its Healing Abilities When Navigating the Unknowns of Life."  

Hope works as Innovations Specialist with Vivage Senior Living in Colorado. She has approximately 20 years of experience in healthcare, primarily in long term care senior living settings.  

Susan, is a retired psychotherapist who’s living with young-onset dementia. Since her diagnosis, she has become an accomplished ceramist. Susan is a strong and outspoken advocate for others living with cognitive deficits.   

Last but certainly not least, Ruth, another returning guest (Hope has also been on the show before) is an educator for the Vista Living Care homes. She provides support and education for families and for the greater community facing all forms of dementia and struggles associated with the aging process.

Today I’ll be chatting with my friend Nicolette Ketchum. Nicolette is the Volunteer Facilitator the Hummingbird Memory Cafe in the Farmington, NM area. She’s a passionate advocate for those living with dementia as well as their care partners. 

She also happens to be one of the many wonderful experts and presenters coming together for the Dementia Possibilities conference that will be taking place February 8th-12th, online via Zoom. Information can be found at www.dementiapossibilities.com   Nicolette and I will be working together on what I think will be a really fun, profound and beautiful workshop for the conference. Bringing the participants along with us to create a collaborative piece of music utilizing words and concepts from a poetry workshop we’ll conduct together. 

I brought Nicolette on with me today, together we’re going to do a short demonstration, where I’ll pose as the “audience” and we’ll see what we can come up with together.

Today I’m joined by my good friend, Dr. Jytte Lokvig. Jytte is an Alzheimer’s and Dementia expert here in Santa Fe,NM.   Jytte and I are part of a wonderful team of experts working to put together the “Dementia Possibilities” conference that will be happening February 8th thru the 12th online via Zoom. 

You can find information about the conference at www.dementiapossibilities.com

I brought Jytte on today to talk a bit about the conference, and all the wonderful things that she does for the caregiving community.