Panelists
"From Diagnosis to Last Breaths"
Friday, November 13
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm (PST)
We have invited hospice medical doctors, and outreach and admission nurses to help explain the steps that start with receiving a terminal diagnosis and what that might mean, to having a hospice order and starting with a hospice team. Our goal is to help you or someone you love, navigate the dying process. We will help you understand the difference between palliative care and hospice, and what kind of care can be expected when hospice begins.
Michelle LeMarie, Hypnotherapist
Michelle was born in the U.S. and raised in South of France where she became a psychologist and worked for several psychiatric Hospitals in Nice. She joined Aventis and then Bristol Myers Squibb, the pharmaceutical group where she worked for fifteen years in sales.
She trained in Princeton, NJ to be a facilitator and led the Sean Delaney Team building program throughout Bristol Myers's corporation as a "changing agent".
She moved back to San Diego in 2002 and started volunteering at the San Diego Hospice in October, first in the homes then in the ICC.
Michelle became a Certified Healing Touch practitioner, then an Integrative Imagery practitioner and a Clinical Hypnotherapist. She joined San Diego Hospice in 2002 visiting patients in their homes, then worked as a hypnotherapist in the Inpatient Care Center at San Diego Hospice in Hillcrest until November 2012 on the Palliative Psychiatry Team. After the bankruptcy of San Diego Hospice, she joined the Maternal Mental Health Clinic at UCSD. Because End-of-Life work is her passion, she then went back to the San Diego Hospice Palliative care team Psychiatry at UCSD.
Michelle has been a part of the ANAMCARA program, the sacred art of living, sacred are of dying, for four years and trained to become an Anamcara apprentice - a soul companion and a midwife to the transitioning patients. She has trained with well-known spiritual teachers like Brugh Joy, Eckart Tolle, Rosaly Bruyere, and Valerie Hunt. Michelle now runs her own private practice.
Ronda Macchello, MD
Dr. Macchello came to end-of-life work after a career as a geriatric primary care physician. The most satisfying aspects of that work – helping patients and families deal with complex medical issues and decision-making – led her to hospice and palliative medicine. She helped to establish an out-patient palliative care program at a large multi-disciplinary clinic, and has worked for nine years as a hospice doctor. She has a special interest in the spiritual aspects of end-of –life care, which she views as a potential path of healing, rather than curing. She has completed the year-long End of Life Practitioner Program, a multi-disciplinary meditation-based program sponsored by the Metta Institute, and has pursued study in an interfaith seminary and formal medical chaplaincy training (CPE).
Dr. Macchello graduated from Stanford University and has a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She received her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, where she also completed a residency in primary care Internal Medicine. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Gary Pasternak, MD, Mission Hospice Medical Director
Dr. Gary Pasternak's commitment to hospice care goes far beyond his job as associate medical director at Mission Hospice. He has provided pain control (palliative care) in locations as remote as rural India and the nomadic regions of Tibet and medical mission sponsored by religious organizations.
Pasternak, who is board-certified in internal medicine, hospice and palliative medicine, and occupational and environmental health with added qualifications in geriatrics, also is deeply interested in the non-medical aspects of hospice.
In 2007, he was ordained at the Chaplaincy Institute for Arts and Interfaith Ministries in Berkeley, where he based his ordination sermon on the meaning of Mission Hospice’s annual “Light Up a Life” event.
Paul Smith, Author, Meditator
Paul has been a long time meditator for over 4 decades, and teaches how thru breathing and meditation we can reach our inner "sweet spot", where Healing, Clarity and Expansion naturally take place. His book, "Meditate Yourself - You Are Your Own Guru", can be found on Amazon.
With there being multiple methods and concepts in circulation, he has studied and sampled many of them. He says that daily practice led him to develop his own method. He came to feel that there is no one "right way" to do this...and that we are all swimming in the same ocean. Even so, he is convinced there is a way that's just right for you. He is very happy to join the conversation amongst such talented and open minded people.
Jenny Zettler Rhodes, RN, CNS
Jenny works as a clinical hospice liaison at Mission Hospice providing information, education, and clinical review for hospitals, medical providers, and families who are considering hospice care currently or in the future.
"Embracing Difference as a Bridge for Connection"
International Roundtable: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation
Saturday, November 14
10:30 am - 12:00 pm (PST)
“Make your choices based on love, not fear”, Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Loss is part of life and grief is the word commonly used to describe the range of individual responses unique to each person. Grief provides the tools for dealing with the losses experienced during life’s journey.
Mourning is the public face of grief. Each culture, family, workplace, community have their own ways of responding to grief and loss through ceremonies, rituals and traditions that publicly facilitate the pain of death and dying, grief and loss. Difficulties can arise when one culture/group does not recognize and honor the differences in the experiences and expressions around death and dying, grief and loss of another culture/group.
Connection with self and others provides a platform for healing in our physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual quadrants. True connection enables us to stand beside the other, honouring the differences that are apparent as well as recognising our shared human experience.
Ken Ross, Founder and President Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation
Ken Ross is the son of psychiatrist, humanitarian and hospice pioneer, Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Throughout his youth, he traveled with his mother to many of her speaking engagements, frequently meeting with those seeking her wisdom. Ken was also the caregiver for his mother the last nine years of her life, which ended in 2004. Following her death, Ken founded the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation and subsequently, has traveled the world sharing his mother’s thoughts on compassionate care of the dying and the grieving. He also speaks on Elisabeth’s incredible life journey and how each of us has the power to live a life based on love versus fear. His message is poignant, humorous, and filled with inspiration.
Wilka M Roig, MA, MFA, PLC, President EKR Foundation - Central Mexico
Wilka holds a Master of Art in Transpersonal Psychology specializing in Creativity and Innovation, and a Master of Fine Arts specializing in Photography. She holds a Professional Dream Worker Certification from the Marin Institute for Projective Dream Work, a Biomagnetism & Biodecoding Therapy Certification from el Centro de Medicina Contemporánea, Level 1 and 2 Psychosynthesis Coaching Certification from the Synthesis Center, Level 1 Degriefing Integrative Grief Therapy Certification, and has trained with Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés in Archetypal and Cross-Cultural Psychology for four years.
Wilka apprentices with medicine women in México, where she resides, and trains in Curanderismo and Equine & Nature Therapies. She is an end-of-life doula, grief counselor, educator, facilitator, and consultant, also an ordained interfaith minister, Tai Chi & Qigong instructor, writer, musician, photographer, performance artist, graphic designer, silversmith, baker, and mythmaker.
Wilka is the president of the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation branch in Central México. She is an affiliate of Death Cafe, and administrator of Death Café México.
Her professional interests include Transpersonal Psychology, Somatic Psychology, Neurobiology of Trauma, Loss and Grief, Neurobiology of Relationships, Ecopsychology, Taoist Inner Arts, Tibetan Buddhism, Mindfulness, Creativity & Innovation, Dream Work, Transformative Storytelling, Transpersonal Education, Feminist & Gender Studies, Multicultural Studies, Visual & Expressive Arts, Confectionery & Culinary Arts, and Wine Culture.
Rodrigo Luz, EKR Foundation Director of Education (USA) / President (Brazil)
Rodrigo Luz is a Thanatologist and a Palliative & Grief Expert from Brazil. He is a Certified Bereavement Care Provider by Center for Loss and Trauma/Miss Foundation, from Arizona/USA. He’s the author of the book Contemporary Experiences on Death and Dying: The Legacy of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross to Our Days, published in Portuguese in 2019.
Rodrigo also offers workshops on death, dying, palliative care, and offers community education on issues related to the end of life and grief. He is a community leader who has worked with several companies on grief and end-of-life issues, offering support, comfort and emotional and spiritual assistance. As an educator, Rodrigo has offered educational conferences and lectures in several Brazilian states, inspiring hundreds of people to the needs of critically ill patients and their families.
Rodrigo and his team coordinate the training on Thanatology and Palliative Care of the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation in Brazil along with several social projects of the foundation in Rio de Janeiro and throughout Brazil. He and his team coordinate seminars on death and dying, interviewing patients facing death, using the same model created by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in the 1960s.
Rodrigo offers education and support through various support programs in Brazil, offering help to bereaved people from diverse underserved communities, such as the LGBT + population, men in grief, homeless people, black people, among other groups. He is recognized for his advocacy for human rights and social justice in the field of palliative care in Brazil. In addition, he offers support to several palliative care programs in Brazil and throughout Latin America.
He’s part of the Compassionate Communities project and coordinates several palliative and compassionate care actions with unprivileged populations, in the Rocinha favela, within the city of Rio de Janeiro. He’s the CEO of the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation Brazil and the Director of Education of the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation USA/Global.
Liese Groot-Alberts, Director of Liese Groot-Alberts Consultants, Ltd.
Liese Groot-Alberts was born in Fryslân, part of the Netherlands, is living in New Zealand and works international as a public and keynote speaker, palliative care educator and mentor for Healthcare Professionals.
In 1972 her eldest daughter, aged nearly 3, died suddenly 2 days after the birth of her son. Hope and despair, joy and sorrow! Out of this life changing experience came her passion for working with healthcare professionals and volunteers.
Over a period of several years from 1988 she had the tremendous privilege to work for Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross as a workshop leader and staff member conducting workshops in New Zealand, Australia, USA and Europe.
After Dr. Ross' retirement she has continued to develop her own workshops and seminars.
Liese conducts trainings in trauma, loss, grief and bereavement, Palliative Care, as well as Self-Care for the Carer, resilience, spirituality, mentoring and working with difference, finding strength and hop in connectedness. She has conducted lectures, workshops and seminars in the USA, Europe, Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Samoa, Zimbabwe and New Zealand.
More Panelists Coming Soon...
"Financial and Estate Planning Roundtable"
Estate planning can be a neglected part of financial planning. It’s hard to answer uncomfortable questions such as “What happens to my assets and my loved ones when I die?” It’s no surprise that about half of Americans do not have a will and even fewer have an estate plan. Learn from a panel of experts about the purposes and functioning of the basic documents that comprise an estate plan and why they are important.
Joe Adamo, CPM®, Financial Advisor, Senior Portfolio Manager at Morgan Stanley
Joe has focused on “Building, Preserving, and Transferring Family Wealth” for over 29 years. He began his career at E.F. Hutton and now works for Morgan Stanley in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Morgan Stanley serves many of the world’s most sophisticated investors, and his firm is one of the nation’s leading firms to help clients with their personal wealth. As a Financial Advisor, Joe has experience with the unique challenges, styles, and strategies that distinguish wealthy investors. He works with you to help you preserve and grow your wealth, relying on the insights of seasoned investment professionals, a premier trading and execution platform and a full spectrum of investment choices.
David DaCosta, Realtor, President DaCosta Properties
A member of the San Diego real estate community, since 2001, David DaCosta prides himself on being involved in the local community. He is the former owner of Jamroc 101, an Encinitas Restaurant. David has also served on the Board of Directors for both the Encinitas and Carlsbad Chambers of Commerce. Living and working in San Diego for over 35 years has given him a great network of connections throughout the county, which helps him put his clients in contact with just the right people, no matter what their need. His entire career has been built around his three core concepts: service, connections, and trust. David does his utmost to get his clients results, while remaining service-oriented, ethical, and a person they can trust, over and over again.
Before entering the real estate industry, he worked in business development and financial services for Fortune 500 Companies. As a real estate agent, his strong people skills, talent for negotiations, and listening ability make him a great asset for anyone who is looking to buy or sell. David is a natural leader who is great at keeping all parties happy and achieving everyone’s goals, while keeping things light and fun. No problem, mon!
A native of Kingston, Jamaica, David loves the beautiful San Diego beaches, yoga, and gardening and is the Brand Ambassador for the San Diego International Film Festival. He lives locally with his family.
Adam Englund, Esq., Law Office of Adam Englund
Adam Englund has been in solo practice for over 30 years. He handles transactions in the areas of business entity formation and operation, contracts, intellectual property, including trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights, many aspects of entertainment law, and trust and estate planning. In the estate planning arena, in addition to advanced healthcare directives, powers of attorney, real estate transfers, and wills, Adam helps people avoid the pain of probate.
Individuals who die with over $150,000 in assets - with or without a will - must generally go through the expensive, time consuming and public process of probate. Probate requires that a representative be appointed, and inventory and valuation be conducted and the distribution of assest be certified by the court. Adam Englund represents individuals and families to avoid probate altogether by preparing a revocable living trust. When an individual dies with a trust, a successor trustee steps in and carries out the trust madate. Thus, the cost, time, invations of privacy and emotional strain of probate is avoided.
Adam says, "The best bequest is to have your affairs in order".
"Medication vs. Complimentary Therapies"
Saturday, November 14
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm (PST)
We have a hospice medical doctor who will talk briefly about the benefits of medications at the end of life, as well as the use of complementary therapies. We will have reiki, healing touch, breathing/mediation, sound therapy and aromatherapy speakers, who will share more information about the work they do and how it can provide comfort at the end of life.
Chuck Fontenot, Healing Touch Practitioner
Chuck is a Healing Touch practitioner and has been doing this work for 10 years. He currently volunteers his time with hospice patients and their families, bringing comfort and peace to the dying process. He is also a published author, with his most recent book, "In Search of My Soul" receiving wonderful reviews. This book can be found on Amazon, and you can hear him speak about the book at his upcoming Author Series event.
D. Ann Marlatt, RN
I started my journey of healing in the early 1970’s. First as a nursing assistant and then over the years moving up to nursing Supervisor after receiving my degree as Registered Nurse. From there I helped open a wound care center and eventually moving to my true calling as a hospice nurse.
It was in the late 1990’s that I first became aware of Reiki energy. I soon after became a Reiki Master healer and teacher. I’ve worked with wound care and hospice patients for 20 plus years and have experienced many wonderful healing events using the power of this magnificent energy.
Over the years many opportunities have presented itself using this wonderful energy as an addition to our Western Medicine. In hospice we conducted a three year study on the use of Reiki for our patients and families to see if it would improve the outcomes in areas of pain and anxiety and… overall could we provide a more peaceful end of life situation for all. Our outcomes were an astounding success.
I have completed a course at the Evidence-based practice institute at the Consortium for Nursing Excellence, San Diego. (In order to do the Reiki study). I am a member of the San Diego Reiki Corps. I have completed study and certifications in Usui Reiki, Karuna Reiki, and Holy Fire Reiki. I have a certification in Bio-Magnetic Therapy, In Crystal healing therapy and I am a Certified Medical Intuitive.
I am also a published writer/author now working on two additional books. My first work being shorts stories of how Spirit energy moves through our lives. You can review this work on Amazon (So, you think you’re alone)
Mary-Joy Neuru, President of San Diego Reiki Corps
Mary-Joy Neuru is a Reiki Master Healer Teacher, Registered Holy Fire III, Karuna Reiki Master Teacher, Certified Sound Healer, Jikiden Reiki Practitioner, Divine Quantum Reiki Facilitator, Bio-Kinetics Facilitator and the Owner of "Due Healing & Movement Arts, ReikiDance International".
I believe: "Everything is self healing. It is a choice to be whole and happy. Personal work is often difficult, but always rewarding. Reiki, ReikiDance, and Divine Quantum Reiki can all help facilitate our unlimited potential for joy, beauty, love, balance, wellness and wholeness.” “I am a Healer, in Service to Humanity."
Maria De Lourdes Orozco
Her massage adventure started 14 years ago. She took many classes over the years learning a variety of different techniques. The hospice massage class she took with Irene Smith changed everything for her. She admits that hospice and hospice massage was scary and intimidating at first, but there was an inner voice that kept encouraging her to give it a chance. She feels that it is a privilege to provide massage for hospice patients, and it has become her passion. While her profession is massage, it is the volunteer massage work she has been doing for hospice patients that has brought her so much comfort, she says it is "a gift from heaven".
Dr. Shelley Salpeter, MD
Dr. Salpeter did her medical training at U.C. San Francisco and Harvard medical schools, and is board certified in internal medicine, geriatrics, and palliative care. She has been a Professor of Medicine at Stanford University for over 30 years, with a specialty in academic general internal medicine. She now has a geriatric home care practice, following patient in their homes or facilities around San Mateo County, and also does geriatric consultations at Mills Peninsula Hospital. She provides a continuum of care for patients when they transition into hospice at the end of life, and is one of the medical directors at Mission Hospice and Home Care.
Rodney Schwan, Institute for Aromatherapy
Rodney Schawn is licensed certified esthetician, massage therapist and aromatherapist with over 30 years experience respectively. He is best known for introducing aromatherapy to the hospice industry in 1996 at the Institute for Palliative Medicine at San Diego Hospice. First as a volunteer he helped consult to receive a series of feasibility grants initially co-developed by a hospice interdisciplinary team develop. Rodney was the first professional aromatherapist to direct aromatherapy as a pharmacy compounding and MD order program along with procedural guidelines and treating to over 60,000 patients with MD order.
As a 15 year all-staff consultant, Rodney educated and implemented aromatherapy as complimentary medical patient care. Rodney innovated a combination of complimentary energy therapy and masage alongside therapy harp, Traditional Chinese Medicine, hypnotherapy and other complimentary modalities of comfort care.
Rodney Schwan is volunteer faculty for Scripps Palliative Care. Through his Institute for Aromatherapy he has given CEU Certificates to hundreds of medical staff and complimentary therapists. Rodney has developed integrative health wellness activity programs throughout the San Diego Elderly Care Centers. He is an Aromatherapy Practitioner providing Holistic Health, Skin Care and Wellness services at his office located in Bankers Hill, and soon to be publishing his e-book titled "Palliative Aromatherapy for Compassionate, Comfort and Wellness Care"
Teri Wilder, Owner of Teri Wilder Healing Sanctuary
Teri Wilder is a presenter of music, meditation, and sound healing on a mission to introduce the world to the power of sounds & vibrations that help to de-stress, boost productivity and creativity, and support balance and well-being. As a Singer/Songwriter/Certified Sound Healer/Reiki Master, Teri travels the country providing her services. She also has a private practice in San Diego/Mission Valley, the Teri Wilder Healing Sanctuary. She has 4 CD’s of original music and a gong meditation CD, all promoting peace, inspiration, and wellness.
"Death from the Pediatric Perspective"
Sunday, November 15
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
We have invited medical doctors and specialists to talk about pediatric death and loss. They will offer their expertise relative to the grieving process for families who will say goodbye to a child. Additionally, we will have professionals who provide support to children, helping them understand and process death, loss and grief of a family member or friend, and how to talk to children about death and dying.
Lori Butterworth, Founder and CEO Jacobs Heart Children's Cancer Support Services
Lori Butterworth is an advocate for children, dedicated to ensuring that every child with a life- threatening illness receives compassionate, family-centered care that allows them to live well and die with dignity. Lori is the founder of non profit Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Support Services in Santa Cruz, CA and the Co-Founder of Children's Hospice and Palliative Care Coalition.
Lori is an award-winning nonprofit executive, pediatric palliative care advocate, and bilingual educator with expertise in strategic fund development, community engagement, fiscal management and administration of programs that improve the quality of life for children, youth and families and inspire those who care for them.
Karen Christie, RN, BSN, PHN, MS
Karen Christie. RN, BSN, PHN, MS has spent the large majority of her career serving in adult and pediatric hospice in the greater San Diego area. Having received her first training in pediatric hospice in 1986, she went on to develop the pediatric hospice program for a large local hospice. After time in hospice management up to the DPCS/Acting Administrator level and opening two hospices, Karen returned to case management in pediatric hospice. She has been published in a peer reviewed journal, spoke at a Senate subcommittee meeting as an expert and currently belongs to NHPCO and SDCCC.
Deborah Lafond, DNP, PPCNP-BC, CPON, CHPPN, FPCN, FAAN
Dr. Debbie Lafond received her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from the University of
Maryland in 2012 with a focus in pediatric palliative care and Masters in Nursing from the
University of Hawaii in 1990, with a focus in pediatric primary care. She is currently the Chief
Executive Officer and President of the PANDA Education Consultants. Dr. Lafond was the
Clinical Director of the PANDA Palliative Care Team and a nurse practitioner at Children’s
National Hospital in Washington, DC until April 2020.
She has over 28 years of experience as a board-certified nurse practitioner in pediatric oncology, specifically Neuro-Oncology. She is board certified in pediatric palliative care. She is an ELNEC-Pediatric (End of Life Nursing Education Curriculum), an IPPC (Initiative for Pediatric Palliative Care) faculty trainer, and an EPEC-Pediatrics (Education in Palliative and End of Life Care) trainer.
Dr. Lafond was also a member of the Children’s Oncology Group Palliative Care Committee and
a 2015 Sojourns Scholar in palliative care with the Cambia Health Foundation. Her focus of research is the impact of primary pediatric palliative care delivery models for children, families and health care professionals. Dr Lafond is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and a Fellow in Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing.
Melissa Lunardini, M.A., MBA
Melissa Lunardini, M.A., MBA, is the owner of Radical Grief a consulting company that provides education and programming specializing in grief and loss. She has dedicated nearly fifteen years to supporting grieving children, teens, and their families. She has a proven track record for developing a comprehensive suite of services healthcare, academia, youth-based, and grief and loss-based industries. Some of these services include program development of grief support centers; school-based groups & curriculum, and summer grief camps. She enjoys presenting nationally and locally on topics related to childhood bereavement. Melissa strives to remain active with current trends and emerging research within the field of Thanatology. She is a National Training Consultant for the Boys and Girls Club of America and is active member of the National Alliance for Grieving Children. In her spare time, chairs the Loss and Healing Program as Board Member for American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in San Diego.
Kathy Perko, MS, PPCNP-BC, CPON, CHPPN, CPLC, FPCN
Kathy Perko has worked as a nurse for 36 years and as a nurse practitioner for 26 years. She founded the Bridges Pediatric Palliative Care Program at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital in 2003. She is a national ELNEC-Pediatric and EPEC-Pediatric trainer. She has extensive experience in educational program development and as a speaker on a wide variety of pediatric topics, including perinatal palliative care, culture & spirituality, communication, care at the time of death and ethical issues. Ms. Perko is a highly experienced clinical nurse practitioner expert in pediatric oncology and in pediatric palliative care. She in Vital Talk trained and has certificates in Pediatric Bioethics from Children’s Mercy in Kansas City and Palliative Care from University of Washington in Seattle.
David M Steinhorn, MD FAAP
Dr. Steinhorn is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School with residency in
pediatrics and fellowship training in pediatric hepatology and critical care medicine. He completed post-doctoral training in 1997 in hospice and palliative medicine at Hospice Buffalo in New York and has beencontinuously board-certified in those specialties.
Dr. Steinhorn has served on the faculty at University Hospital and Clinics in Minneapolis, SUNY-Buffalo, rising to full professor at Northwestern University, UCDavis Medical Center, and most recently George Washington University. After 35 years as a PICU attending and 25 years developing hospice and palliative programs in three major children’s hospitals and serving as medical director at George Mark Children’s House near Oakland, he has relocated to San Diego for a spousal job change and is developing a new program for children there.
Between his hospital practice, two decades of laboratory research, and raising two children
while married to an accomplished academic neonatologist, he developed an integrative medicine
research program at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Northwestern University to augment the care provided
through Western clinical medicine.
Dr. Steinhorn has additional training in energy medicine, yoga,
meditation, and shamanism, studying with teachers from the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, the FourWinds Society, and Dr. Carl Greer. He was recognized in 2019 by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a pioneer in integrative medicine.
Lindsay Zehren, MT-BC, Program Director Resounding Joy, Inc.
Lindsay received her bachelor’s degree in music education and theater from Saint Mary of the Woods College in Indiana. She taught music at the high school and elementary school levels in Indiana, South Africa, and Jamaica before completing her equivalency degree in music therapy from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She is the Program Director and a Music Therapist at Resounding Joy in San Diego, California where she primarily works with pediatric palliative and hospice care and provides community-based music therapy and wellness services.
Meet our Afternoon Panel Moderators:
Gabrielle Elise-Jimenez, Hospice Nurse LVN, CHPLN
Gabrielle has published two books; "Soft Landing" and "The Hospice Heart". In both books, she shares her own personal growth while working in this field, stories of patients she has cared for and lessons she has learned. Both books can be helpful tools for end of life care.
Her blog "The Hospice Heart" features a new blog every Sunday. Her goal with this blog is to answer the difficult questions, reduce fear and misconceptions and hopefully erase the dark cloud that hovers over death.
The Hospice Heart Facebook page is a safe place to have a different opinion, there is no judgment. New articles, photos, stories, etc relative to hospice care are added every day. Gabrielle has found that it elicits interactive conversation between strangers, which seems to have created an incredibly compassionate community. Please stop by (often).
Michelle Goldbach, DNP, MHA, RN, CHPN, Reiki Master
