Oregon Senior Referral Agency Association Raising Industry Standards since 2004
Meet the Speaker
Deborah Threadgill
Deborah and Ron Threadgill are trendsetters in the funeral industry. They offer Aqua Cremation in addition to flame (traditional) cremation. They educate the public on natural or green burials. Deborah has received training as a death midwife in order to provide Family-Directed Home Funerals. She was also recently trained as an End-of-Life Doula and collaborates with Evening Star Doula Services in Portland. They offer families the option of having a Living Funeral or Celebration of Life prior to death.
Meet the Speakers
Dr. William Dronkowski
Associate Medical Director
Care Partners Hospice & Palliative Care
Dr. C. William “Bill” Dronkowski is a board-certified in Internal Medicine and Palliative Care. Dr. Dronkowski has over 30 years’ experience practicing in both rural and urban settings, including serving as Director of an ICU/CCU. He joined Care Partners in 2019.
He'll be sharing from his years of experience about what happens when someone voluntarily stops eating or drinking at end of life.
Tracy Villarreal
Chief Executive Officer of Care Partners Hospice & Palliative Care
Tracy Villarreal, LCSW, CPHQ has been a part of Care Partners for 20 years. She served as a board member for 13 years, then moved into a leadership position as the Director of Quality, Compliance, Social Work, and Spiritual Care. In addition to working for the State of Oregon in Aging Services, Tracy has direct care experience as a licensed clinical social worker in home health, long term care and hospital settings.
She'll be co-speaking with Dr. Dronkowski.
Meet the Speaker
Andrea McBeth, ND
I am a Naturopathic Doctor and Scientist with a passion for shifting perspectives toward microbiome-centered health. My background includes a degree in biochemistry and research pursuits in various areas of molecular and cellular biology. After years working in cancer research, I left academia and the hospital to be a full-time patient advocate for a family member with cancer. That experience and my own journey of chronic pain and autoimmune disease led me to the pursue healthcare and advocacy using the tools of naturopathic medicine. As a licensed N.D. in Oregon and Washington, my clinical care focus is functional gastrointestinal and autoimmune issues. In conjunction with the functional medicine practice, I run Flora’s stool bank that provides Fecal Microbiota Transplant for the treatment of resistant Clostridium difficile infection as well as head our investigational science applications for other microbiome therapies.
Meet the Speaker
Meredith Williamson, JD
Meredith is a client-focused attorney specializing in estate planning, elder law, probate, and small business transactions. Meredith offers flat rate services while providing a unique plan based on each client’s family situation, current needs, and future goals.
Meredith has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon and Law Degree from the University of San Diego School of Law. She is accredited with Veterans Administration and a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
Meredith enjoys time with her two children exploring our beautiful state and volunteering.
Meet the Speaker
Nirmala Dhar
Older Adult Behavioral Health Project Director
Nirmala Dhar is a licensed clinical social worker with a Master’s in Social Work from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri and Bombay University, India. She has over 30 years of experience in behavioral health in the public sector in Missouri, New Jersey and Oregon.
She is the Older Adult Behavioral Health Project Director for Oregon Health Authority ‘s Health Systems Division. She has oversight of the Older Adult BH Initiative, PASRR Level II program and Enhanced Care Services. She is the OHA Champion for the Geriatric BH ECHO Clinic for Nursing Facilities.
Prior to this position she worked for Clackamas County Behavioral Health for 18 years. This included 10 years as the geriatric mental health specialist for the County , a clinical program supervisor of the community support team and as a policy analyst on the Health Administration Team. She is a trainer and presenter on behavioral health and aging topics and is a CIT trainer.
Her areas of professional interest include positive aging, social justice, quality improvement, health metrics and workforce development.
Nirmala enjoys gardening, reading non-fiction and travel. She considers herself a foodie! She is married to Sanjay and lives in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Meet the Speaker
Kim Decker
Bio
Kim has worked in the social services field for over 25 years. For 12 of those years she’s been finding housing for seniors and other vulnerable adults. Kim has experienced vicarious trauma directly and has a passion for bringing awareness to this subject. Kim has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and an MBA in healthcare administration.
Meet the Speaker
Suzanne Cavanagh
Bio
Suzanne Cavanagh is the CEO, Owner of Century Lighting, a commercial lighting company in the Springfield/Eugene area. She is a certified lighting specialist as well as a certified home modification specialist. In 2015 she created Lumen Element where she does research and education on the importance of light. She is working with local memory care communities installing circadian lighting for the benefit of residents and staff.
Meet the Speaker
Dave Mowry
Bio
Dave Mowry is the Executive director of Washington County NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). He has a B.S. Community Development Portland State University; Is a Certified Peer Support Specialist; Trained in Mental Health First Aid; Trained Children’s Grief Facilitator. He’s the author of best-selling OMG That’s Me!: Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks and more… Ranked the 17th best bipolar disorder book of all time by Book Authority, and No Really, We Want You to Laugh: Mental Illness and Stand Up Comedy, Transforming Lives and is finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.
Meet the Speaker
Jessica Campbell, N.D., L.Ac.
Dr. Jessica Campbell is a naturopathic physician and acupuncturist specializing in integrative oncology. Hailing from a family of medical professionals, she discovered her passion for natural medicine while earning a B.A. in Anthropology at U.C. Berkeley. In 2011 she enrolled at the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, OR, in order to pursue an intensive dual-degree program in both naturopathic and Chinese medicine. After graduating with her doctoral and master's degrees Dr. Campbell began private practice in Vancouver, WA, where she emphasizes a collaborative and whole-person approach to cancer care.
Synopsis
Cannabis and Cancer. The biochemistry and clinical applications of cannabis in oncology will be discussed with an eye toward the most current research available.