More than 65 million people or 29% of the U.S. population provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year and spend an average of 20 hours a week providing this care.
There is no doubt that at some point in your life you will become part of this statistic and probably not voluntarily. You could choose to bury your head in the sand and deal with it when it happens to you or you could attend this presentation and receive a basic understanding of the varying degrees of patient advocacy and the resources (traditional and high tech) that are available to assist you. Best of all, you will learn that you will not be alone in this role and that through your actions you will positively impact another’s life and the lives of the surrounding family.
Our speaker, Lorraine Stiehl, is an advocate at the personal, professional, and educational levels. Her years of experience within organizations such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine will serve as a backdrop for a discussion on the resources available and how organizations use advocacy to support affected individuals and their families. Additionally, her personal role as an advocate for her husband, who has diabetes type 1, will illuminate the significant and sometimes, lifesaving role that caring for a loved one can become.
Come join us to ask your questions and to hear the discussions and experiences from the advocate’s role!
Featured Speaker(s)
Karen Winston - Introduction
Author, HIYA: Patient advocacy Was Her Calling and Salvation (available soon)
Over the past seven years, Karen Winston has been providing a variety of support to a 68 year old woman with breast cancer (large tumor) whose life has been directed, stifled and saved by patient advocacy. What Hiya has experienced and what Karen has learned through her relationship with Hiya inspired the book, which she describes as a fictionalized biography with a mission to encourage others to be proactive in their relationships with doctors and healthcare staff, as well as to have the courage and fortitude to go beyond what may seem like the “only” step to take, in order to discover multiple options with potentially better outcomes.
Karen has been working for more than five years at CONNECT, a non-profit business accelerator for early stage companies in life sciences and technology, based in La Jolla and affiliated with the major universities, research institutes, industry trade organizations and the at-large innovation community.
Lorraine Stiehl
For the past 25 years, Lorraine Stiehl has been a leader in the non-profit world.
After 14 years serving as a national staff member for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), Lorraine became a very active volunteer leader �" serving as national volunteer chair for grassroots advocacy where she led 80,000 volunteers across the country. In 2011, Lorraine was elected to the JDRF International Board of Directors. She was honored to be named both “JDRF national Staff Member of the Year” in 1982 and “JDRF National Volunteer of the Year” in 2010.
Lorraine and her husband, Chris, were named Patient Advocate Coordinators for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) in 2010. Together, they work with over 100 voluntary health agencies across the state to “educate, excite and empower” stem cell advocates.
Lorraine an active advocate for numerous non-profit organizations in San Diego and often teaches a class on advocacy at UC San Diego Extension.
