Date: June 27, 2022
Time: 3:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Topic: Building Allyship in Congregate Living
We all deserve to be a part of safe and supportive communities as we age, but 80% of LGBTQ+ Older Adults say they do not feel comfortable being “out” in long term care facilities. How do we build bridges between diverse residents, staff and guests even when it may feel like a major shift in culture? This presentation will cover several strategies for culture change and building allyship within congregate living communities including education, engagement, affirmation and accountability. We will discuss best practices and takeaway tools to help you get started and go through some real-life scenarios of challenging situations that demonstrate a thoughtful, confident and appropriate organizational response.
Speakers: Kera Magarill and Laurel Wonder with Washington County Department of Health and Human Services
Kera Magarill holds degrees in human service, non-profit management and has received specialized training in music therapy and dementia care. After completing a program in gerontology with Metropolitan State University in Denver, she began serving on faculty as an instructor in Aging Leadership and Health Professions. Kera has worked across the long term care continuum in adult day, in-home care, memory care, and nursing home care. She started volunteering with the Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado and eventually served on staff as an Early Stage Program Coordinator during which time she launched a statewide creative engagement program with museums, arts, and other cultural partners. She has also contributed as a writer to Activity Connection’s dementia programming publication for activity and programming professionals. She is honored to be serving her community in her current role as an Older Adult Behavioral Health Specialist with Washington County Disability, Aging and Veteran Services.
Laurel Wonder holds a Masters Degree in Social Welfare from University of California, Berkeley. She began her career supporting persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, who were also impacted by severe mental illness. From this work grew a desire to safeguard the rights of vulnerable persons. Ms. Wonder transitioned to working in Adult Protective Services in Washington and Oregon. After nearly two decades working for individual clients, Ms. Wonder is pleased to be supporting system improvement through the Older Adult Behavioral Health Initiative. She has a passion for improving program policies to better address the needs of older adults and persons with physical disabilities, as well as providing training to the community. Ms. Wonder has a MSW degree and holds a QMHP in the state of Oregon. Ms. Wonder is a certified facilitator for Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) and several other trainings.
Important information about CEU Credits: Oregon Health Authority no longer pre-approves CEU’s. Go to https://bit.ly/2to0nwB to determine if this presentation will count towards annual CEU requirement for Nursing and Residential Care administrators.