Idaho Conference on Health Care Oct. 29 features Thomas Geriatric Health Symposium, family therapy workshop

The 23rd annual Idaho Conference on Health Care on Oct. 29 will feature two events, the third annual Thomas Geriatric Health Symposium, which is free and open to the public, and a Functional Family Therapy (FFT) Workshop that offers professionals continuing education credit.

The conference's main sponsor is the Idaho State University Division of Health Sciences. 

This year's Thomas Geriatric Health Symposium, which also offers continuing education credits to some professionals, has the theme "Collaborative Care for Chronic Disease" and features six sessions. Preregistration by Oct. 22 is required to attend the symposium, which runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with check-in from 8 to 9 a.m. at the third floor east lounge in the ISU Pond Student Union.

"Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, we able to offer this interdisciplinary geriatric health symposium for the third year in a row at no cost to participants," said Victoria Bañales, director of the ISU Division Continuing Education and Conference Services. "Our topic this year should again be of interest to a broad range of participants."

The titles, times and presenters of the geriatric symposium’s six sessions, which will be broadcast to the ISU-Meridian Health Science Center, are:

•  Session One: "Chronic Disease Management Demands a Delivery System Change: Telehealth Anyone?",  9-10:15 a.m., presenter Monte Coffman, Executive Director of Windsor Place in Coffeyville, Kan.;

•  Session Two: "Rural Chronic Illness Self-management: Challenges, Technology, Successes," 10:30-11:30 a.m., Clarann Weinert, Professor of Nursing, Montana State University;

• Session Three: "Recognizing and Assessing Dementia: A Team-Based Approach," 1-1:50 p.m., by Norman L. Foster, Director of the University of Utah Center for Alzheimer's Care, Imaging and Research;

• Session Four: "Proactive Dementia Care: A New Paradigm for Collaborative Care," 2-2:50 p.m., by Troy Andersen, licensed clinical social worker at the Center for Alzheimer’s Care, Imaging and Research at the University of Utah;

• Session Five: "Geriatric Pharmacotherapy: The Pharmacist's Role in Appropriate Drug Management for our Frail and Elderly Patients," 3-3:50 p.m., by Jolie Jantz, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Idaho State University; and

• Session Six (Oral Health Track): running concurrently in the afternoon, "Putting the Mouth Back into the Body," 2-3:50 p.m., by Lea Erickson, Chief of Dental Service at the VA Medical Center in Salt Lake City

The complete title of the Psychosocial Track workshop is "Functional Family Therapy: Treatment for Conduct Disordered and Substance-Abusing Youth," and it will run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Pond Student Union. Continuing education credits are available for psychologists, licensed counselors, and social workers. Participants are requested to pre-register by Oct. 22.

This workshop will be presented by James F. Alexander, a research professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah. He is the founder and developer of Functional Family Therapy (FFT), a widely-disseminated and empirically-demonstrated intervention model for adolescent violence, substance abuse, and related behavioral disorders such as CD, ODD, delinquency, truancy, and family conflict.            

Alexander has published three books, has authored over 70 articles and chapters, and has participated in more than 300 presentations and trainings, both nationally and internationally.

Up-to-date conference information, including registration forms and complete speaker/presentation information, can be found at www.isu.edu/kchp/hlthconf or by contacting Continuing Education at (208) 282-3155 or extendedlearning@isu.edu.

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