2010 Panelists
2010 National Bereavement Teleconference - Living with Grief: Cancer and End-of Life Care
Yvette Colón, PhD, BCD, is the director of education and internet services at the American Pain Foundation and a clinical instructor at the Smith College School for Social Work. She has researched, published, and lectured extensively on end-of-life social work practice, pain management, psychosocial oncology, technology in social work services, and diversity in end-of-life care, including ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. She currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work, a coordinator for the Pain and Palliative Care Special Interest Group of the Association of Oncology Social Work, and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy. She has also served as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life and Palliative Care, a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Social Work, and a member of the governing board of directors for the Intercultural Cancer Council. Dr. Colón was a panel member for Hospice Foundation of America’s 2006 teleconference, Pain Management at the End of Life. She holds a Ph.D. in clinical social work from New York University.
Malene Smith Davis, MBA, MSN, RN, CHPN, is president & CEO of Capital Hospice, one of the first, largest, and most experienced providers of hospice and palliative care services in the United States. A nonprofit organization, Capital Hospice served more than 5,000 patients in 2008 from six regional office locations in metropolitan Washington, DC. Prior to Capital Hospice, Ms. Davis was president & CEO of Hospice Care Corporation in Arthurdale, West Virginia. She began with Hospice Care as the first paid employee, now serving 12 counties in north central West Virginia and four counties in western Pennsylvania. Recognized for her work in advancing the hospice philosophy in West Virginia and surrounding areas, Ms. Davis is a nationally respected expert and presenter in hospice and palliative care. She currently serves on the board of the American Pain Foundation, and has just completed her term as chairperson of the board at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. She has also served on boards with The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation West Virginia Initiative to Improve End-of-Life Care, Preston County (WV) Board of Health, and other community organizations. Recent awards include the first Hospice and Palliative Nurses Foundation Project on Death in America Nursing Leadership Award in Palliative Care in 2006, the Matthew F. McNulty, Jr. 2007 Award, given by the Healthcare Council of the National Capital Area to honor outstanding healthcare leaders, BB&T Bank’s Community Improvement 2007 Award, and the Blue Cross/CareFirst Excellence in Hospice and Palliative Care 2007 award. Ms. Davis completed her nursing degree (RN) at West Virginia University in Morgantown. She holds Masters Degrees in both Business Administration and Nursing from West Virginia University.
Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, MDiv, is a professor of gerontology at the Graduate School of The College of New Rochelle and Senior Consultant to the Hospice Foundation of America. A prolific author and editor, Dr. Doka serves as editor of HFA’s Living with Grief® book series, its Journeys newsletter, and numerous other books and publications. In addition, Dr. Doka has served as a panelist on HFA’s Living with Grief® teleconference programs for 16 years. Dr. Doka was elected president of the Association for Death Education and Counseling in 1993. In 1995, he was elected to the board of directors of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement and served as chairperson from 1997-1999. The Association for Death Education and Counseling presented him with an Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Death Education in 1998. In 2006, Dr. Doka was grandfathered in as a Mental Health Counselor under New York’s first state licensure of counselors. He has been the keynote speaker at conferences throughout North America as well as Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and is a frequent guest on television and radio news programs. Dr. Doka is an ordained Lutheran minister.
Richard Payne, MD, is the director of the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life and an internationally known expert in the areas of pain relief, palliative medicine, oncology, and neurology. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Payne completed post-graduate training in internal medicine at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, and in neurology at the New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical College. He completed a fellowship in neuro-oncology and pain management at Memorial Sloan Kettering, later serving as the Chief of Pain and Palliative Care Service and holding the Anne B. Tandy Chair in Neurology. Dr. Payne has authored or co-authored more than 250 peer-reviewed papers, reviews, book chapters, abstracts, and articles. He has co-edited two books: Current Therapy of Pain, with Dr. Kathleen M. Foley and Assessment and Treatment of Cancer Pain with Drs. C. Stratton Hill and Richard B. Patt. Currently, Dr. Payne serves as the chair of the board of the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa of NHPCO. He is also a board member of the National Coalition of Cancer Survivors.
Sherry R. Schachter, PhD, FT, is the director of bereavement services for Calvary Hospital/Hospice where she develops, coordinates, and facilitates educational services for staff and families. She facilitates weekly bereavement groups for bereaved spouses/partners, adults whose parents have died, and parents who have lost children. Dr. Schachter is a recipient of the prestigious Lane Adams Award for Excellence in Cancer Nursing from the American Cancer Society and for over 28 years has worked with dying patients and their family caregivers. In addition, Dr. Schachter has a private practice in New York City and Pennsylvania and also publishes and lectures on issues related to dying, death, and loss. She is the past president of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and a member of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement (IWG). Dr. Schachter is the mother of five and grandmother of eight.
Brad Stuart, MD, is the primary author of Medical Guidelines for Prognosis in Selected Non-Cancer Diseases, used to develop the national Medicare hospice eligibility criteria. He has received the Heart of Hospice Award from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and the California State Hospice Association’s Pierre Salmon Award. In 2007, he was voted “Physician of the Year” by the California Association for Health Services at Home. Dr. Stuart was featured in the HBO documentary Letting Go: A Hospice Journey, and has been interviewed on ABC’s Good Morning America. He wrote and hosted Care Beyond Cure: Hospice Helping Physicians Treat the Terminally Ill, a nationally televised medical continuing education video that won an International Angel Award for Media Excellence. He has published widely and lectured internationally on medical, psychosocial, and spiritual issues at the end of life. This is Dr. Stuart’s third appearance on an HFA teleconference.
