ON THE CALENDAR – October 2018

 

Oct. 11: Springfield College will host mental-health awareness advocates Jessie Close and Calen Pick at 7:30 p.m. in the Field House. This year marks the fifth year of the college’s newly endowed Arts and Humanities Speaker Series, made possible through the generosity of Carlton and Lucille Sedgeley. This event is free and open to the public.

 

Inspired by Close and Pick’s stories in 2010, actress Glenn Close (Jessie’s sister) co-founded Bring Change to Mind, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness. Jessie Close is the author of Resilience: Two Sisters and a Story of Mental Illness.

 

Pick, a Montana-based artist diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder as a young man, has been active in outreach programs for youth living with mental illness, resources that weren’t always available to him at a young age. He views his artwork as an expression of the creative gifts commonly found among people living with mental illness and an important therapeutic tool.

 

 

 

 

Oct. 15, 22, 29: Atorney Karen Jackson of Jackson Law, an elder-law and estate-planning firm, will teach a series of classes highlighting the latest developments in elder law and estate planning at Holyoke Community College. The six-hour course, called “Elder Law and Estate Planning: What You Need to Know,” will be presented in three two-hour sessions on consecutive Mondays from 6 to 8 p.m.

 

Jackson will present comprehensive subject matter on what she calls “the core estate plan” and will explain key estate-planning documents as well as trusts, as well as providing stories and examples. She will also discuss the probate-court process and Medicare hot topics, as well as community care programs and MassHealth planning for nursing-home care.

 

While participants may attend only one session of their choosing, they must still pay the full course cost of $89. To register, call Holyoke Community College at (413) 552-2500 or visit www.hcc.edu/bce.

 

 

 

 

Oct. 16: Glenmeadow Learning will offer a program on dementia and brain health from 10 a.m. to noon. It is the third program in Glenmeadow’s fall event series, which provides free educational programming in the community. “Dementia and Brain Health: Risk Factors, Interventions, Research” will be offered at the life-plan community at 24 Tabor Crossing, Longmeadow.

 

Kelsey Gosselin, the manager of medical and scientific research engagement for the Alzheimer’s Assoc. Massachusetts/New Hampshire chapter, will lead the presentation, covering topics from the pathology, detection, and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias to updates on clinical trials and thoughts on prevention.

 

The program is free, but space is limited, and reservations are required. To register, call Julie Jediny at (413) 355-5972 or e-mailjjediny@glenmeadow.org, or register online at glenmeadow.org/events.

 

 

 

 

Oct. 18: The School of Nursing at Elms College, in partnership with Baystate Medical Center Nursing, will host a discussion about the upcoming Massachusetts ballot question regarding nurse-staffing ratios on Thursday, Oct. 18 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Elms College’s Veritas Auditorium.

 

Amanda Stefancyk Oberlies, CEO of the Organization of Nurse Leaders in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Vermont, will introduce the issues surrounding Question 1, and then a panel of practicing nurses will speak and take audience questions. Baystate nurses Karissa Gorman, Brittany Foley, and Tara Budriewicz will appear on the panel. The Elms College School of Nursing has joined with Massachusetts nurses, hospitals, and prominent healthcare organizations in opposing Question 1, which which would institute government-mandated nurse staffing levels at all hospitals statewide.

 

This event will allow the public to hear directly from nurses and healthcare experts about the issues surrounding Question 1 and how it would affect the day-to-day practice of nursing in Massachusetts, as well as the long-term effects of such legislation on patient care and the nursing profession as a whole.

 

 

 

 

Oct. 18-19: Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech will hold its 39th annual Conference on Mainstreaming Students with Hearing Loss at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlborough. This year’s event carries the theme “From Access to Achievement: Empowering Every Child to Succeed in the Mainstream,” and will include a social hour for conference attendees, presenters, and exhibitors.

 

CEU and professional-development points are offered. There is no deadline for registration, and walk-ins are welcome. For more information or to register, visit www.clarkeschools.org/services/annual-mainstream-conference.

 

 

 

 

Oct. 25: The second annual class of Healthcare Heroes will be honored at the Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Healthcare Heroes, a recognition program involving the Western Mass. healthcare sector, was launched last spring by HCN and BusinessWest.

 

This year’s honorees include Mary Paquette, director of Health Services and nurse practitioner, American International College; Celeste Surreira, assistant director of Nursing, the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke; Peter DePergola II, director of Clinical Ethics, Baystate Health; Dr. Matthew Sadof, pediatrician, Baystate Children’s Hospital; TechSpring; the Consortium and the Opioid Task Force; and Robert Fazzi, founder, Fazzi Associates. The seven winners were profiled in the Sept. 4 issue of BusinessWest and the September issue of HCN.

 

Tickets cost $90, and tables of 10 are available. To order tickets, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100, or visit www.businesswest.com.

 

Healthcare Heroes sponsors include American International College (presenting sponsor), Baystate Health/Health New England (presenting sponsor), National Grid (partner), and supporting sponsors Renew.Calm, the Elms College MBA program, Bay Path University, and Mercy Medical Center/Trinity Health Of New England.

 

 

 

 

Oct. 26: The Baystate Regional Cancer Program at Baystate Mary Lane Outpatient Center and the American Cancer Society will sponsor “Look Good…Feel Better,” a free program for area women from 10 a.m. to noon. The program teaches beauty techniques to women who are undergoing cancer treatment.

 

Deb Rozzen, volunteer cosmetologist with the “Look Good…Feel Better” program, will be on hand to work with each woman to help them learn how to enhance their appearance using makeup techniques. Wig care, scarf and hat use, skin care, and nail care will all be discussed, and all participants will receive a free makeup kit.

 

Sessions are limited to 12 people and are open to any woman undergoing cancer treatment in the area, and will be held at Baystate Mary Lane. Pre-registration by Oct. 19 is required by calling Camille St. Onge, oncology social worker at Baystate Mary Lane, at (413) 967-2245.

 

 

 

 

Oct. 29 to Feb. 6: Holyoke Community College, in collaboration with the Quaboag Valley Community Development Corp. and Emergency Medical Training Solutions, is offering an EMT training program at the E2E: Quaboag Region Workforce Training and Community College Center at 79 Main St. in Ware.

 

The EMT-B Emergency Medical Technician Basic Course meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 to 9:30 p.m. and on select Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 13-week program consists of more than 170 hours of in-class lectures and additional online study, training, field trips, and workshops designed to prepare students for the state EMT certification exam. The course covers all aspects of emergency care, including patient handling, extrication, and communication; working with law enforcement; legal issues; ethics; medical equipment; and safe transportation of patients.