|
Tuesday, April 28th, 2025 8:00am - 1:30pm Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park: 1000 E Beltline Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525 |
PRESENTATIONS:
- Mindful Aging - Understanding Cognition in the Golden Years: Identify key cognitive changes associated with aging, including differentiation between normal and pathological change, functional changes indicative of memory and cognitive decline, application of strategies to support cognitive health and emotional well-being in older adults, as well as identify team members and their roles in interdisciplinary team managing an aging patient.
- Legal / Ethics - Considerations for Case Manager in No Fault Cases: Case managers often find themselves as the bridge between patients, medical providers and insurance company representatives. However, in complex no fault cases involving catastrophic injuries, the best intentions can sometimes backfire, locking patients into a bad situation. Hear from two attorneys who specialize in catastrophic injury attendant care cases, who can share legal and ethical considerations for case managers dealing with these cases. This presentation will better help case managers understand how they can help their patients in dealings with the insurance company and how to recognize insurance red flags when a patient may need further help.
- Housing Stability, Healthcare Stability: A Social Determinants Framework for the Care Continuum: You discharge a patient with a comprehensive care plan—but they return to an inaccessible home, in an underserved neighborhood, without community supports. Within weeks, they're readmitted. This is the reality case managers face daily, and it's intensifying across Grand Rapids. Case managers are uniquely positioned to address social determinants of health (SDOH), yet housinginstability—a critical SDOH—often undermines even the most carefully constructed care plans. This sessionexamines the housing crisis through a case management lens, using data specific to Grand Rapids to demonstrate how accessible housing shortages create downstream barriers to care plan adherence, dischargesafety, and the holistic ecosystem of a person's health. Drawing from evidence-based research and real-world practice with regional inpatient rehabilitation systems and community-based care providers,attendees will examine the gap between discharge planning best practices and the housing realities patients face. We'll explore current data on housing accessibility limitations, capacity constraints within existing community care organizations, and how geographic location and environmental stability directly impact every dimension of patient health—physical, mental, and social. This session moves beyond problem identification to actionable solutions. Participants will learn how strategic partnerships with community care providers can strengthen discharge outcomes, discover practical advocacy strategies for accessible housing development, and understand their role as SDOH problem-solvers. The care continuum approach demonstrates how housing stability reduces hospital readmissions, improves care plan adherence across all domains (medication management, therapy appointments, lifestyle modifications), and supports better mental health outcomes through reducedisolation and increased community engagement. Case managers will leave with a holistic framework for addressing housing as healthcare, concrete resources for immediate implementation, advocacy tools for long-term systems change, and data-driven strategies to influence housing policy in their communities.
PRESENTERS: STAY TUNED FOR ANNOUNCEMENT!
|
Christie Hinshon McPharlin, MS, CCC-SLP, has been a licensed speech-language
pathologist for over 20 years. She specializes in treating clients with cognition, communication and swallowing disorders across the lifespan. Christie believes that compassionate care, clear communication, and teamwork among clients, families and other team members lead to the most meaningful outcomes. She joined iRehab Services in 2020 and has since become Clinical Director, guiding new service lines and mentoring fellow clinicians. She is passionate about evidence-based, client-centered care—whether through home visits, telehealth, or community programming. Today, Christie’s work reflects iRehab’s mission: that therapy should be personal, empowering, and grounded in trust. Nicholas Andrews is a relentless litigator who is uncompromising when it comes to delivering meaningful results for clients. He knows only too well that his work can mean the difference for victims between having a life at home with their family and being forced to live a life in an institution.
Andrews is a 1989 graduate of Michigan State University College of Law, where he served as Note & Comment Editor of the Detroit College of Law Review. He has received the highest attorney rating by Martindale-Hubbell and has handled more than 70 jury trials in both State and Federal Courts. Andrews has lectured extensively in the areas of trial practice and automobile and insurance law. He is a member of the American Association for Justice, the Michigan Association for Justice, the Oakland County Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association Eastern District of Michigan Chapter, and the Michigan Supreme Court Historical Society, where he is an Advocates Guild Member. Andrews currently serves as President of the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ), an organization of more than 1,300 trial lawyers. He also serves as a member of MAJ’s No-Fault Committee and is Chair of the Bad Faith & Insurance Committee. He is the past Chairperson of the Oakland County Bar Association’s Circuit Court Committee and has served as a Council Member of the State Bar of Michigan Insurance & Indemnity Section. He is admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Michigan and the Western District of Michigan. He is an associate member of the Michigan Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a national association of experienced trial lawyers and judges. Attorney Meagan L. O’Donnell has devoted her legal career to helping injured people navigate some of the most difficult times in their lives. Before joining Liss & Andrews in 2021, O’Donnell represented clients in personal injury cases, acting not only as a knowledgeable attorney, but a zealous client advocate. Today, O’Donnell handles complex litigation at the Firm, working on behalf of clients to secure benefits owed by their insurance companies from the inception of a case through trial.
O’Donnell graduated from the University of Michigan with distinction, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice and Linguistics. She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 2013. O’Donnell is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the Michigan Association for Justice, the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan and the Oakland County Bar Association, where she formerly served as Chair of the Circuit Court Committee. Gabriel Grant is a healthcare executive, inclusive development entrepreneur, and community advocate whose work connects and supports healthcare, housing and human dignity. He is the Founder and the CEO of Care Granted, a West Michigan-based home-healthcare company he launched in 2016 after a spinal cord injury left him an incomplete quadriplegic. Over the past decade, he has grown Care Granted into a seven-figure organization serving medically complex and differently-abled clients across the region, with a reputation for highly personalized,outcomes-driven care shaped by his lived experience navigating the healthcare system.
Building on that foundation, Gabriel is also the developer behind two of West Michigan’s most forward-thinking accessible housing projects: The Heights on Burton, a fully accessible mixed-use development in Grand Rapids’ Alger Heights neighborhood, and Collins Corner, a universally designedresidential redevelopment rooted in his family’s legacy. Both projects address one of healthcare’s most overlooked challenges — safe, accessible housing — by integrating universal design, affordability, and community proximity into the care continuum. Gabriel is a leading advocate for Michigan’s Auto No-Fault system, working to protect the rights of catastrophically injured individuals and ensure long-term access to quality care, housing, and independence. His advocacy is informed by both personal experience and his leadership within the state’s home-healthcare and rehabilitation ecosystem. He earned an athletic scholarship to the University of Arizona for wheelchair rugby, competing at an elite level — an experience that instilled the resilience, discipline, and leadership he brings to every venture. Today, Gabriel is recognized as a rising voice in healthcare innovation and inclusive development, focused on building systems — and communities — that allow people with different abilities to thrive. |
Continuing Education
Application in process for 3 hours / units of Continuing Education for the Spring Symposium (Nursing, CCM)
Application in process for 3 hours / units of Continuing Education for the Spring Symposium (Nursing, CCM)