1. Discuss the types of ethical issues that are common in congregate living arrangements for older persons, including Assisted Living 

2. Describe the benefits of ethics resourcing for residents, families/friends, and staff 

3. Compare different options for bringing ethics resourcing into residential settings for older persons 

PRESENTER #1

ABOUT THE PRESENTER:

KAREN G. GERVAIS, PHD, Director of the Minnesota Center for Health Care Ethics, received her BA from Oberlin College, and her doctorate in philosophy from the University of Minnesota. She began her career as a philosophy professor in 1971. The publication of her book, Redefining Death, by Yale University Press in 1986 marks her career transition into the field of health care ethics. Invited by Arthur Caplan to be a visiting scholar and Center Associate at the Center for Biomedical Ethics at the University of Minnesota in 1989, many opportunities opened for her as both ethicist and educator upon returning to her home state of Minnesota. She served as Coordinator of the Minnesota Network for Institutional Ethics Committees. She served as member of the Minnesota Commission on End-of-Life Care and the Minnesota Department of Health’s Task Force on Health and Bioterrorism, and was co-leader of the Minnesota Pandemic Ethics Project. She co-directed a community-wide ethics project (sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Health) on rationing health care resources in a severe pandemic and is co-author of “For the Good of Us All: Ethically Rationing Health Resources in Minnesota in a Severe Influenza Pandemic.” She has published in the Hastings Center Report, American Journal of Bioethics, IRB, The American Journal of Managed Care, Medical Humanities Review, Minnesota Medicine, and contributed articles to several edited works, including the Encyclopedia of Bioethics. 

Amanda C. West 

Associate Director, Minnesota Center for Health Care Ethics

ABOUT THE PRESENTER: AMANDA C. WEST, MA, JD, CHC, HEC-C, is Associate Director at the Minnesota Center for Health Care Ethics. She earned her JD cum laude with additional certificates in Health Law and Health Care Compliance from Hamline University, where she also received a Constance L. Bakken Research Fellowship and Bloomberg-BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Health Law. Amanda also holds Master of Arts degrees in Bioethics from Case Western Reserve University and Applied Women’s Studies from Claremont Graduate University. She earned her BA from Kalamazoo College, where she was awarded the Hodge Prize for the graduating senior with the highest standing in the field of Philosophy. Amanda is a licensed attorney in the State of Minnesota and she holds the designation Certified in Healthcare Compliance from the Health Care Compliance Association. She has worked in the field of Social Security Disability law and taught health care ethics at St. Catherine University, as well as interned with a judge in Hennepin County District Court and in the health care frauds division at the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.