International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse 8th World Conference,
Seoul, June 23, 2013
Speakers’ Biographies
John Beard, MBBS, PhD (Switzerland) is Director of the Department of Ageing and
Life Course at the World Health Organization. Prior to 2009 when he assumed his
current position, he practiced medicine as a primary care physician in his home
country of Australia and spent several years as medical officer for an Aboriginal
Medical Service. From 1991, he held a wide range of senior public health and
academic positions in Australia, followed by three years as Senior Epidemiologist at
the New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. Beard’s involvement in the health of older
persons began during his time as a clinician. Later, he was instrumental in the
establishment of Stay on Your Feet, one of Australia’s first and largest falls prevention
programs and he was a founding investigator for 45 and Up, an ongoing Australian
longitudinal study of 250,000 older adults. While in New York his research focused
on urban health, demonstrating a clear link between the urban environment and
depression, disability and obesity in older persons and he was actively involved in the Age-friendly Cities
project.
Marie Beaulieu, PhD (Canada), a criminologist, is a full professor in the
Department of Social Service at the Université de Sherbrooke (Québec) and a
researcher with the Research Centre on Aging at the Health and Social Services
Centre – University Institute of Geriatrics of Sherbrooke (CSSS-IUGS). Since
November 2010, she is the Chairholder, for 5 years, of a Research chair on
mistreatment of older adults (www.maltraitancedesaines.com). Specialized in social
gerontology, she has been involved in the field of elder abuse, victimization and
fear of crime among the elderly for the past 25 years. In 2008-2010, she was
appointed as a special advisor to the Québec Seniors Secretariat for the production of the first plan of
action to fight against elder abuse. She values the links between seniors, practitioners, policy makers and
researchers. Since 2011 she has been INPEA Regional Representative for North American.
Uwe Brucker, MA (Germany) after studies in Law, Communication and Politics, has
been occupied with legal issues related to old people’s welfare. Since 1997 he has been
head of the long-term care-department in the Medical Advisory Service of the Health
Care Insurances (MDS) in Essen, Germany where he has been seeking to change the
legal definition of "in need of care" away from physiological deficits towards actual care
expense. At the end of June 2013 a final report will be published with proposals for the
Federal Ministry of Health for implementation of a new assessment instrument for LongTerm Care-Insurance in Germany. He has published on Long term Care Insurance,
Guardianship-law, and medical/nursing provision for dementia persons and since 1994
he has been initiating discussions about violence in long-term care settings. From 20102012 he was Coordinator of the European project MILCEA (Monitoring in Long-Term Care. Pilot Project on
Elder Abuse). From July 2013 onwards he will be project coordinator of a national “Prevention study on
Elder Abuse in Germany”. This project will study the feasibility and practical implementation of prevention
tools in 4 German municipalities.
Young-Sook Choi, MSW (Korea) has been studying social welfare and social
services, and working for more than 35 years in the social work field. Her first
degree in social work is from Kangnam University in Seoul. Subsequently, she
graduated from the University of South Carolina College of Social Work Koreabased MSW program. Ms. Choi is currently the Executive Director of the Korea
Elder Protection Agency (KEPA), an agency with headquarters in Seoul which
serves seniors throughout Korea from 23 community-based centers. Prior to
joining KEPA, she was director of the Suseo Youth Center in Seoul and the director
of the Senior Welfare Center in Dajeon, Korea.
International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse 8th World Conference,
Seoul, June 23, 2013
Viennarat Chuangwiwat, MSc (Thailand) is Program Officer on Social Security at the
International Labour Organization’s office in Bangkok, Thailand, responsible for long term care
and social protection issues. She has been in this position since March 1, 2013. From 20002013 she was National Programme Associate with the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA) Country Office for Thailand where she was the focal point for population ageing,
migration, social protection. From 1989-2000 she was Assistant to the Information Officer,
Delegation of the European Commission/European Union to South-east Asia. Vienna has a BA
from Burabha University, Thailand, an MSc in Information Technology Management, from the
King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang, Thailand and is currently a PhD
candidate, in the International Program in Public Health, College of Public Health Sciences,
Chulalongkorn University,Thailand.
Lia Daichman, MD (Argentina) obtained a medical degree from Cordoba National
University, Argentina in 1970. This was followed by postgraduate training in
geriatrics and psycho-geriatrics in the UK and at Buenos Aires National University
where she obtained her Specialist Degree in 1980. Dr Daichman was a Senior
Registrar in Geriatrics at the Italian Hospital (1977 - 1980), Medical Director Jewish
Old People Home (1980 - 1982), Consultant to the Psycho-geriatric Department Liga
Israelita Argentina (1983 - 1986), and has been Medical Adviser to the Social
Services for the Aged and Coordinating Council, Jewish Community, Buenos Aires
since 1984. Since 1988 has been a Consultant in gerontology and geriatrics at the
Instituto Argentino de Diagnóstico y Tratamiento. Since 1991 she has been an
Associated Professor, Psychology Department, Belgrano University, and from 19952003 was Coordinator of the Specialist Postgraduate Course on Geriatric Medicine, University of Buenos
Aires. She was a founding member and President of the Buenos Aires Gerontological Society and from
2001-2009 was President of INPEA. Currently, she is President of ILC- ARGENTINA a position she has
held since 2005 and UN Representative for ILC on the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older Persons. Her
research and advocacy has focused on elder abuse and neglect, discrimination, human rights, ethical
issues and caregiving in geriatric care.
XinQi Dong, MD, MPH (USA), is the Director of the Chinese Health, Aging and Policy Program and the
Associate Director, Rush Institute for Healthy Aging and an Associate
Professor of Medicine, Nursing, and Behavioral Sciences at the Rush
University Medical Center. Dr. Dong has had long standing interests in
human rights and social justice issues in vulnerable populations and his
research focuses on the epidemiological studies of elder abuse, neglect
and exploitation both in the U.S. and China, with particular emphasis
on its adverse health outcomes. Dr. Dong has published extensively on
this topic and is currently leading an epidemiological study of 3,000
Chinese older adults to quantify longitudinal relationship among culture
factors, elder abuse and trajectories of psychosocial wellbeing. Dr. Dong serves on the editorial board for
Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, Journal of Gerontology Medical Sciences, Gerontology, BioMed
Research International, Journal of Aging and Health and Journal of the American Geriatric Society. As an
APSA Congressional Policy Fellow/Health and Aging Policy Fellow, he served as a Senior Policy & Research
Advisor for AoA/ACL and a Senior Policy Advisor for CMS. Dr. Dong also is a recipient of the Paul Beeson
Award in Aging, National Physician Advocacy Merit Award, the Nobuo Maeda International Aging and Public
Health Research Award, and the Maxwell Pollack Award in Productive Aging. Dr. Dong was elected to be a
Commissioner for the Commission on Law and Aging of the American Bar Association (ABA), and the
Board of Directors for the Chinese American Service League, the largest social services organization in the
Midwest serving the needs of Chinese populations. He is a fellow of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago
(IOMC) and chaired of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Global Violence Prevention Forum on Elder Abuse in
April 2013.
International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse 8th World Conference,
Seoul, June 23, 2013
Margaret Gillis is the Senior Director of the Division of Children, Seniors and
Healthy Development within the Centre for Health Promotion, Public Health Agency of
Canada. This Division is the Government of Canada’s focal point and lead for healthy
development over the life course. Margaret is responsible for providing expertise,
influencing public policy development, and engaging multi-disciplinary and multisector stakeholders in the promotion of healthy aging; especially in seniors’ mental
health, injury prevention for seniors, and encouraging the integration of seniors’
needs and contributions in emergency situations. In the area of children’s public
health, Margaret is responsible for national programs to support children at risk, such
as Aboriginal Head Start Urban and Northern Communities, Canada’s Prenatal
Nutrition Program, and the Community Action Program for Children. Margaret has a
B.A. from Queen’s University and a Masters in Public Administration, with a focus on health policy, from
Carleton University.
Gloria Gutman, PhD (Canada) developed and was director of the Gerontology Research
Centre and Department of Gerontology at Simon Fraser University (SFU) from 1982-2005.
She is author/editor of 23 books and over 150 scholarly articles, chapters and reports on
elder abuse prevention, senior citizens housing, long term care, shelter and care of persons
with dementia, and health promotion and aging. She was founding President of the
Gerontology Association of British Columbia, served two terms as President of the Canadian
Association on Gerontology, and was president of the International Association of
Gerontology and Geriatrics from 2001-2005.
Currently, she is President of the
International Network for Prevention of Elder Abuse and a member of the National Initiative for Care of
the Elderly's Elder Abuse Theme Team. She is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, a Fellow
of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and a member of the World Health Organization’s Expert
Advisory Panel on Health and Ageing. She has received a number of honours, among them the Rosalie
Wolf Memorial Award – International category, awarded in 2005 for her long term support of elder abuse
research and prevention. In 2007 she was awarded the Order of British Columbia for her pioneering work
in gerontology research and education in Canada and in 2012, she was awarded a Queen’s Diamond
Jubilee Medal by the Canadian Association on Gerontology for her international work.
Les Jackson, BSC (Psych), Grad Dip Mgt (Australia) is Coordinator of the
UnitingCare Community Elder Abuse Prevention Unit (EAPU). Les, who has worked in
the area of elder abuse prevention since 1998, has had a significant influence on the
direction and development of the EAPU in Queensland which has earned a
considerable reputation for innovation in service delivery and data collection. He has
provided consultation on the development of elder abuse service models for the New
South Wales and Australian Capital Territory governments. He has also provided
input into the service development for the Tasmanian, Northern Territory and Victorian responses to elder
abuse. Although Les has presented at various state and national conferences on specific aspects of elder
abuse, his presentations are always grounded in practice, backed by data and embedded within the
broader context of national and international initiatives. He recently presented statistics and EAPU case
studies at the Sixth world Summit on Mediation with Age-related Issues (Adelaide May 2013) posing the
question “Do older women want a different response to elder abuse?” This presentation considered the
difficulty faced by workers and the issues and options surrounding many older female victims who do not
make use of protection orders and other legal remedies in elder abuse situations – a rights vs. protection
issue.
International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse 8th World Conference,
Seoul, June 23, 2013
Mary Lynn Kasunic has worked in the field of aging services since 1976. Since
1990, she has been the President & CEO of the Area Agency on Aging, Region One
in the Greater Phoenix area which serves annually more than 85,000 older adults,
persons with disabilities, family caregivers and special populations. She has
created more than 40 new and innovative programs since becoming CEO. Ms.
Kasunic was co-founder in 1993 and serves as co-chair of the Maricopa Elder Abuse
Prevention Alliance (MEAPA). Almost 20 years later, MEAPA is a proactive coalition
of 150+ community members who address a broad spectrum of activities to
address elder abuse including public and professional education and awareness,
advocacy, victim services, and special projects such as MDTs, Alternatives to
Guardianships, and APS Service Coordination. In collaboration with MEAPA, Ms. Kasunic created the
unique and comprehensive program, DOVES, which provides education/awareness, I&R/A, support groups,
emergency housing and transitional housing for victims of late life domestic violence and elder abuse.
She wrote and co-directed two videos on DV - The Dance and Nuestra Baille. Under a special grant from
HHS through NCPEA, Ms. Kasunic and her co-trainers created 50+ new local elder abuse coalitions across
the US where none existed. She has been on the Board of Directors of NCPEA for almost 15 years and
has been a long-standing Commissioner with the Arizona Governor's Commission to Prevent Violence
Against Women.
Ariela Lowenstein, PhD (Israel) is President, Max Stern Yezeel Valley College and
Professor Emeritus at the University of Haifa. Thirteen years ago she established the
Graduate Department of Gerontology there, heading it for its first five years. In 1990 she
established the Center for Research and Study of Aging, heading it intil 2012, currently
heading its social gerontology stream. Lowenstein served as Research Coordinator of a
large scale EU project (OASIS) and with colleagues conducted the first Israeli National
Prevalence Study on community elder abuse and a qualitative study on 50 families suffering
from abuse and neglect. Currently, she is INPEA’s Regional Representative for Europe. In
2009 she was recipient of the Rosalie Wolf award. She is past chair of the Social Science
Division of IAGG’s European Region, and served for five years as president of the Israeli Gerontological
Society, from whom she received a prize for life achievement. She is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society
of America, a fellow and Advisory Board member of the World Demographic Forum, a board member of
the International Federation of Aging, a board member of the National Initiative for Elder Care, University
of Toronto, and co-chair of the Elder Abuse Theme Team within NICE. She serves on Israeli governmental
and local agencies as consultant, and policy advisor. Her research interests include intergenerational
family relations, elder abuse, elders’ quality of life, policy development, theory building, family caregiving,
and gerontological education.
Lynn McDonald, PHD (Canada) Professor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto,
is Director of the Institute for Life Course and Aging and Scientific Director of the National
Initiative for the Care of the Elderly (NICE), dedicated to the inter-professional care of
older adults. She has been leading the NICE Elder Abuse Team: Knowledge to Action
research grant (2008-2011), the NICE Older Women and Financial Literacy grant (20102012), and a multi-layered project on Defining and Measuring Elder Abuse and Neglect
(2010-2012). Dr. McDonald is directing a study on Financial Literacy and Custodial
Grandparents funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s
Public Outreach Grant, beginning in 2012. In 2002 she was awarded the Governor
General’s Golden Jubilee medal for her contributions to Canadian gerontology. She has been a board
director of the Canadian Association of Gerontology and served as Editor, Policy and Practice and Acting
Editor, Social Sciences for the Canadian Journal on Aging. She also has been a board director of the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, a member of the Board of Accreditation for the
Canadian Schools of Social Work and a member of the CIHR Institute of Aging, Social Dimensions of Aging
Committee.
International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse 8th World Conference,
Seoul, June 23, 2013
Bridget Penhale, MSW (UK) is currently Reader in Mental Health of Older People at
the University of East Anglia (UEA). With a first degree in psychology, she has been
qualified as a social worker since 1981. Bridget has specialized in work with older people
since 1983, and worked in urban, rural and city areas in addition to hospitals. After a
successful career as social worker and manager spanning some 15 years, she took up an
academic post at the University of Hull (UK) in 1996, moving to Sheffield in 2004.
Bridget took up her current post at UEA, Norwich in October 2010. She is past Chair of
the British Association of Social Worker's Community Care Sub-Committee, and former
Vice-Chair of Action on Elder Abuse. She is currently co-chair of the Hull Domestic
Violence Forum, a multi-agency network to develop responses to domestic violence (predominantly of
women). Bridget is a member of the UK National Social Care Research Ethics Committee and a Board
member of INPEA. Bridget is recognized nationally in the UK for her work on adult protection and
internationally for her work on elder abuse. In 2010 she received the International Rosalie Wolf Award for
her work in the field of elder abuse research and practice.
Elizabeth Podnieks, BScN, M Envi Sc, PhD (Canada) has held nursing positions in
Halifax; London, England; Boston; and Toronto. She is presently Professor Emerita at
Ryerson University’s School of Nursing in Toronto. She conducted the 1st national survey
on abuse of the elderly in Canada in 1991. She was co-investigator on “A Study of Elder
Abuse Prevention and Intervention Strategies in Five Countries: Argentina, Australia,
Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America” (T. Tartara, PI), was
responsible for Canada’s inclusion in the WHO/INPEA project “A Global Response to Elder
Abuse: Missing Voices”, is PI of “The Worldview on Elder Abuse: Environmental Scan” and
a pioneer in elder abuse work in faith communities, and raising awareness of elder abuse
among children and adolescents. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal on Elder Abuse and
Neglect (JEAN), and has been guest editor for three Canadian volumes of JEAN. She has also served on
the Editorial Board for the Journal of Gerontological Nursing. Dr. Podnieks is founder of the Ontario
Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (ONPEA), and Honorary Chair of its Board of Directors. She
served as Vice-Chair of INPEA from 2006-2010, founded CNPEA and is a Board Member of NCPEA - the
National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (USA). It was Dr. Podnieks’ idea to establish a World
Elder Abuse Awareness Day, which was followed up by INPEA in 2006. Dr. Podnieks was awarded the
Order of Canada in 1998 in recognition for her work in the field of elder abuse.
Mala Kapur Shankardass,PhD (India) Associate Professor, Maitreyi College,
Delhi University, is a sociologist, gerontologist, health and development social
scientist. She is an alumni of the Delhi School of Economics; East West Center,
Hawaii and UN International Institute of Ageing, Malta and a Fellow of the World
Demographic Association. Currently INPEA Regional Chair for Asia she was
Representative for India from 2002-2010. A Life Member of the Delhi Sociological
Association and of the Indian Sociological Society, she was Convener of the Sociology of Crime and
Deviance Committee from 2004 to 2008. She consults for UN agencies in New York and India and was
involved in the formulation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging. She has been a part of
programs on ageing with WHO SEARO, ILO South Asia office, Colombo Plan, Asia Training Centre on
Ageing, IUSSP, World Bank and SAARC Secretariat. At the national level, she is involved with ageing
programs and policy development with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. She also is a
Member of the National Human Rights Commission Core Group on Protection and Welfare of Older People.
Author of the book 'Growing Old in India: Voices Reveal, Statistics Speak', she publishes regularly. She
also serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Adult Protection, published in the UK and is a Managing
Trustee, of the Development, Welfare and Research Foundation, and a Governing Body Member of several
other
NGOs.
International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse 8th World Conference,
Seoul, June 23, 2013
Susan Somers, JD (USA) served as an assistant Public Defender for over six years
and holds a Certificate of Gerontology Studies. She was engaged for over 20 years in
the private practice of Law, was a past Assist. Deputy Attorney General for the State
of New York, heading sections of the Consumer Frauds Bureau and The Elder
Protection Unit. She developed expertise in Financial Exploitation of the Elderly and
developed and personally delivered training to bank personnel, police and older
persons. She served as State Director of the NYS OCFS Bureau of Adult Services
from 2002 until she retired from state service in 2007. She has served as Secretary
General of INPEA since 2003. Her focus is training and consulting in the area of
human rights to end abuse, neglect and violence against vulnerable older persons;
prevention of cultural and traditional harmful practices; and mental health issues of older persons. She
participated in the development and delivery of a national caregiver training program co-sponsored by the
Nepal Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, and the National Network of Senior Citizens
Organizations of Nepal. Susan is working together with other International NGO’s to promote a new UN
Convention on the Human Rights of Older Persons. As a Co-chair to the NPEIV Subcommittee on Public
Awareness she is working to spread information and understanding of the effects of violence across the
lifespan.
Cythia Thomas, Ph.D (USA) is a Senior Study Director at Westat, an employeeowned research company in Rockville, MD. Westat conducts research for federal, state,
and local government agencies, private businesses, and foundations. Staff numbering
over 2000 include social scientists in a variety of disciplines, evaluation
methodologists, clinical research specialists, statisticians, and survey methodologists.
Dr. Thomas directs projects involving complex sample designs, large data collection
and training efforts, and quantitative and qualitative analysis. Dr. Thomas has served
as an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical
Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, as an Assistant Professor
at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., and as visiting faculty or professorial
lecturer at University College, the University of Maryland, and the University of Colorado. She has held
senior positions at the National Opinion Research Center, Mathematica Policy Research, and the Urban
Institute. She was responsible for sampling, data collection, and analysis for the First National Incidence
Study of Elder Abuse and Neglect conducted in the USA. She has contributed to the design of the
Canadian Elder Abuse Prevalence Study and is currently working on a study to develop the methodology
for including questions related to elder abuse on the US National Criminal Victimization Survey.