THE FOUNDERS      

Kara Bennett, PhD   

 

       For several generations my family worked in health care; medical practice, research, education, mental health, nutrition, physical fitness, and entertainment for patients. I’ve been involved with mental health, human rights, education, and entertainment for over forty years. (PhD from UCLA, Psychologist license in CA, Screen Actors Guild, Actors Equity Association)  I was fortunate to study and work with an innovative group of educators, research scientists and practitioners who introduced me to an approach for studying problem-solving strategies that include the complex dynamics of daily life events. 

    For instance, my PhD dissertation; “A Construction of a Diagnosis,” investigated how a neurologist discovers the cause of a patient’s illness. The physician is asked to “think aloud” as they examine the patient and the interaction is recorded. Observing the physician’s problem-solving as it happens gives a chance to discover how they try to fit their medical knowledge to the immediate experience of the patient’s symptoms. I continued to apply these research methods as an example of Problem Based Learning to many different kinds of problem-solving situations. Documenting the thoughts and actions of people as they try to achieve their goals suggested common mental processes for translating a person’s ideas into action. For Elder Voices education projects this background is adapted for simulated and virtual environments, community theater and storytelling, to have a place to try out problem-solving possibilities that encourage respect for human rights. For example, in a virtual or simulated environs the health professional can explore methods for making a diagnosis and then select the methods that work best for interacting with the real patient. Link to CV

       

 

Susan Patrice Weiner, MD, MPH

 

      Dr. Weiner received her MD and MPH from Tulane University and began practicing medicine in pediatric neurology. Later she studied at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University and worked with issues of bioethics and human rights. She worked as a volunteer physician from 1994 to 2010, helping people without health insurance in the San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles CA. areas.  During this time she was cofounder of Elder Voices, and hoped to continue this work for many more years. 

    

     However, she tragically died in 2012 from a rare cancer, small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma.  Dr. Weiner will continue to be our guide for exploring the interface of spirit, art, and science to help bring human rights to global health and healing. For example, she found the virtual world environment we had created for some of our education work about human rights was an uplifting place to visit during her cancer, and Elder Voices continues to share her work there.

     Besides her medical practice, Susan was a member of the advisory counsel for the program of Medicine and Philosophy at the California Pacific Medical Center, and trained with the San Francisco Neighborhood Emergency Response Team.  In 1989 she won the young investigator award from the American Epilepsy Society. Her publications are in books, medical journals, interviews with health professionals about the philosophy of health and healing.