Value of Lifestyle Management Programs for Improving the Health and Well-being of Older Americans during Covid-19 and Beyond

Self Management Resource Center, Professor Emerita at Stanford School of Medicine

Kate served as the Director of the Stanford Patient Education Research Center and Professor of Medicine in the Stanford School of Medicine. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Boston University, and her master's and doctorate of public health in health education at the University of California, Berkeley. She came to Stanford in 1979 while a graduate student at Cal to develop and research an educational program that emphasized self-help skills for people with arthritis. This program became the Arthritis Self-Help Course and was the prototype for the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, The Diabetes Self-Management Program, the Positive Self-Management Program for HIV, the Cancer: Thriving and Surviving Program, the Building Better Caregiver's Program, the Chronic Pain Self-Management Program, and others. She has authored several books and many articles about arthritis, chronic disease in general, health education, and behavioral science. She travels extensively at the invitation of organizations concerned with patient care and academic research. She lives in Mountain View, CA, with her 2 cats and a collection of Native American art.

Chief Executive Officer at Project Open Hand

In his role as CEO, Paul has been instrumental in continuing to leverage and expand Project Open Hand's relationships with government partners, health plans and providers, private funders, donors and volunteers. As an advocate for medically tailored nutrition interventions, he furthers the mission of educating healthcare payers and providers on the role of medical nutrition in health outcomes.  

His twenty-five-year professional career has been exclusively grounded in community health and wellness for diverse populations. He previously served as senior vice president of programs for The Health Trust in San Jose and Santa Clara County for 14 years. In that role, he provided vision and leadership for The Health Trust's entire portfolio of services, including HIV/AIDS programming, Meals on Wheels, the Jerry Larson Food Basket, community-based chronic disease prevention and management services, and a wide range of supportive housing programs. Prior to joining The Health Trust, he served as executive director of wellness and education for the Pueblo of Sandia Native American Reservation in New Mexico for eight years. Paul holds a B.S. in Physical Education from Indiana State University and an M.S. in Park and Recreation Administration with a specialization in Outdoor Therapeutic Recreation from Indiana University. 

His past experience with coalitions and collaboratives includes six years on the Santa Clara County HIV/AIDS Planning Council, the City of Mountain View Parks and Recreation and Urban Forestry Commission, and the Santa Clara County Diabetes Prevention Task Force. Paul currently service as Board Chair for the Evidence Based Leadership Collaborative (EBLC), Leadership Committee member of the National Food is Medicine Coalition, and Leadership team of the California Food is Medicine Coalition. 

Teresa is the Manager of the Diabetes and Health Behavior Unit in the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Division of the Minnesota Department of Health. In this role, she guides efforts to prevent and manage chronic conditions to improve the lives of all Minnesotans and reduce health disparities. Ms. Ambroz has over three decades of experience assessing community needs, researching, developing, implementing, and evaluating evidence-informed and sustainable health improvement and prevention initiatives with community stakeholders in multiple settings. She has worked in multiple sectors including managed care, care delivery, local public health, nonprofit and state government. As a passionate optimist with a vision, Teresa believes that together, we can build a culture of health, improve the quality of people’s lives’, and reduce the economic burden of escalating health care costs.  Her strength lies in bringing people, ideas, and evidence-based approaches together to create innovative solutions that endure the test of time. Teresa has a master’s degree in Public Health Nutrition from the University of Minnesota.