Upcoming Speaker
David Picella
Seminar Title: Lessons From GWEP: How to Keep Patients Out of the Hospital and Give Better Care at Home
Presentation Date: 10/23/2026
Presentation Time: 11:00 AM
Seminar Details: This presentation reframes caregiver failure not as a personal or family flaw, but as a critical clinical event that directly drives preventable hospitalizations and nursing home admissions for individuals with dementia. It highlights red flags, standardized screening tools, non-pharmacological interventions, and interprofessional care models—such as CMS’s GUIDE model—to support caregivers and stabilize dementia care.
Speaker Bio: David Picella, PhD, has practiced in Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC) as a nurse practitioner (NP) since 1997. In HBPC, Picella led interprofessional teams caring for older adults in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home settings, and primary care clinics. He was a clinical preceptor at Azusa Pacific University (APU) for five years, followed by one year as adjunct faculty, after which he became full-time faculty in 2018. Currently, Picella serves as the director of the Adult Geriatric Nurse Practitioner (AGNP) Program at APU. In 2019, he received the Geriatric Academic Career Award (GACA) from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), focusing on improving gerontological competencies among faculty and other interprofessional students (IPE), while enhancing care for underserved older adult populations. His current clinical practice focuses on age-friendly and dementia-friendly healthcare in HBPC. Starting in 2023, Picella became project director (PD) for a new HRSA five-year, $5 million Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) at APU. As PD for the GWEP, he is building an academic-practice-based community partnership to educate and train IPE faculty, staff, students, physicians, direct care workers, and others to achieve high-quality outcomes in underserved older adult communities.
Seminar Objectives:
- Define caregiver failure and explain how it drives preventable hospitalization and nursing home placement in people living with dementia.
- Recognize red flags of caregiver decompensation and select a validated screening tool for routine use.
- Describe the GUIDE Model care team and apply navigation-based and non-pharmacological interventions that stabilize the caregiver.
- Differentiate the roles and responsibilities within an interprofessional care team (e.g., clinicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, and navigators) in mitigating caregiver burden and managing ambulatory care-sensitive conditions.
- Evaluate clinical risks associated with prescribing sedative and antipsychotic medications for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) compared to non-pharmacological management strategies.
- Design an integrated clinical follow-up and evaluation plan using standardized outcome metrics to track caregiver strain, emergency department utilization, and team integration over time.
Past Speaker
Ann Hablitzel
Seminar Title: Geriatric Frailty Syndrome
Presentation Date: 10/16/2026
Presentation Time: 11:00 AM
Seminar Details: This Continuing Education session covers Geriatric Frailty Syndrome (GFS), focusing on its definition, diagnostic criteria, and distinction from disability. It outlines associated health risks and guides health professionals on targeted multidisciplinary interventions, a 5-stage clinical progression model, and key metrics to measure, evaluate, and sustain an effective GFS program
Speaker Bio: Ann Marie Hablitzel is an accomplished nursing leader with over five decades of clinical and executive experience. Her career is defined by two impactful 25-year chapters: first in Maternal/Child Nursing, and later as the founder and CEO of Hospice Care of California. A recipient of the 2025 APU Nursing Clinical Excellence Award, Ann Marie has served on numerous executive boards, including the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA) and the UCI Institutional Review Board. Driven by her belief that caring for patients at life’s beginning and end is a sacred honor, she continues to invest in the future of healthcare through the endowed Hablitzel Family Scholarship. She has been married to her husband for 58 years, and together they have two sons.
Seminar Objectives:
- Explain the American Geriatrics Society definition of Geriatric Frailty Syndrome and distinguish frailty from disability, as well as primary vs. secondary frailty.
- Recognize the 5 primary clinical criteria (muscle strength loss, weight loss, low activity, fatigue, slowed performance) and secondary indicators used to diagnose GFS.
- Evaluate the risks and health outcomes associated with GFS, including increased rates of falls, hospitalizations, functional decline, and healthcare expenditures.
- Apply targeted, multidisciplinary interventions for key frailty symptoms, including unintended weight loss, weakness, fatigue, pain, depression, and fall prevention.
- Utilize the 5-stage progression model (Early to Late/End-of-Life) to align clinical interventions, family support, and palliative goals of care at each phase.
- Identify the roles of the multidisciplinary Steering Committee and key outcome metrics needed to measure, evaluate, and sustain a GFS program.
Past Speaker
Susie Baker, LCSW
Seminar Title: Supporting Older Adults in Early Stages of Cognitive Impairment: A Clinical and Interdisciplinary Perspective
Presentation Date: 10/7/2025
Presentation Time: 11:00 AM
Seminar Details:
Speaker Bio: Susie Baker, LCSW, is the founder of Luminous Self Therapy + Coaching, where she supports individuals through grief, anxiety, and life transitions. With over a decade of experience working with older adults in hospice care, Susie brings compassion and deep understanding to end-of-life support and the challenges of aging. In her private practice, she specializes in one-on-one therapy, helping clients find resilience, healing, and meaning in life’s changing seasons. She also serves as an adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University Social Work Department and provides supervision for those seeking licensure, guiding the next generation of social workers with clarity, wisdom, and heart.
Seminar Objectives:
- Identify the emotional, psychological, and relational challenges faced by older adults navigating early cognitive changes
- Explore evidence-based approaches, such as narrative therapy, CBT, and IFS-informed strategies to support early-stage clients
- Collaborate effectively across disciplines to design cohesive, client-centered care plans
Past Speaker
Amit Khurana, PharmD
Seminar Title: Interdisciplinary Approach to Opioid Use Disorder: a holistic perspective
Presentation Date: 10/31/2025
Presentation Time: 11:00 AM
Seminar Details:
Speaker Bio: Dr. Amit Kaur Khurana is a health insurance executive and pharmacist who drives pharmacy strategy in Medicare, Medicaid, Commercial, ACA and TRICARE lines of business. Over the last three decades, she has worked in community pharmacy, academia, and managed care organizations developing metric-driven, holistic solutions that result in increased wellness of targeted members. She is passionate about the future of healthcare as a continuum and believes in strengthening strategic partnerships between payors, providers and hospital systems to achieve higher quality and lower cost outcomes. She currently consults on Azusa Pacific University’s Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) grant as a Pharmacy subject-matter expert.
Seminar Objectives:
- Define opioid use disorder using current DSM-5-TR criteria
- Recognize signs and symptoms of opioid intoxication, withdrawal, and chronic use
- Understand evidence-based treatment modalities, especially MOUD, along with the impact of fentanyl in the opioid crisis and implication in treatment approach
- Evaluate the role and safety of over-the-counter intranasal naloxone in reducing opioid-related deaths and when to recommend for patients/families/caregivers
- Describe the role of each discipline in comprehensive OUD care
- Apply harm reduction principles in clinical practice
- Identify special considerations for older adults with OUD
