We’re grateful for the contributions of those who helped launch and refine the LiveWell Method.
Ann Delmar, MS, Coach
Ann believes that finding ways to communicate through varied perspectives makes life interesting, creates community, and inspires each person to live fully. Her own commitment to communal living was shaped by a small rural North Dakota farm town. She has worked in senior living communities facilitating crucial conversations with residents, families, friends and support staff to figure out TOGETHER how to provide the best quality of life for all. Ann’s educational degrees in social work and adult education, her volunteer and professional roles, have all come about because of her dedication to improving lives and reforming health care and educational systems.
Bowen McBeath, PH.D., Advisor
Dr. McBeath is a Professor in the School of Social Work at Portland State University. His research and practice efforts involve: understanding the environment of human service delivery; supporting human service practice, program, and policy development; and building spaces for organizational and managerial innovation and learning. He has received national awards and honors for his scholarship and research, serves on the editorial boards of numerous research journals, and consults with human service organizations at the international, national, state, and local levels. Bowen and his team will develop and lead the Ecosystem Hub for LiveWell. In his spare time, Bowen plays the cello and listens to classical music.
Cindy Heilman, MS
Cindy runs a company called Higher Standards, which invented the Kind Dining® philosophy. Cindy works with and trains senior living communities that want to create an exceptional experience for their residents and make their day-three times a day. Cindy’s book, Hospitality for Boomers, focuses on how to attract residents and keep good team members. Clients say that as a result of her work, they gain a new sense of purpose, get along better and keep their focus and energy on what matters most. On a personal note, Cindy has kayaked throughout Southeast Alaska, often camping and cooking among Alaskan brown bears.
Laurie Lockert, MS
Laurie brings extensive practical experience in behavioral health. Over the last 15 years, she has focused on consulting and training trauma-informed care practices for a variety of service systems specializing in working with vulnerable populations. She works to empower and provide a voice for both the workforce and the populations served. Laurie’s diverse experience includes serving on the national advisory panel for the implementation of trauma-informed practices for the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), building a trauma-informed workforce embedded in primary care, as well as over 35 years of clinical behavioral health practice.
Lisa McKerlick, MSN
Lisa is a nurse educator who co-authored and developed the LiveWell Method quality assurance and performance improvement curriculum. She specializes in creating and implementing healthcare industry training programs designed to improve community culture, training all skill levels, care settings, and departments to ensure teamwork, collaboration, and quality. Lisa was an RN in hospitals, urgent care, and outpatient care until becoming an Improvement Facilitator and Lead Trainer in 2012. She now also teaches a variety of other classes for staff and families who care for older adults in Oregon.
Paula Carder, Ph.D.
Paula is the Director of the Institute on Aging at Portland State University. Her research, focusing on housing and long-term care for older persons, has been published in articles and books, including Inside Assisted Living, The Search for Home (2010), and the Compendium of Residential Care and Assisted Living Regulations and Policy published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She and her team, including Serena Hasworth, Laura Daily, and Sheryl Elliott, are leading the external evaluation of LiveWell.
Steve Burrows, MBA
Steve is the CEO of Qualitas UK, which specializes in organizational transformation and enabling cultures of sustainable continuous improvement. A long time thought partner and collaborator of Barbara Kohnen Adriance, Steve brings extensive experience in England and across the globe disseminating similarly powerful improvement methodologies. His involvement ensures that the principles underlying LiveWell reach a large audience and are in turn influenced by best practices across the globe.
Trisha Kumar, Hatfield Fellow
Trisha is the Hatfield Fellow for The Malden Collective. She graduated in 2021 with her Master's of Public Health in health management and policy from the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. She has built experience in primary care working as a medical scribe; in policy, creating briefs for reproductive health justice in Oregon; and recently worked with the Doernbecher Gender Clinic to complete a program evaluation, creating patient journey maps and performing a qualitative analysis by synthesizing staff and provider input through semi-structured interviews. She believes that good teams beget good outcomes and that good teams are built by empowering and engaging all members as vital facets of an interrelated system. She has two retired racing greyhounds and a minor in theatre, and can be found enjoying both of those things in her spare time!
Valerie Edwards, Hatfield Fellow
Valerie is a current Master of Public Health student at Oregon State University in the Health Promotion and Health Behavior option. Her background is in Human Development & Family Studies and Applied Positive Psychology. She has several years of experience managing data and reports for a variety of programs and organizations, hoping to make data more accessible and applicable. She also has experience leading offices, promoting mental health, and working with families in both Oregon and Utah. Outside of her studies, she loves to read and spend time in her garden with her husband and many animals.