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• Each time you
come to clinic, you will have the opportunity
to meet with
the following team members:
(Click on the team member's
photo to enlarge) |
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Dr. Richard S. Bedlack
Clinic Director
(See
Director page for more) |
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Stacey Asnani
Clinic Coordinator and Social Worker
Medical social workers
have a Master’s degree in the field of
social work and have specialized training
and experience focusing on health related
issues and their impact on physical, emotional,
social and spiritual functioning. Social
work provides screening, assessment and
intervention to patients and their families,
empowering them to deal with the stresses
that accompany a diagnosis of ALS. As
part of the multidisciplinary treatment
team, the clinical social worker provides
the following services:
• Psychosocial Assessment
• Patient & Family Education
• Counseling and Emotional Support
• Advanced Directive Consultation
• Community Resource Referrals
• Home Health and Hospice Care Coordination
• Health Insurance, Social Security &
Disability Benefit Guidance and Advocacy
• Support Group Referrals
• Management of the ALS Clinic Library |
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Candace Boyette
Nurse Practitioner
Candace received her
undergraduate degree in Nursing from the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
and her Masters Degree in Nursing from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
She is licensed as a Family Nurse
Practitioner by the NC Medical Board and is
certified by the American Nurses
Association. She has been in practice 23
years.
Nurse practitioners focus on patients’
conditions as well as the effects of illness
on the lives of the patients and their
families. Informing patients about their
health care and encouraging them to
participate in decisions are central to the
care provided by NP’s.
The role of the nurse practitioner in the
ALS clinic parallels the services provided
by the clinic physicians and other health
care professionals as part of a
multidisciplinary team.
Specifically, Candace’s role
involves taking health histories and
providing neurological examinations,
diagnosis and treatment,
interpretation of laboratory and
radiology results, prescribing and
managing medications and other
therapies, providing health teaching
and counseling to support healthy
lifestyle behaviors. In addition to
health care services, Candace
participates in clinical research studies throughout the
Duke Division of Neurology. |
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Jill Chitty Marcus
Speech Therapist
Jill received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Speech-Language
Pathology from the University of Florida in Gainesville. She has been working at
Duke University Medical Center for over 5 years in adult neurogenics, movement
disorders, traumatic brain injury, dysphagia sevices, augmentative
communication, and laryngectomy care. She currently serves as the outpatient
Clinical Coordinator for the Division of Speech Pathology & Audiology.
Speech Pathology provides valuable services to patients with ALS and other
forms of motor neuron disease, which changes one's ability to communicate with
their environment and affects their ability to safely eat and drink. As a part
of the multi-disciplinary team that cares for these patients, the Speech
Pathologist provides evaluation and treatment for both progressive dysarthria of
speech (slurred speech) and dysphagia (swallowing problems).
These services include:
To learn more about services provided by the Division of Speech Pathology &
Audiology visit www.dukespeechandhearing.com.
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Jennifer Haynes
Speech Therapist
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Meredith Gaylord
Speech Therapist
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Faye Tripp
Occupational Therapist
Fay has been at Duke
for 16 years. She has a Master of Occupational
Therapy Degree from UNC. She holds advanced
certifications as a
Work Capacity Evaluator and as a Driver
Rehabilitation Specialist. She is the
Coordinator
of Clinical Education
for Occupational Therapy students here
at Duke. She has lectured and presented
at state and regional meetings on a
wide variety of topics including upper
extremity amputation, Parkinson's disease
and Driving Safety in the Older Adult.
Her areas of interest include neurology,
upper extremity amputation
and prosthesis in use in adults and children,
adaptive parenting techniques for the
physically challenged parent and work
conditioning. |
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Sandra Dawson
Clinic
Nurse |
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Susan Steves RD, LDN
Nutritionist
Susan Steves is a Registered
Dietitian and is licensed to practice Dietetics
in North Carolina. Susan has been a dietitian
for 19 years earning
her Bachelor of Sciences degree in Dietetics
from Buffalo State College in 1987. She
has worked at Duke in the inpatient Neurosciences
department for the past 6 years. Susan also
has experience in outpatient nutrition education,
long-term care,
and nutrition management. She was also a
chef
for 10 years prior to becoming a dietitian.
Susan's role on the ALS interdisciplinary
team is to help the patients maintain and/or
achieve good nutritional status throughout
the disease process. Nutrition plays an
important role in maintaining quality of
life. Susan completes a full nutrition assessment
during the first visit and continues to
follow the patients' intakes and swallowing
issues as needed. She monitors weights at
each visit and encourages weight maintenance.
Susan provides information regarding nutritional
supplements, increasing calories and protein
in their diets and helps with diet modifications
as needed. She provides tips and recipes
for maintaining good nutrition.
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Tyler J. Story, Ph.D.
Neuropsychologist
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Tyler received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from UCLA,
with an internship in neuropsychology at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. He then
completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at Duke. Tyler recently joined the
faculty at Duke as Assistant Professor of
Psychiatry.
Neuropsychology is the study of the interaction between the brain and behavior, particularly as it relates to domains of cognition, such as memory,
general cognitive ability,
attention/concentration,
language use, problem solving, visual-spatial skills, and emotional and personality functioning. Neuropsychologists provide comprehensive assessments of these functions and interpret results within the context of neurological, general medical, and psychiatric conditions. The role of a
neuropsychologist in an ALS clinic can involve screening of emotional distress (e.g., depression and anxiety) and facilitating treatment for these symptoms. While changes in cognitive functioning
are less in common in ALS than in other
neurological illnesses, some patients do experience declines in concentration, working memory, and problem-solving skills, which may be relevant to ongoing treatment. If appropriate, patients may be
referred for a comprehensive assessment to rule out alternative causes of these symptoms.
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Linda Fishman-Cates
Physical Therapist
Physical therapy provides
many services and options for people diagnosed
with ALS and other motor neuron disorders.
ALS and motor neuron disorders have the
tendency to change one's physical status
over time and affects individuals
in different ways. Our philosophy is to
tailor our interventions to meet your specific
needs with an ultimate goal of optimizing
your independence. Some people who attend
our clinic live near by, but many people
are not from the local area. Physical therapy
provides direct services and consultation
to provide you with information and education
on a variety of areas that may affect your
lifestyle. As we have contact with many
people diagnosed with ALS, we hope to offer
you and your local healthcare providers
information
on how to best meet your needs wherever
you live. Interventions may include the
following:
a) Exercise programs with an emphasis on
safety, joint protection and energy conservation.
b) Education on aquatic (pool) therapy
c) Education and recommendation for equipment
that facilitates independence and enhances
quality of life at home and in the community.
This may include braces to keep you walking,
power equipment (wheelchairs) to allow access
to areas within and outside of your home
and a variety of other devices for safety
and independence at home (patient lift devices,
bathroom equipment, etc.)
d) Specific problem solving to address mobility
issues including negotiation of stairs,
transfers
off the floor and into the car, as well
as bed mobility.
e) Caregiver and family education on how
to
assist an individual with mobility related
issues. Consideration for safety and avoidance
of injury
is emphasized. |
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Elisa Santana
Physical Therapist |
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Kevin Caves, ME, ATP, RET
Assistive Technologist
Kevin Caves, a rehabilitation
engineer, is the Director of Rehabilitation
Engineering Research Center on Communication
Enhancement at Duke University Medical
Center. He has been involved in assistive
technology research and direct services
for people with ALS for over 16 years
at Duke University and Rancho Los Amigos
Medical Center in California. Kevin has
worked on several federally and state
funded grants on assistive technology
and has presented nationally and internationally
on computer access, environmental control,
AAC, seating, positioning, mobility and
the integration of control of technologies.
Certifications include: RESNA Assistive
Technology Practitioner (ATP), 1998 RESNA
Rehabilitation Engineering Technologies
(RET) 2004. For more about Kevin's work
and Assistive Technology here at Duke,
see http://speech.surgery.duke.edu/modules/div_spch_pc
/index.php?id=3 |
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Andrea Johnson
Respiratory
Therapist |
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Karen Grace
Research
Coordinator |
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Debra
Heydt
Research Coordinator |
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Dan Harrison
Equipment Vendor |
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Jennifer Greene
MDA Representative |
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•Other Team Members:
Yvonne Golightly, Research
Coordinator |
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