Kelli Dunham

IMPROV MEETS ACTIVISM:THE NUTS AND HEALTHCARE ADVOCACY (INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP)
What do a successful world wrestling federation tag team match and a successful interaction with the health care have in common? No, not a sleeper hold (at least not usually) but rather team-work. In this workshop participants will share either examples they’ve had of interactions with the health care system that had a less than ideal outcome and/or situations they can anticipate being in. The gathered participants will then use equal parts improv, brainstorming, and cheerleading to role play positive and creative tactics to help health care consumers take back power in the described situations. This workshop was developed to help traditionally underserved consumers (eg consumers with chronic conditions, gender variant consumers etc) but with current difficulties in the health care system, will be equally applicable for all healthcare consumers. 60-120 minutes in duration.

A CASSEROLE IS NOT ENOUGH: BUILDING TEAMS OF CARE IN NON TRADITIONAL COMMUNITIES (INTERACTIVE PRESENTATION)
LGBT communities tend to rely on families of choice, rather than families of origin for social support. However, when a member is hit by serious or chronic illness, the care provided by non traditional support systems doesn’t always easily mesh with current healthcare and social welfare systems. This is particularly true if there is no one designated primary caregiver, and the person in need of care lives alone. This presentations draws on Kelli’s more than ten years as a community health nurse, her experiences during the early years of the AIDS crisis as well as her lived experience as the primary caregiver of her partner who died of ovarian cancer in 2007. 60-90 minutes in duration.