Speakers


Dan Levitt
Canada
Dan Levitt, TEDx International Speaker, Ageism Expert, Gerontologist and Chief Executive Officer at KinVillage. Dan is an acclaimed international speaker, elder care leader, writer, and gerontologist, specializing in helping others to create better lives for seniors. Dan’s purpose is to teach millions of people how to transform the lives of older adults across the globe. As a popular professional speaker, he has delivered inspiring keynote speeches impacting thousands of people on four continents. Dan doesn’t tell people where to go but guides them in the direction of where they need to go. His talks leave the audience with a new mindset on aging needed to thrive in the 21st century. Dan Levitt shepherds the enhancement of social, spiritual and care needs for more than 300 seniors, inspiring a team of over 400 employees and volunteers with a commitment to continuously improving the quality of life. Dan is an Adjunct Professor in Gerontology at SFU and an Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing, UBC. Dan’s adventure exploits have taken him from Africa’s highest peak Mt. Kilimanjaro to the Caribbean Sea’s coral reefs, from canoeing across the Yukon to racing in the six World Marathon Majors.


Paweł Grabowski
Poland
Paweł Grabowski has PhD in medical sciences and worked in Cracow and Warsaw (1990 - 2012) and in Białystok Oncology Centre (2012-2014). Postgraduate in management of health institutions at AGH and bioethics at UKSW. In 2009 he founded Podlaskie Hospicjum Onkologiczne foundation, that started first rural home hospice in Poland, and since 2012 is running a stationary rural hospice. Currently he manages the foundation and works as a doctor in said hospice. He is an educator on end of life care, initiator and practitioner of social innovations aiming to provide essential care to dependent people, terminally ill and people at the end of life in the rural areas. His programme centered on those issues “Give what really is needed” runs through 2024.


Robyn I. Stone
USA
Robyn is senior vice president for research at LeadingAge and co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, a research center with offices in Washington, DC, and Boston, MA. A noted researcher and internationally recognized authority on aging services, Robyn has been engaged in policy development, program evaluation, large-scale demonstration projects, and other applied research activities for more than 40 years. She was a political appointee in the Clinton Administration, serving in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as deputy assistant secretary for disability, aging, and long-term care policy. She also served as assistant secretary for aging. Robyn’s widely published work addresses long-term care policy and quality, chronic care for people with disabilities, the aging services workforce, affordable senior housing, and family caregiving. In addition, she is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the National Academy of Social Insurance and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2014. Robyn received a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and a Doctor of Public Health degree from the University of California Berkeley. Her work bridges the worlds of research, policy, and practice to improve the care delivered to older adults—particularly lower-income populations—and to ensure the best quality of life for these individuals and their families.


Agnieszka Cysewska
Poland
She graduated law at University of Gdańsk and has been working in social services for 27 years - in Pomeranian Voivodeship Office and Regional Centre for Social Policy in Gdańsk among others. She manages Sopot Nursing Home for the elderly and chronically somatically ill, a Day Care Home and Sopot Senior Centre. She was the first person in Poland to use artificial intelligence in Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias therapy - she imported a Japanese Paro seal that works in Sopot Nursing Home to this day. She works proactively on behalf of seniors in need of support. She acknowledges the demographic and generational changes as well as technological advances, and that’s what she will cover in her lecture during the conference.

Agnieszka Guligowska
Poland
A Doctor of Health Sciences, dietician, and promotor of healthy eating, Agnieszka is a graduate of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, the University of Łódź, and the Medical University of Łódź. Her research projects in the Clinic of Geriatric Medicine at the Medical University of Łódź concern the impact of diet on the human body’s ageing process. She is a member of various academic associations, and for 20 years has been professionally involved with diet therapy. She applies a personalized approach when working with patients, combining counselling with effective education. Agnieszka has many years of experience in educating adults. She lectures for institutions of higher learning, universities of the third age, institutions of culture, associations, and foundations. She strives to continuously deepen her knowledge and to perfect her skills by participating in training programs and conferences.


Beata Smela
Poland
Dr Beata Smela, PT, DPT, Dip. MDT, CEAS, mgr fizjoterapii graduated with a Masters in Physical Therapy from the Faculty of Motor Rehabilitation, Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Poland. In 1992, she obtained a Texas physical therapy license. She attained her Diploma in Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT) in 1996. Beata completed a training in the electrodiagnosis EMG/ NCV in 2001. She was appointed to Teaching Faculty by The McKenzie Institute in USA in 2003 and international faculty in 2005. Her 14 year ergonomic and injury prevention career with Lockheed Martin began in 2009. In 2015 Beata became a Certified Ergonomics Assessment Specialist (CEAS). Beata had been a Chronic and Complex Pain Consultant for The SMART Institute in Fort Worth, TX from 2012 - 2022. In her spare time, she volunteered her skills to treat patients at a Mission medical clinic in Arlington, TX. She enjoys playing tennis, chess, folk dancing, windsurfing and skiing.


Dagmara Wiewiórkowska-Garczewska
Poland
Absolwentka Wydziału Lekarskiego Akademii Medycznej w Gdańsku. Specjalista chorób wewnętrznych i geriatrii. Od 2008 r – pracuję z Seniorami i opiekunami Seniorów. Od 2019 r. Koordynator Centrum Opieki Geriatrycznej w Sopocie oraz kierownik Poradni Geriatrycznej przy Centrum. Od wielu lat prowadzi wykłady dla studentów i personelu medycznego, pielęgniarek i lekarzy - w tematyce senioralno-geriatryczna. Wykładowca w SWPS w Sopocie i WSZ w Gdańsku.


Leszek Guga
Poland
Psychologist, trainer, educator. Active in pharmaceutical and health sectors for over 15 years. He specializes in issues of long term-care, stress and self-efficacy. He believes that good practices spring from great theories. Author of publications on health, psychology, home care and long-term care in guidebooks and press.


Anna Janowicz
Poland
PhD in social sciences, president of Fundacja Hospicyjna (Hospice Foundation) from Gdańsk, lecturer in WSC Merito University in Gdańsk. Author and co-autor of publications on non-medical aspects of care and family care. Author of “Family care. Challenges and availability of support” monograph. Coordinator of projects centered on family care and volunteering projects in long-term and family care. She cooperates with caring team in Pomeranian Team on Women Issues at Pomeranian Voivodeship.


Volker Rasche
Deutschland
Specialist in accounting and management of social enterprises. 30 years of experience in workshops for people with disabilities. Since 2006 he has been Head of Accounts Receivable, Central Purchasing and Vehicle Fleet at Evangelischer Stiftung in Neuerkerode, Germany. Topics of interest: Admission management and benefit accounting in long-term care companies Requirements for staff and managers.


Thomas Kupczik
Germany
Mr. Thomas Kupczik has studied mechanical engineering and business management at RWTH Aachen, Germany. He started his carrier more then 35 years ago working for industrial companies, and as a consultant at Roland Berger, advising companies in optimising their processes. Thereafter, Mr. Kupczik gaines through expierence in the German Health Care market working as the CFO for the Damp-Kliniken-Gruppe and as CEO for the Wittgensteiner Kliniken AG, a subsidiary of Fresenius AG. In 2008 he acquired together with a PE investor the Alloheim Senioren-Residenzen, a German Nursing Care Group.Alloheim is a private German nursing home operator, offering nationwide care services for different age groups in stationary care homes, at assited living locations and via ambulatory services. In the last 15 years Alloheim has become the second largest private nursing home operator in the German market. The company currently operates more than 260 inpatient care homes with 24.000 beds, 3.000 assisted living apartments and more than 25 outpatient care units. More than 22.000 empolyees take care for more than 35.000 clients per year.


Bridget Johnston
Scotland
Bridget Johnston holds the post of Clinical Professor of Nursing and Palliative Care, at University of Glasgow. This a joint post between the University of Glasgow and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in Scotland. She is also (since August 2022) Director of Research for the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, University of Glasgow. She was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in 2019. She is also Chair of the RCN Research Society (since January 2023). She is a registered nurse and has a clinical, educational and research background in palliative and end of life care. She leads a palliative care research group at the University of Glasgow. The work of the group is underpinned by patient and public involvement. Recent and current projects include; Palliative and end of life care in the prison population in Scotland; Role of nurse in multimorbidity: views of care at end the end of life; testing a music listening intervention in hospice care as well as exploring bereavement support in the care home population. She supports a number of PhD students and post-doctoral researchers from across the world undertaking palliative care studies. She is also involved in supporting and building capacity in nurse clinical academics. She has published widely with over 100 peer reviewed publications. She was previously Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Palliative Nursing. She tweets as @BridgetJohnst.