PSCNN Education Series: Advocacy in Action: Your Voice in Healthcare, Community, and Policy

Join us April 18th, 2026 for our discussion on "Advocacy in Action: Your Voice in Healthcare, Community, and Policy: A 3-part Education Series on Advocating in Healthcare, the Community, and Public Policy"

April 18th | 1 - 3 PM

Register here https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E365297&id=24

This program is designed as a powerful three-part series on advocacy at every level:

Part 1: In the healthcare setting — how to advocate for yourself or your loved one with your care team, featuring local neurologist and professional coach Dr. Joshua Kreiss

Part 2: In the community — using the Four M’s to navigate real-life challenges, with local geriatrician Dr. Steve Phillips

Part 3: In policy — making your voice heard at the state and federal level with PSCNN Founding Chair Dr. Mindy Lokshin and Jared Giarusso-Khlok of the Michael J. Fox Foundation

Joshua Kreiss MD, MPhil, CPCC

Growing Spaces Coaching

Guidance for Families Navigating Neurological Caregiving Decisions

Joshua Kreiss is a neurologist with nearly 20 years of experience caring for stroke patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings. He received specialized training in stroke care during his neurology residency at Brown University. Dr. Kreiss served as Stroke Director at St. Mary’s Medical Center for five years, then held the same role at Tahoe Forest for three years before transitioning to his current position as Stroke Program Neurology Advisor. He remains committed to supporting high-quality, evidence-based stroke care in our community.

• Education: Warren Alpert School of Medicine, Brown University

• Residency: Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital

• Board Certification: American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Coaching & Advocacy Services 

With more than 20 years of experience as an adult neurologist, I understand the many challenges facing spouses and adult children caring for a loved one with a neurological condition. Families come to me when they’re navigating cognitive changes, new diagnoses, safety concerns, hospitalizations, behavioral changes, family disagreements, or when caregiving simply becomes too overwhelming to carry alone. As a Certified Co-Active Professional Coach (CPCC), I provide expert guidance, practical advocacy, and grounded emotional support—drawing on my clinical background while working strictly in a coaching and advocacy role. My goal is to help families feel clearer, more confident, and better equipped to navigate what comes next. 

Please refer to www.GrowingSpacesCoaching.com for more information.

Dr. Phillips has worked in the field of primary community and long-term care medicine for frail and vulnerable elderly for the past 40 years as a clinician, researcher and administrator. He remains involved at a local, state and national level with an interest in enhancement of transitional care models, chronic care management, policy development, quality improvement and population-based approaches.

He has served on the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Geriatric Measurement Advisory Panel (GMAP) since 2001. He serves as a subject matter expert for Project ECHO Nevada in the areas of dementia, frailty, nursing homes and long-term care. He is an adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University Nevada School of Medicine and a consultant for the Sanford Center for Aging.

Dr. Mindy Lokshin is a former family physician who trained at the Universities of Arizona, Iowa, and Missouri, and spent years caring for patients in both Connecticut and Reno. Her most meaningful work began after retirement, when Parkinson’s disease touched her own family and close friends.

Seeing the unmet needs in Northern Nevada, she co-founded the Parkinson Support Center to provide education, support, and advocacy for those affected. Today, she is passionate about raising awareness and building a community where no one has to face Parkinson’s alone.

Jared Giarrusso-Khlok is the Western States Senior Government Affairs Manager at The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, where he drives state-level policy and advocacy efforts across the region, including in Nevada. With nearly two decades of experience spanning government affairs, higher education, and patient advocacy, including work with the Alzheimer’s Association, Jared is passionate about advancing policies that accelerate research and deliver meaningful improvements for people living with Parkinson’s.