Talega Gallery

Our free workshop series returns in January with an important health topic. Communicating with doctors, nurses, therapists and other health care professionals can quickly become overwhelming and intimidating.  Dr. Hilary Siebens’ career focuses on whole person health care and approaches improve communications in busy clinical care settings. She has studied the value of a user-friendly way to coordinate all aspects of care, not just the medical crisis that lands someone in the hospital. She will present an evidence-based organizing framework with four areas critical to any individual’s health – medical, psychological, functional, and environmental. Optimal wellbeing may involve factors in any of these areas.

Dr. Siebens will also discuss the importance keeping essential personal health information organized in one place. If relevant information and health history is scattered it may be unavailable for use during urgent health situations and you may not remember or be able to provide important information. She will review options for improved communication with health care teams using electronic and paper-based media. Audience feedback and discussion is encouraged!

Hilary C Siebens MD is a primary care geriatrician and physiatrist (rehabilitation physician) and has practiced medicine in all care settings. She cared for older adults with few active medical conditions, those with multiple enduring conditions, and those requiring palliative and hospice care. This work involved close teamwork with colleagues and enabled her to appreciate multiple issues confronting patients, care partners, families, and health care professionals. Her clinical research focused on exercise in hospitalized older adults and self-care notebooks. Her health services research has been on stroke, hip fracture rehabilitation, and care management in Parkinson’s. She has been a founding medical director for rehabilitation units and served on expert national guideline panels. She received her medical degree from Harvard, her internal medicine training at Johns Hopkins, geriatrics back at Harvard, and rehabilitation training at Tufts/New England Medical Center. She currently is Principal, Siebens Patient Care Communications LLC.