The COPE Program

Monika is a C.O.P.E.-trained occupational therapist “COPE OT” with over 20,000 patient encounters (including at least 6,000 home visits) in 13 years of home-based, outpatient, ICU, acute care, and acute rehab healthcare. Additionally, she is a writer, guest lecturer, and “connector” in the OT field. After falling in love with home-based occupational therapy about 7 years ago, Monika now provides cutting edge, evidence-based occupational therapy to address dementia in the home. She uses the research of world renown Dr. Laura Gitlin and Cathy Piersol’s C.O.P.E Program and is also certified in Skills2care. Her goal is to revitalize her community (personal and professional) through an equally revitalized understanding of occupational therapy and to inspire practical use of research-backed principles in dementia care in Arizona. Monika is a member of AOTA, ArizOTA, LIPI and the Dementia Collaborative’s Dementia Squad.

Riley is a physician assistant “PA” who has over 40,000 patient encounters in 8 years of primary, urgent care, and housecall medicine. He fell in love with housecall medicine about 5 years ago and continues to provide primary, urgent, geriatric, and pediatric care in home. His goal is to obtain a full picture of his patients, accounting for their living situation, caregiver/family dynamics, and hobbies and interests. Riley has a substantial background in working with and managing dementia care, and is excited to be a part of the COPE program.