Stakeholder Advisory Board
The NCHPAD National Community Engagement and Translational Sciences Team formed a National Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB) to co-lead the efforts to increase enrollment in NCHPAD Connect. The board is comprised of NCHPAD participants living with mobility limitations and/or chronic health conditions and key clinical and community members.
The board is committed to co-creating, co-implementing, and co-evaluating all phases of the efforts. The board has created many initiatives to increase enrollment rates including the UAB NCHPAD AMBASSADOR INITIATIVE.
Meet Our Stakeholders
Betsy Hopson
Betsy Hopson, MSHA, is the Director of the “STEP” Program, the Spina Bifida Program, and the Down syndrome program at Children’s of Alabama and University of Alabama at Birmingham. STEP stands for “staging transition for every patient.” The STEP program is an evidence-based program designed to facilitate timely, uninterrupted care for individuals with complex conditions of childhood as they transition from pediatric to adult care. Prior to her work in the STEP Program, Betsy served as the Coordinator of the Spina Bifida Program for over 15 years. In this role, she handled all aspects of care coordination, case management and transition readiness and planning. She has developed teaching tools, transition guidelines, care protocols and clinic flow operation strategies that are being used in clinics across the country. Betsy is also an international speaker and leader in transition planning for patients with complex healthcare needs and is recognized as an expert in lifespan care. She has served as a PI or co-I on numerous internally and externally funded studies and has authored and/or co-authored more than 40 publications.
Tim Behrens
Timothy “Tim” K. Behrens, Ph.D., CHES, RFSA, FACSM is a husband and father of two boys. In 2020, he contracted COVID and experienced subsequent strokes and brain injuries that left him with disability. Before COVID, Behrens was dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Currently, Tim is a professor in the School of Rehabilitation Sciences and Technology at UWM, though he works remotely from Albuquerque, New Mexico, because of disability related difficulties. His work is focused on community health, specifically with communities experiencing disability since his experiences. He has expertise in physical activity, public health and evaluation of community programs.
Patty Ericson-Taylor
I have been a Chef for 30 years while being trained & working with some talented Chefs. I have studied also at the Culinary Institute of America. Since my stroke in 2021, I have been appointed to the Barnstable Disability Commission & I’m on the advisory board for Spaulding Cape Cod. I made a promise to be the voice of disabled people in need. Speaking at a Legislative breakfast in our town on the lack of accessibility is a concern and needs to be addressed.
