“Lise, I just have to say, you are phenomenal at your job. Since day one, you’ve been a pleasure to work with and you have gotten things done like no one else I have ever seen. Thank you so much for being a part of team — (name removed for privacy reasons). I know we’re not perfect and that you might not be able to help forever but, while you’re here, I want you to know you’re fantastic!” ~ G. (patient’s friend)

“Dr. McCarthy has treated my elderly mother several times following significant falls that impaired my mother’s mobility. Dr. McCarthy is very empathetic to the problems of elderly patients. Besides her depth of knowledge, she works extremely well with patients and their families. She goes way beyond what most healthcare professionals will do in communicating with the families. In my experience she is the most sensitive and caring of all health care professional who have treated my mother.” ~A.S. (patient’s son)

“There have been many times over the last year when I’ve thought about writing to you, especially to tell you how much you meant to me and my family during my brother’s illness. I really can’t put into words how much your support, professionalism, compassion, and commitment meant to us. I know you take pride in your job, and you feel strongly that you were only doing what any professional should do for someone in their care, but I want you to know that what you did was extraordinary. Especially the way you stood up for my brother, in a very complicated and challenging environment. Your courage helped me have the strength to love and support him, in a situation where (real) hope was almost nonexistent.” ~S.H. (patient’s sister)

“The opportunity to work with you is truly a highlight of my professional life right now!” ~ M.W. (a colleague)

“I want to thank you very much for the work you did with my client. You are well aware that her cognitive deficits as well as her basic personality structure were at play so that compliance wasn’t always what you would have liked to have seen. Nonetheless, it was your personality and special ability to meet her, at her functional level, without condescension and always with respect, that got through to her—that gave her a spark of motivation that still carries through. She told me yesterday that she is trying to walk each day and that she realizes the importance of doing so. So, Lise, you have done what no other therapist has EVER done with Louise (and she has had many over the past 10 years). Louise knows it is up to her to do the work and she is trying. The walker also is a great benefit and adds incentive. Thanks again.” ~Verne Doxey, R.N. (geriatric care manager)

“On behalf of Institute on Aging and UCSF Division of Geriatrics, Northern California Geriatric Education Center, please accept our sincere gratitude for helping to make the Fall 2011 Conference, Falls Prevention in Older Adults, a great success. The overall comments and feedback from the participants were very positive. We appreciate your sharing of knowledge and personal experience to benefit the participants. Our Education Department intends to provide the best available information and education to the community. Thank you for your contribution.” ~Christina Flores, Ph.D., R.N., Institute on Aging, Director of Research and Education