Carole Kment, Samaritan Health Services Living Well program coordinator, has been nominated by the State of Oregon for her leadership and uncanny ability to connect with program participants, leaders and providers as to the importance of continuously managing perpetual illness.

As part of a Stanford University demonstration project in the 1990s, the Living Well program teaches people with persistent, chronic conditions to better self-manage their health problems. “People learn and benefit from one another,” said Kment, who has been the Linn and Benton county coordinator since 2007. “This program is powerful because of our lay-leaders.”

When asked of the significance of the Living Well program, Carole simply described the story of a man who was told by his doctor that he was going to die. At the point in which conventional medicine ends, the Living Well program begins. “The workshops gave him the confidence and skills necessary to live a better life – which in turn proved to be a longer life.”

For Kment, being nominated for this award is simply icing on the cake. “Working for this program, seeing its impact on people’s lives, that is the true reward.”