Laura E. Rice-oeschger BA, LMSW

Laura Rice-Oeschger, LMSW, is the Chief Executive Officer and Lead Teacher for Presence Care Project. She was the first Director of the University of Michigan Geriatrics Center Silver Club Memory Loss Programs prior to moving to California in 2000. During her tenure with the Alzheimer’s Association of Los Angeles, she was clinical manager of early memory loss services and the grant funded Early Stage Initiative.
Laura currently leads the Wellness Initiative for the University of Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center (MADC) where she designs, implements and evaluates well-being and mindfulness-based programming. She is a consultant to the UM Silver Club Memory Loss Programs where she launched the Coffeehouse Mild Memory Loss Wellness Seminar series (1999) and the Elderberry Club (elder barely) for women living with early-onset dementia (2012). As a long-time meditator she began teaching mindfulness meditation in 2010 and has extensive professional training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) from the UMASS Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare and Society.
Laura is a founding member and meditation teacher at the Ann Arbor Center for Mindfulness. She teaches Mindfulness-Based Dementia Care (MBDC) in the community and trains dementia care professionals participating in the intensive MBDC teacher training curriculum through the Presence Care Project. Laura holds advanced professional certifications in aging, dementia and contemplative clinical care and is a national and state presenter on memory loss and caregiver well-being. She received her MSW from The University of Michigan School of Social Work in 1997.