Karen S. Kauffman, PhD, CRNP, BC
Dr. Karen S. Kauffman is a board certified Gerontological Nurse Practitioner and President of Life Passages Care Consultants, Inc. She is also Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and serves as Chair of the Department of Family and Community Health. Formerly, Dr. Kauffman was Assistant Dean for Masters Studies and Program Director of Community/Public Health Nursing. With Life Passages Care Consultants, Dr. Kauffman provides long term care consultation for older adults and their families living in the community, most of whom are struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. She has extensive experience providing education about Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias to other long term care professionals, including Judges in the Circuit, District, and Orphan’s Courts, elder law attorneys, financial planners, long term care insurance agents, and primary health care providers. She was named One of Maryland’s Top 100 Women for 2004 and Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals for 2005. As Associate Professor, Dr. Kauffman teaches Program Planning and Evaluation to Community/Public Health graduate students and Masters in Public Health (MPH) students and was selected to Who’s Who Among American Teachers. She is a member of the Work and Health Research Center, the first Center of Excellence at School of Nursing, and of the developing Center of Excellence in Palliative Care Across the Lifespan. She has numerous publications in national and international peer reviewed journals on older adult populations, including an article on Alzheimer’s disease and public policy. Dr. Kauffman was appointed by the Secretary of Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to serve on the Advisory Committee for CommunityChoice, a proposed mandated managed care program for all people in Maryland who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Additionally, she is a Governor-appointed member of the State Advisory Council on Quality Care at the End of Life and has led the initiative to improve care for people with Alzheimer’s disease. From 2001 – 2003, Dr. Kauffman sat on the workgroup of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Assisted Living representing the National Conference of Gerontological Nurse Practitioners. She is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Nurses Association, the American Public Health Association, the Gerontological Society of America, and the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. She sits on the State and National Boards of Directors of the Alzheimer’s Association. She earned her PhD in Nursing with emphases in Nursing, Gerontology and Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. Dr. Kauffman is a caregiver for her mother with Alzheimer’s disease.
