About the Publisher

Summary: Information about Karen Stevenson, the site's owner and publisher.

Karen Stevenson has spent 20 years focusing on the intersection of technology and eldercare. She is the author and developer of ElderWeb (http://www.elderweb.com), a ten-year-old, award-winning World Wide Web site with thousands of pages of eldercare information and registered users from over 40 countries. ElderWeb was the first non-governmental Web site on this subject ever developed.

Karen has spent over 20 years in the long term care industry, including eight years of experience in accounting and consulting to the industry and nine years as the CFO of a regional chain of nursing homes and retirement communities.

Karen served as a technology consultant to SeniorNet, an organization with an award-winning web site and a vibrant on-line senior community which teaches older adults to use computers and the Internet in over 220 locations in the United States. In addition, she managed the Help Desk for IBM's Web Adaptation Technology Project. This software, still in development, makes the Web more accessible to people with vision impairments or those who have trouble using a keyboard or mouse, and IBM is working with several nonprofit organizations, including SeniorNet, to test it. Karen developed an accessible Project Web Site with multi-lingual capabilities, along with the online database management system used to distribute the software and manage the Help Desk.

Karen's professional speaking engagements include presentations on eldercare technology topics to healthcare associations, consumer organizations, educational institutions, and professional associations all across the country. She has been quoted, cited, or featured in numerous publications, including Forbes, Time, Business Week, Yahoo Internet Life, AARP Bulletin, Kiplingers, and other magazines, newspapers, and journals.

Karen is also the author of Guide to Long Term Care Financial Management She was one of the original members of the AICPA Eldercare Services Task Force of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, where she worked with accountants from several countries to develop the framework for CPA eldercare services. Karen has been selected to participate on numerous committees and task forces related to long term care reimbursement, including groups established by the Illinois Department of Public Aid, the Illinois Health Care Association, and the Illinois CPA Society.

Karen graduated summa cum laude from Illinois State University with a degree in accounting and a concentration in information technology, and is both a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Management Accountant. In her hometown of Bloomington/Normal Illinois, she has held positions as Treasurer of the Children'€™s Foundation, Treasurer of the McLean County Center for Human Resources, Vice President of the Board of Directors of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, and President of the Board of Trustees of Second Presbyterian Church.

Seminars Presented

Karen Stevenson Brown has presented seminars all over the country on a variety of topics related to eldercare and long term care.  Some of these include:

Alabama
Alabama Nursing Home Association
Annual Conference, Birmingham, September 1994
Arizona
Arizona Health Care Association
Annual Conference, Phoenix, August 1995
Colorado
American Society on Aging/ National Council on Aging
Annual Conference, Denver, April 2002
Florida
Florida Health Care Association
Marco Island, August 1995
Florida Society of CPAs
A&A Conference, Naples, November 1998
Eldercare Class, Tampa, October 1998
Geristar Software
Client Conference, Orlando, May 1994
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants/ Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
Eldercare Conference, Orlando, November 2000
Illinois
American Society on Aging/ National Council on Aging
Joint Conference, Chicago, January 2003
Illinois Dietetic Association
Annual Conference, Chicago, June 1995
SYSTED 97 - International Conference on Systems Sciences in Health/Social Services for the Elderly and Disabled
Chicago, May 1997
Illinois Health Care Association
Technology Conference, Decatur, February 1994
Annual Conference, Peoria, September 1999
Annual Conference, Springfield, September 1994
Annual Conference, Springfield, September 1998
Life Services Network of Illinois
Annual Conference, Galena, October 1994
Krupnick Bokor Kagda CPAs
Client Conference, Lincolnwood, October 1994
U of I Chicago/Department of Health Information Management
Normal, May 1994
Indiana
Indiana Health Care Association
Regional Conference, Evansville, April 1994
Regional Conference, Indianapolis, April 1994
Regional Conference, South Bend, April 1994
Louisiana
American Society on Aging
Annual Conference, New Orleans, March 2001
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants/ Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
Eldercare Conference, New Orleans, November 2001
Maryland
Health Facilities Association of Maryland
Annual Conference, Ocean City, September 1995
Massachusetts
Society of Actuaries
Annual Conference, Boston, October 2002
Michigan
Michigan Society of CPAs
Healthcare Conference, Detroit, April 1998
Eldercare Class, Grand Rapids, June 1998
Montana
Montana Health Care Association
Annual Conference, Butte, April 1994
Nevada
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
National Assurance Services Conference, Las Vegas, June 1998
National Personal Financial Planning Conference, Las Vegas, January 1999
California Credit Union League
Annual Conference, Reno, October 1999
Society of Actuaries
Long Term Care Conference, Las Vegas, January, 2003
Ohio
Ohio Health Care Association
Annual Conference, Columbus, May 1995
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Society of CPAs
Eldercare Class, Malvern, September 1998
Eldercare Class, Warrenville, September 1998
Pennsylvania Health Care Association
Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, September 1994
Texas
Texas Society of CPAs
Eldercare Class, Houston, November 1998
Washington DC
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
National Healthcare Conference, Washington, July 1998
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
Annual Conference, Stephens Point, May 1995