Guest Profile
Kate Kaplan
Iowa native, Kate McLaughlin Kaplan is a 25 year advocate for caregivers of persons with
mental illness and the elderly.
With an M.S. in Rehabilitation from Drake University, she began her journey with the adoption
of twin girls who both experienced a constellation of early on-set mental illness inclusive of
Schizophrenia. Kate quickly learned that the struggle of this is not limited to those who have a
mental illness but also those who provide them care.
Her girls now at the age of 25 are employed, educated, and married. With her personal work
completed, she launched a business 3 years ago; Kate Kaplan Health And Life Coach, Mental
Illness Iowa to help other caregivers with the same battles she conquered. She is passionate
that caregivers not be lost in the silence of mental illness or the loneliness of elder care.
Her work in mental illness caregiver coaching dovetails her earlier work with families or
individuals facing painful elder care decisions. In that, she assessed and provided families and
individuals with at-home care givers preventing the need for the upheavel resulting from the
unwanted move to an unfamiliar “last move” place. Allowing seniors to remain in their homes if
they choose is of paramount importance to Kaplan.