Karen Hirschman, PhD, MSW

Karen Hirschman is a Research Professor at Penn’s School of Nursing and a member of the NewCourtland Center for Transition in Health. As a nationally and internationally recognized scholar, Dr. Hirschman’s research focuses on using evidence-based interventions to improve care for older adults and their family caregivers. She currently leads a team that is testing a virtual health coaching intervention to support family members of older adults who have recently been hospitalized. Dr. Hirschman is a member of the Transitional Care Model team led by Dr. Mary Naylor. This rigorously tested advanced practice registered nurse-led model of care targets high-risk hospitalized older adults and focuses on transitional care to improve outcomes for older adults and their family caregivers. The team studies both the replication and adaptation of the Model into health care settings and the implementation of the Model’s components. Dr. Hirschman is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. Karen received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.