Parkinson Partners, LLC (PPLLC) was founded and is owned by Parkinson’s disease expert, Katherine Autin. Since 2004, she has been an outspoken advocate for individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and their families.
Katherine has become increasingly active on the national stage as educator, trainer, speaker, and consultant to the PD community and those who care for them. As a healthcare consultant, she is an individual patient advocate and trainer for medical and non medical organizations; teaching them about the complexities of this incredibly frustrating disease.
In 2018, Katherine became one of the first in the country to be recognized nationally as a Board Certified Patient Advocate (BCPA), a new healthcare designation. She was the first in the state of Kentucky to become a Board Certified Patient Advocate. She is also a patient advocate and care partner for her husband, John David, known as David, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2004.
As Director of Support Services for Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients at the Parkinson Support Center of Kentuckiana in Louisville, Kentucky, she developed and led PD support groups, trained facilitators/leaders for these groups, and educated and helped hundreds of people with Parkinson’s disease and their care partners and families with the day-to-day challenges of PD by providing practical information and effective strategies for living well with PD. It was during this time that Katherine became aware of an important element missing from the care and support available for individuals with Parkinson’s, that of effective individual patient advocacy.
Her goal is to help individuals with Parkinson’s Disease and their families through this complex journey by serving as guide and advocate for them with healthcare professionals, by accessing and incorporating all options and resources available to them in the quest for better quality of life and better healthcare outcomes, educating them, their families, and training those who care for them in and out of the home, facilities, and hospitals.
Katherine has been a visionary entrepreneur for 40 years and volunteered with a number of civic organizations for more than 20 year.
Katherine Johnson Autin is from Alexandria, Virginia where she graduated from T.C. Williams High School. After graduating with a B.A. in international studies and cross-cultural training from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, she moved to Washington, D.C. where she met and married her husband, John David Autin (known as David), a Cajun from Houma, Louisiana. In 1985 they moved along with their son, Michael David to Metairie, Louisiana. In 1991 David’s job with the federal government moved them to Louisville, Kentucky where he became the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Director of International Trade Operations for the state of Kentucky. David and Katherine both lived in France as students, and both speak French. Katherine also speaks Italian.
