“I fell in love with end-of-life care,” Kampfer, Assistant Vice President of PACE, said. “The energy of hospice is just so peaceful, warm and welcoming. It spoke to me in a way that tapped into a part of my psyche and soul that hadn’t been touched yet. It sparked a curiosity in me to see the tender care that was provided, the nurturing and the shepherding, and it gave me peace.” 

After graduating with a degree in psychology from the University of Kentucky in 2008, Kampfer took a gap year and worked at the Center for Drug and Alcohol Research with a focus on intimate partner violence. Kampfer realized that social work combined her love of working with people, counseling and research into one job. She earned her Master of Social Work in 2012, later completing additional clinical hours to become a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). 

Kampfer started her career at Bluegrass Care Navigators (BCN) almost 10 years ago with a year-long practicum in palliative care and bereavement services. Although she has held several roles at BCN, she started her career as a flex social worker. 

“There never was a job that was cooler or more perfect for me,” she said. “It gave me the ability to travel and familiarize myself with Kentucky, and not being from here, it gave me cultural experiences that I couldn’t have gotten otherwise. It was a beautiful learning lesson as people welcomed me into their homes at the end-of-life and I learned to navigate the intricacies of that.” 

 Kampfer has gone on to hold several roles during her time at BCN. These include executive director of the Frankfort office, counseling resource officer, and currently assistant vice president of PACE, our program of all-inclusive care for the elderly. Kampfer says that she has “grown up inside BCN,” but her curiosity and commitment to lifelong learning have served as a huge asset to BCN as she continued her personal and professional growth.

During COVID-19, Kampfer knew many faced death in isolation. She wanted to help teammates, patients and families better navigate this time and earned her certificate as a death doula.  Just as a birthing doula shepherds life into the world, a death doula shepherds life out of the world and seeks to create the environment that the patient desires. A death doula guides the family through this transition by facilitating necessary, helpful conversations and helping to overcome any barriers to ultimate peace. 

“Doulaship can also take into account the dynamics of traditional families and chosen families and empower advocacy of the patient and ensure alignment of all the people who are walking them to their ultimate demise,” she said. 

Doulaship allows her to offer guidance to teammates so that they can hold space and presence for those they serve and create peaceful experiences for their patients and families with simple, practical, non-clinical skills. 

“A lot of the role is educating or normalizing the experience,” Kampfer said. “Death provokes anxiety and fear, so when you can normalize the changes someone is facing, it helps decrease fear and increases the calm, peace and understanding.” 

Kampfer will continue her career as Vice President of Hospice and Palliative Services at Hope West in Colorado. Her last day at BCN is May 23. 

“For me, the best part of working here is the people,” she said. “I’m leaving an agency that I love to broaden my own horizon and have a new adventure. And yet, I’m leaving an agency where I’ve been able to wake up every single day committed to doing the right thing for the right reason always. It’s pretty empowering.”