Susan Enguidanos, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Gerontology

Susan Enguidanos, PhD, is Assistant Professor at the Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California.  Dr. Enguidanos has a multidisciplinary background evident in her educational and professional history.  She obtained her BA in Psychology at UCLA, Master’s degree in Public Health at California State University, Long Beach, and her doctorate degree in Social Work at USC. She has more than 10 years experience conducting research in aging, with a focus on geriatric health and end of life care issues, with specific projects in the area of geriatric care management, physician-patient communications, and new models of end-of-life care.  Dr. Enguidanos is currently working with Kaiser Permanente to develop and test inpatient palliative care program for terminally ill hospitalized patients. She is also co-Principal Investigator of a study investigating an evidence-based social work intervention in primary care among older adults. She serves as the evaluator on several other projects, including a medications management program for older adults, a project on naturally occurring retirement communities, and a program aimed at improving the health of seniors with multiple chronic diseases.  She has published the findings from her research in several peer-reviewed journals including Journal of American Geriatric Society, Journal of Social Work in End of Life & Palliative Care, Social Work in Health Care, Journal of Palliative Medicine, and Drugs In Society and is the editor of Evidenced-Based Interventions for Community Dwelling Older Adults, a book that examines research focused on improving the health of seniors living in the community.  She is associate editor of Home Health Services Quarterly and an active member of the Gerontological Society of America and the American Society of Aging and has presented results of her work at many of these and other professional meetings and conferences.  Further, her research on an end of life care model received a national Kaiser Permanente Award for quality and has been replicated in Kaiser’s throughout Southern California.  The impact of Dr. Enguidanos’ research has been far reaching, resulting in the development of programs that are improving the delivery of healthcare nationally for the elderly, indeed, for all patients of any age who require end-life care. 

Dr. Enguidanos was the Director of Research at Partners in Care Foundation, a non-profit organization, and continues to collaborate closely in conducting research on improving health care and systems for older adults. Dr. Enguidanos teaches courses such as Psychological and Social Aspects of Death and Dying and Continuum of Care: Systems Perspective.