Laurel Tropeano

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Laurel Tropeano

Affiliate Faculty

Social Work

Bio

I was drawn to social work as a method of gathering stories from many lenses, and as a way to understand the way human beings develop and relate over time. My interests in the field are broad but specifically hone in on support around advanced illness care and decision-making, as well as the role social workers play in innovation as entrepreneurs. I received my MSW in 2010 from New York University, and was a social work fellow in the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center the following year. I spent that year learning from palliative care social work hero Terry Altilio, who demonstrated on a daily basis how to hold herself and colleagues accountable for providing the best care possible.
After moving to Denver, I co-founded an independent palliative care social work agency in 2012 that went on to partner with Kaiser Permanente Colorado to provide care to their members with advanced illness. I have been involved with quality improvement studies that measured the impact of support for these members, demonstrating that embedding palliative care social workers in usual care settings has a positive impact on end of life.
I am also grateful to have participated as a community advisory member that resulted in two important pieces of research in 2020: “In her own words: Understanding the healthcare experiences and health needs of older lesbians” and “Engaging Faith Based, Academic, and Medical Sectors to Support African American Older Adults with Serious Illness and their Families.” I am also currently participating in a medical professionals group looking into the potential impacts of psilocybin therapy in Denver.
Additionally, I am passionate about growing the next generation of social workers who feel a sense of agency and can voice their value to interdisciplinary colleagues. I served as the President of the Advanced Palliative Care and Hospice Social Work Certification board – this is the first exam-based certification for social workers to demonstrate expertise in palliative care and hospice.

Degree

MSW in Palliative and End of Life Care

New York University

BA in Comparative Religious Studies

Vassar College

Published Works

  • Singh, S., Dafoe, A., Lahoff, D., Tropeano, L., Owens, B., Nielsen, E., Cagle, J., Lum, D. H., Dorsey Holliman, B., Fischer, S. (2024). A Process Evaluation of a Palliative Care Social Work Intervention for Cancer Patients in Skilled Nursing Facilities. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 27(6), 734-741. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2023.0381.
  • Singh, S., Dafoe, A., Lahoff, D., Tropeano, L., Owens, B., Nielsen, E., Cagle, J., Lum, D. H., Dorsey Holliman, B., Fischer, S. (2023). Pilot Trial of a Social Work Intervention to Provide Palliative Care for Adults with Cancer in Skilled Nursing Facilities. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 26(4), 527-538. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2022.0413.
  • Fischer, M. S., Tropeano, L., Lahoff, D., Owens, B., Nielsen, E., Retrum, J., Jensen, E., Ross, C., Mancuso, M., Drace, M., Plata, A., Melnyk, A., Golub, M., Gozansky, W. (2021). Integrating Palliative Care Social Workers into Subacute Settings: Feasibility of the Assessing & Listening to Individual Goals and Needs Intervention Trial. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 24(6), 830-837. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2020.0322.