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In Memoriam
USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
Kathleen Ell, DSW, MSW, was a renowned social work researcher who was one of the first to recognize that coronary patients who are depressed are more likely to die. Her research also focused on technologies designed to provide racially and ethnically-focused patient care.
Pioneering Contributions
Kathleen Ell, DSW, renowned social wokr researcher, made contributions in the area and intersection of research and advancing health technologies. Her research focused on technologies designed for racially and ethnically-focused patient care and on the military population. Ell’s research career spaned four decades and began in public-sector care. Her study on the link between depression and increased mortality in coronary care patients was referenced in a 1996 National Institute of Health (N.I.H.) depression trial of 3,000 heart patients. Ell was the principal investigator of five longitudinal studies funded by the Centers for Disease control, the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Mental Health. She was a strong advocate for increasing social work contributions in translational science and research partnerships across disciplines and partnered with community care systems.
In addition to her senior faculty responsibilities, Ell held a research role within USC's Tele-Health Clinic. During its early formation, she was the director of the School of Social Work’s Hamovitch Research Center, which is now endowed and recognized by USC as one of the best research centers on campus. Ell’s research incorporated the design of comparative randomized clinical trials of underserved populations with the aim of improving understanding of differential treatment modalities. Her work embraced a multi-disciplinary approach, which included the healthcare economists and the school of engineering, as she engaged in studying rapidly emerging technology-enhanced and telehealth care models. The aim is to facilitate patient-centered care access and treatment uptake while reducing care costs, improving patient outcomes and advancing provider uptake. Ell’s work has been nationally recognized by the National Cancer Institute and the Agency for Health Research and Quality.
Career Highlights
Ell was the Ernest P. Larson Professorship of Poverty, Ethnicity and Health Professor of Social Work at USC. She served as the behavioral health research director at USC School of Social Work’s Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans and Military Families. During her career, she received more than $17 million in federal funding. Ell’s research confirmed that patient self-care management and treatment adherence are influenced by individual choice, cultural beliefs, stigma concerns, practical barriers and physical health in combination with contextual supports and barriers. Ell's served most recently as co-principal investigator of a Department of Health and Human Services’ longitudinal study of 1500 low-income diabetes patients. Her work inclus ded projectaimed at dissemination, sustainability and integrated uptake of patient-center safe net care. She also created a community research partnership with the Los Angeles County’s Department of Health Services. Los Angeles DHS is the second-largest, publicly-supported safety net care system.
Biographic Data
Ell earned her DSW in 1978 and MSW in 1966 from the University of California, Los Angeles. She earned her BA from Valparaiso University. In addition to taking on informal mentoring roles, Ell worked with promising doctoral students and mentored numerous scholars throughout her career. She was interested in exploring military social work issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder treatment, as well as linking cancer care with primary health care.
Significant Achievements and Awards
- Kathleen Ell currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the Society of Social Work and Research and on the consultant editorial board of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
- 2012: Health Care Innovations Exchange, “Multifaceted Depression and Diabetes Program,” Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; and, NASW’s Knee/Wittman Lifetime Achievement Award.
- 2010: Research-Tested Interventions NCI Program, "Project SAFE," National Cancer Institute; Faculty of 1000 Medicine Selected Published Article; and Fellow, Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare
Significant Publications
Ell authored 97 publications, including two books. Publications include:
- Wells, et al. (in press). Low-income cancer patients in depression treatment: Dropouts and completers." Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research.
- Wu, Shin-Yi et al. (2014). Technology-facilitated depression care management among predominantly Latino diabetes patients within a public safety net care system: Comparative effectiveness trial design. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 37(2), 342-354.
- Nedjat-Haiem, F.A., Carrion, I., Lorenz, K.A., Ell, K. & Palinkas, L. (2013). Psychosocial concerns among Latinas with life-limiting advanced cancer. Omega, 67, 165-172.
- Fann, J., Ell, K. & Sharpe, M. (2012). Integrating psychosocial care into cancer services. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 30(11), 1178-1186.
- Wells, A., Palinkas, L.A., Qui, X., Ell, K. & Palinkas, L. (2011). Cancer patients’ perspectives on discontinuing depression treatment: the “drop out” phenomenon. Patient Preference & Adherence, 5, 465-470.
- Vourlekis, B. & Ell, K. (2007). Best practice case management for improved medical adherence. Social Work in Health Care, 44, 161-177.
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