UCLA
Department of Social Welfare
3250 Pub Aff Bldg.
Los Angeles
CAUSA
90095
Biographical Sketch: Lené Levy-Storms is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Affairs, Department of Social Welfare and the School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics at UCLA. She is Chair-Elect of the Gerontological Health Section of the American Public Health Association. Her core research concerns communication issues between health care providers and older adults in long-term care settings. She is particularly interested in health care providers’ “bed-side manner” and how it affects satisfaction with care and the quality of life of the older adults. In 2003, Dr. Levy-Storms received a career development award from the National Institute on Aging titled, “Therapeutic Communication during Nursing Home Care.” This five-year study laid a strong foundation for her focus on measuring and improving the quality of communication between nursing home staff and frail, older residents during care.
Dr. Levy-Storms has BS degree in psychology from UC Davis, a MPH in biostatistics and PhD in public health. From 1998-2000, she was an assistant professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Gerontology and a fellow of the Sealy Center on Aging at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX. In 2000, she joined the UCLA Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics as an assistant professor. At that time, she also became an associate director of the UCLA/Borun Center for Gerontological Research. The Borun Center is based at the Jewish Home for the Aging in Reseda, CA and focuses on applied research to improve the quality of life of older adults in long-term care settings.