Liz Smith
PhD in Social Work Student
Contact
Email: elizabeth.c.smith@wustl.edu
Preferred Pronouns: she/her
Areas of Focus
Caregiving
End-of-life
Navigating grief and loss
Group grief intervention
Caregiving policy change
Biography
Liz holds an MSW from the Brown School with a concentration in Mental Health and a specialization in Older Adults & Aging Societies. Her professional background is grounded in direct care and community-based support, with experience in residential settings supporting adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the life course. Her work is rooted in the belief that dignity, clarity, and a little bit of humor can coexist, even in the hardest conversations. She hopes that her work helps shift how we think about aging and care: that aging is not a disability, caregiving is essential work, and resilience is a skill that can be taught before loss forces us to learn it.