Lu Krieger-Blake LCSW

Luana S. “Lu” Krieger-Blake LCSW, MSW, BA

Lu Krieger-Blake has been a clinical practitioner for all 45 years of her Social Work career. In her 25 years as a hospice medical social worker, she lived out her “heart’s mission” by bringing her compassion and skill to help patients and families navigate their end-of-life process. A strong believer in the team concept of providing whole person medical care, she promoted clinical teamwork among co-workers in the hospice setting. She educated and inspired multiple teams to understand family dynamics and patient/family adjustments to end of life.

During Lu’s hospice tenure, she obtained her MSW degree while working full-time. She was privileged to use her expertise by spreading the word about concepts of hospice care to the community, and to many university classes. Professors often scheduled her to introduce hospice as their new semester began, year after year! She became a sought-after mentor for many social work students from three different local universities who wished to explore the medical field by interning in hospice and later in gerontological care. Student reviews gave her high praise for the quality of her mentoring and their experiences under her direction.

Upon retirement from hospice, Lu continued her heart’s mission by bringing her compassionate skills to a non-profit retirement community. She counseled residents and families going through end-of-life experiences that usually preceded the need for hospice care, but the issues of loss and physical decline remained similar and relevant.

She continues speaking in the community and has continued to educate about hospice care and family adjustments at end of life by writing chapters in several editions of an award-winning gerontological nursing textbook and now through Medbridge courses.