Susan Reinhard, PhD, RN, FAAN
Senior Vice President and Director, AARP Public Policy Institute & Chief Strategist, Center to Champion Nursing in America and Family Caregiving Initiatives
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Aging, family caregiving research, policy, program development, practice, research and policy analysis, Medicare, Medicaid, health care policy, quality, delivery system reform, system regulation, payment, managed care, Culture of Health/well-being, nursing research, education, regulation, workforce development, long-term services and supports research, financing, technical assistance, measurement/LTSS Scorecard, age-friendly communities, livable communities, grantsmanship, strategic planning, public speaking, translating research into policy and practice
ABOUT
Susan C. Reinhard is a senior vice president at AARP, directing its Public Policy Institute (PPI), the focal point for public policy research and analysis at the state, federal, and international levels. She leads PPI's Family Caregiving Initiatives and also serves as the chief strategist for the Center to Champion Nursing in America, a national resource center created to ensure that America has the highly skilled nurses it needs to provide care in the future.
Reinhard is a nationally recognized expert in health and long-term care policy, with extensive experience in conducting, directing, and translating research into action to promote policy change. She oversees PPI teams working on health security, financial security, and family, home, and community issues, and from that vantage point serves as editor-in-chief of Policy Plus Action: The AARP Public Policy Institute Newsletter. Previously, she served as professor and co-director of Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, where she directed several national initiatives with states to help people of all ages with disabilities live in their communities.
As deputy commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Reinhard led the development of policies and nationally recognized programs for family caregiving, consumer choice, and community-based care options. She is a former faculty member at the Rutgers College of Nursing, an American Academy of Nursing fellow, and a National Academy of Social Insurance member.
She holds many governance positions, including on the boards of the Leapfrog Group, National Alliance for Caregiving, National Academy for State Health Policy, and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Reinhard has received many honors, including the Family Caregiver Alliance 2013 Leadership Award, the Dick Ladd Award for Improving Long-Term and Community Research Care from the Jessie F. Richardson Foundation, the Health Policy and Legislation Award from New York University, and the Public Policy Pioneer Award from the Assisted Living Federation of America.
She holds a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Cincinnati and a PhD in sociology from Rutgers University.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
- LTSS Choices: Small-House Nursing Homes
- LTSS Choices: A Series on Transforming Long-Term Services & Supports
- Advancing Action, 2020: A State Scorecard on Long-Term Services and Supports for Older Adults, People with Physical Disabilities, and Family Caregivers
Read Susan Reinhard's blog posts.
CONTACT
For media inquiries, call 202-434-2560 or e-mail media@aarp.org.