Kanela Artavia, Clinical Social Worker

Kanela Artavia is the clinical social worker for the liver and intestinal transplant services. In that capacity, she works directly with patients and their families to assess their needs and connect them with resources that will make their hospital stay more manageable and that will help with their transition back home. During their hospitalization, she provides families and patients with psychosocial support, helps them adjust to difficult diagnoses, and helps facilitate communication between families and the various teams participating in a patient’s care.

Kanela earned her master’s degree in social welfare from UCLA in June of 2005, where she specialized in healthcare with an emphasis on children and adolescents. Prior to that, she worked on her master’s degree in psychology with an emphasis on pediatric psychology at San Diego State University, where she did research on health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy. Prior to returning to school, Kanela enjoyed a career in public relations and corporate communications for international firms including IBM, Sony, Merrill Lynch, and Nissan. She graduated from UCLA in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in business and administration.

Kanela was born and raised in Southern California and currently resides in the San Fernando Valley with her husband and her dog. She enjoys traveling, reading, and being outdoors, and has a passion for children and child welfare issues.