Christin (Coco) O’Shaughnessy, MSW

Coco O’Shaughnessy has experience working as a social worker and an advocate for hospice for over 25 years.

Coco obtained her BSW in 1994 from the University of Northern Iowa and worked as a social worker in assisted living and long-term care facilities. She then worked as a social worker at Cedar Valley Hospice in Waterloo, Iowa from 1998 to 2003. Coco obtained her MSW from the University of Iowa in 2004 and joined The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant team, Caring Connections.  She developed end of life and caregiving content for consumer education, and created outreach materials for end-of-life professionals to utilize with those they served. She previously was the Consumer Programs and Services Director at NHPCO and oversaw the Consumer Services Center.

Returning to her hometown outside of Chicago in 2013, Coco began working as a consultant to NHPCO, focusing on professional education and writing for consumer engagement and awareness. While working as a consultant, she developed an interest in school social work while raising her own children.  Coco recently obtained her Post-MSW Professional Educators License in the state of Illinois.  Today, she works as a contractor with NHPCO both as a writer for web content and faculty for the Hospice Manager Development Program, in addition to a new role as a school social worker at a special education cooperative.