Palliative care refers to specialized medical care that focuses on providing relief from physical symptoms and improving the quality of life of patients and caregivers. Palliative care can be provided to patients with any medical condition at any stage of illness to relieve symptoms. It can be a patient’s primary treatment (which is often the case with end-of-life care), or it can be provided in combination with standard medical treatments. Palliative care team members work alongside a patient’s medical team and can include professionals from multiple disciplines, including doctors, nurses, social workers, and chaplains.
To prepare for this Discussion:
Think about the circumstances, timing, payment, and other features related to palliative care.
Post a description of perceptions of palliative care from the perspective of a:
- Patient
- Caregiver
- Social worker
- Then, explain the roles of social workers in providing palliative care.
- Compare and contrast the fundamental differences between palliative care and hospice care.
- Explain medical conditions where you might consider palliative care over hospice care for a patient.
- Justify your position. Use examples to illustrate your case.
Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the resources and the current literature using appropriate APA format and style.
Original Article
Creating social work competencies for
practice in hospice palliative care
Palliative Medicine
24(1) 79–87
! The Author(s), 2010.
Reprints and permissions:
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DOI: 10.1177/0269216309346596
pmj.sagepub.com
Harvey Bosma School of Social Work, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Meaghen Johnston School of Social Work, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Susan Cadell Lyle S Hallman Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University, Kitchener, ON, Canada
Wendy Wainwright Victoria Hospice, Victoria, BC, Canada
Ngaire Abernethy Mental Health Services for the Elderly, Brandon Regional Health Authority, Brandon, MB, Canada
Andrew Feron Parkwood Hospital, St Joseph’s Health Care, London, ON, Canada
Mary Lou Kelley School of Social Work & Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
Fred Nelson Palliative Care Program, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Abstract
Social workers play an important role in the delivery of Hospice Palliative Care in many diverse settings. The profession
brings a unique perspective to end-of-life care that reflects and supports the holistic philosophy of Hospice Palliative
Care. Despite the prominent and longstanding position of social work in this area, the role and functions of social
workers had not been clearly defined. A Canadian task group of social work practitioners and educators utilized a
modified Delphi process to consult front line clinicians nationally, and thereby achieved consensus regarding the identi-
fication and description of eleven core competencies in Hospice Palliative Care. These competencies are relevant for
social workers at different experience levels across care settings. They can be used to inform social work practice, as
well as professional development and educational curricula in this area.
Keywords
social work competencies, social work practice, palliative care, end-of-life care, Delphi technique
Introduction
Social workers play an important role in the delivery of
Hospice Palliative Care (HPC). In time, most social
work practitioners will encounter adults, children, and
families who are facing progressive life limiting illness,
dying, death, or bereavement. Such social work inter-
actions occur not only in health care settings, but in all
locations where social workers practice. These include
hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, adult daycare, and
senior centers as well as non-health-care sites such as
child and family services agencies, income assistance
programs, schools, courts, and employee assistance
services.
1
The profession of social work brings a unique per-
spective to end-of-life care that reflects and suppo
N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F S O C I A L W O R K E R S
Palliative &
End of Life
Care
Palliative &
End of Life
Care
National Association of Social Workers
Gary Bailey, MSW
NASW President (2003–2004)
Palliative and End of Life Care
Expert Steering Committee
Susan Blacker, BSW, MSW, RSW,
Volunteer Leader
Iraida V. Carrion, LCSW
Yvette Colón, ACSW, BCD
Pamela M. Jackson, MEd
Stuart Kaufer, CSW, ACSW
Patricia O’Donnell, DSW, LICSW, CCM
Mary Raymer, ACSW
Sherri Roff, CSW, PhD Candidate
Elizabeth Smart, MA
Sharon Hines Smith, PhD, QCSW, MSW
Mila Ruiz Tecala, ACSW, DCSW, LICSW
Katherine Walsh-Burke, DSW
NASW Staff
Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH
Executive Director
Toby Weismiller, ACSW
Tracy Whitaker, ACSW
Karyn Walsh, ACSW, LCSW
©2004 National Association of Social Workers.
All Rights Reserved.
Contents
7 Introduction
9 Definitions
13 Background
14 Guiding Principles
15 Standards for Professional Practice
26 Standards for Professional Preparation and Development
29 References
31 Resources
31 Acknowledgements
Standards
f o r P a l l i a t i v e a n d
E n d o f L i f e C a r e
Standard 1. Ethics and Values
The values, ethics, and standards of both the
profession and contemporary bioethics shall
guide social workers practicing in palliative and
end of life care. The NASW Code of Ethics
(NASW, 2000) is one of several essential guides
to ethical decision making and practice.
Standard 2. Knowledge
Social workers in palliative and end of life care
shall demonstrate a working knowledge of the
theoretical and biopsychosocial factors essential
to effectively practice with clients and
professionals.
Standard 3. Assessment
Social workers shall assess clients and include
comprehensive information to develop
interventions and treatment planning.
Standard 4. Intervention/Treatment Planning
Social workers shall incorporate assessments in
developing and implementing intervention plans
that enhance the clients’ abilities and decisions
in palliative and end of life care.
Standard 5. Attitude/Self-Awareness
Social workers in palliative and end of life care
shall demonstrate an attitude of compassion and
sensitivity to clients, respecting clients’ rights to
self-determination and dignity. Social workers
shall be aware of their own beliefs, values, and
feelings and how their personal self may
influence their practice.
St
Progress in Palliative Care 2010 Vol 18 No 4 205
An overview of contemporary social work
practice in palliative care
Susan Cadell1, Meagan Johnston2, Harvey Bosma3, Wendy Wainright4
1Manulife Centre for Healthy Living, and Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier
University, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
2Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
3School of Social Work, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
4Psychosocial Counselling Services, Victoria Hospice, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
It is widely acknowledged that social workers play a pivotal role in the delivery of palliative care. A
group undertook a process to define and validate social work competencies in palliative and end-
of-life care delivery. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the palliative care social work
practice competencies developed in the Canadian context and to illustrate them with case
examples. The competencies involve a complex interaction of values, knowledge and skills. The
next phase in the development of these competencies is to embed them in the system of social
work education at all levels. The case examples illustrate the importance of social work practice in
palliative care. They also demonstrate that the competencies are interconnected as certain aspects
of social work practice and client and family experience arise in various areas and guises.
Ultimately, the goal is excellent palliative care to clients and their families throughout the trajectory
of a serious illness and social workers have an important role to play in that.
Keywords: social work competencies, paediatric palliative care, palliative care, hospice care
Introduction
It is widely acknowledged that social workers play a
pivotal role in the delivery of palliative care.1 In the
Canadian context, social workers have been involved
in healthcare and hospital work for many years and
have been implicated in palliative care since its earliest
history. More recently, various professions involved in
palliative care in Canada have moved to formalise the
competencies required in palliative care. A pan-
Canadian group undertook a process to define and
validate social work competencies in palliative and
end-of-life care delivery.2 The present article will focus
on describing the competencies and providing
examples of social work practice for each one. It is our
aim to demonstrate the breadth of practice in palli-
ative care across the ages of clients from child to adult
and throughout a variety of settings, family com-
positions, and cultural influences.
The work of establishing the social work
competencies was supported by Health Canada, our
national health body, and its Secretariat of Palliative
and End of Life Care. The group included social
workers from across the country and various practice
areas, from hos
266 © 2016 Indian Journal of Palliative Care | Published by Wolters Kluwer – Medknow
INTRODUCTION
The 2015 Indian population‑based cancer registry
reported that the age‑adjusted cancer incidence rates
of childhood cancers in India are in the range of
18.6/million ‑ 159.6/million in the male pediatric
population and 11.3–112.4/million in the female
pediatric population. The highest incidence of cancer
is observed in the Southern region of India with an
incidence of 159.6/million in male pediatric population.
The lowest incidence of cancer is observed in the
Northeast region of India with an incidence of 18.6 and
11.3/million in male and female pediatric population
respectively. Leukemia, lymphomas, and brain tumors
are the most common malignancies seen in Indian
pediatric population. There is a rising trend of childhood
cancers in India,[1] and cancer is the ninth common cause
Original Article
Specialist Pediatric Palliative Care Referral Practices in
Pediatric Oncology: A Large 5-year Retrospective Audit
Arunangshu Ghoshal, Naveen Salins, Anuja Damani, Jayita Deodhar,
MaryAnn Muckaden
Department of Palliative Medicine, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Address for correspondence: Dr. Naveen Salins; E‑mail: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Purpose: To audit referral practices of pediatric oncologists referred to specialist pediatric palliative care services.
Patients and Methods: Retrospective review of medical case records of pediatric palliative care
patients over a period of 5 years from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2014. Descriptive summaries of
demographic, clinical variables, and patient circumstances at the time of referral and during end-of-life
care were examined.
Results: A total of 1135 patients were referred from pediatric oncology with a gradual increasing trend over 5
years. About 84.6% consultations took place in the outpatient setting. In 97.9% of the cases, parents were the
primary caregivers. Availability of specialist pediatric health-care services at local places was available in 21.2%
cases and 48% families earned <5000 INR (approximately 73 USD) in a month. Around 28.3% of the referrals
were from leukemia clinic and maximum references were late with 72.4% patients having advanced disease
at presentation. 30.3% of the referrals were made for counseling and communication and 54.2% had high
symptom burden during referral. After referral, 21.2% patients continued with oral metronomic chemotherapy and
10.5% were referred back to oncology services for palliative radiotherapy. Only 4.9% patients had more than 2
follow-ups. 90.8% of the patients were cared for at home in the last days of illness by local general practitioners.
70.6% of
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