Discussion Post: Social Work in Palliative Care
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:
Review this resources. 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 300 to 500 words question or topic in bold then answers
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.
The response should include a reference list. Using one-inch margins, Times New Roman 12 pnt font, double-space and APA style of writing and citations.
Resources
Sanders, S., & Swails, P. (2011). A quest for meaning: Hospice social workers and patients with end-stage dementia. Social Work, 56(2), 129-140.
Waldrop, D. P., & Meeker, M. A. (2012). Hospice decision making: Diagnosis makes a difference. Gerontologist, 52(5), 686-697.
Beder, J. (2006). Hospital social work: The interface of medicine and caring. New York, NY: Routledge.
Chapter 5, "The Hospice Social Worker" (pp. 45-55)
McCoyd, J. L. M., & Kerson, T. S., (Eds.). (2016). Social work in health settings: Practice in context (4th ed.) New York, NY: Routledge.
Chapter 20, "Geriatric Social Work in a Community Hospital: High-Tough, Low-Tech Work in a High-Tech, Low-Touch Environment" (pp. 249-259)
Gehlert, S., & Browne, T. (Eds.). (2019). Handbook of health social work (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Chapter 22, "Pain Management and Palliative Care" (pp. 525-562)
American Cancer Society. (2013) Hospice care.
Caring Connections. (n.d.). Palliative care questions and answers.