Journal of social work in end-of-life & palliative care
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J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care · Jan 2012
Interdisciplinary hospice team processes and multidimensional pain: a qualitative study.
Hospice teams may address multidimensional pain through the synergistic interaction of team members from various professional disciplines during regularly scheduled team meetings. However, the occurrence of that critical exchange has not been adequately described or documented. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore two processes in team pain palliation: communication and collaboration. ⋯ In addition, structural influences inhibited creativity in pain palliation. There was no mutual understanding of the purpose for team meetings, no recognition of the need to reflect on team process, or common definition of leadership. Social work roles in hospice should include leadership that moves teams toward interdisciplinary care for multidimensional pain.
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J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care · Jan 2011
Key role of social work in effective communication and conflict resolution process: Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) Program in New York and shared medical decision making at the end of life.
In this article, the authors review the development of the Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) Program and recent landmark legislation in New York State in the context of advance care planning and shared medical decision making at the end of life. Social workers are central health care professionals in working with patients, families, practitioners, health care agents, and surrogates in the health systems and in the communication and conflict resolution process that is integral to health care decision making. ⋯ Data from a pilot study evaluating interdisciplinary ethics training on legal and ethical content in communication and conflict resolution skills in health care decision making are reported. Recommendations are made for research on education and training of social workers, and investigation of the role and influence of systems in shaping social work involvement in end-of-life and palliative care.
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J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care · Jan 2011
Developing the science of end-of-life and palliative care research: National Institute of Nursing Research summit.
A rare opportunity to examine accomplishments and identify ways to advance research in end-of-life and palliative care was offered by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) through a summit meeting held in August 2011. The Science of Compassion: Future Directions in End-of-Life and Palliative Care brought together nationally recognized leaders in end-of-life and palliative care research, including grantees of NINR, as well as more than 700 attendees from all disciplines. It was an exciting affirmation of the importance of moving forward in the field. Presented in this article is a summary of the summit and a call to action for end-of-life and palliative care social workers to engage in seeking funding to conduct needed research and to ensure our unique perspective is represented.
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J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care · Jan 2011
A qualitative study of advice from bereaved parents and siblings.
Despite a growing bereavement literature, relatively little is known about what families find helpful after a child's death and how best to assist them during the grieving process. In this qualitative study, the authors explored advice from 40 families (65 parents, 39 siblings) of children who died from cancer 6-19 months earlier. Content analysis emphasized the individual nature of grief and revealed advice that fit into three temporal categories: before the death, soon after, and long-term. Findings are discussed in the context of contemporary theory and provide insight into the development and timing of grief interventions.
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J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care · Jan 2011
Disoriented grief: a lens through which to view the experience of Katrina evacuees.
Many studies on the impact of natural disasters have focused primarily on immediate stress reactions and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms rather than on evacuees' stories of grief and loss. Known categories of grief and loss do not fully capture the experiences of disaster survivors as evidenced by interviews of Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Austin, Texas. This article will describe their experiences through a resultant framework of Disoriented Grief.