The poem portrays the wait and expectations of the family member about the outcome of hospitalizations of a patient in palliative care.
The poem portrays the wait and expectations of the family member about the outcome of hospitalizations of a patient in palliative care.
Hospice and palliative care are burgeoning fields of social work practice. Within the social work profession, the pursuit of social justice is a defining ethical value. While some research exists on social justice within palliative and hospice care, no studies have examined its meaning within the context of this highly specialized field. To date, there is an absence of empirical research examining the meaning of social justice within a sample of hospice and palliative social workers. This study attempts to fill this gap. We used qualitative and quantitative survey items to ask hospice and palliative care social workers about the meaning of social justice within their unique practice setting, as well as to identify prominent social injustices and opportunities for action. Using responses from 51 seasoned practitioners, we found that social workers generally defined social justice as equitable access to three core areas-basic needs, high quality care, and education (for both patients, families, and providers)-regardless of a person's group membership (e.g., race, class, sexual orientation). Participants also made recommendations for improving social justice in clinical practice through advocacy and other initiatives.
In 2020, hospices supported 1.72 million Medicare patients and their caregivers. The end-of-life experience can be difficult for caregivers and many experience anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Little literature has explored the role of hospice social workers in addressing and treating caregivers' suicidal thoughts and behaviors. This paper will explore the topic of hospice caregiver suicide, using a case study to illustrate relevant issues, practices, and needs. Implications for hospice social work practice are included.
Guided by the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, this study explored relationships between cardiac related psychosocial distress, traumatic distress, and the number of lifetime traumas in people with advanced heart failure. Utilizing a cross-sectional survey design, a convenience sample of participants with advanced heart failure who received treatment in Washington, DC, completed standardized measures. Bivariate analysis showed a statistically significant difference in mean number of exposures and distress associated with advanced heart failure therapies and linear relationships between exposures and traumatic distress, distress and traumatic distress, and exposures and distress, as well as between the number of exposures and distress and traumatic distress and between the distress and traumatic distress. Multivariate analysis suggested that the higher the number of reported traumatic events, the higher the distress, and the higher the distress, the higher the traumatic distress. Social workers and allied team members should consider how a patient's distress relates to traumatic distress in the advanced stage heart failure population.
A brief reflection of encountering four older adult women who claimed self-transformation through learning in late life grief.
In Israel, as in other countries, the emotional and physical needs of minority populations receiving palliative care, are largely unknown. The ultra-Orthodox Jewish sector is one such minority population. This study's goal was to identify perceived social support, desire to receive information about illness and prognosis, and willingness to disclose information to others. Various measures assessing perception of social support, psychological symptoms and information disclosure were completed. Fifty-one women consented to participate; approximately 50% of participants had disclosed the diagnosis to their rabbi or a friend, in addition to their spouse. Almost all of the participants would want to be told if their condition were worsening (86.3%), yet only 17.6% reported that their doctor had discussed future care options if their health situation were to worsen. Overall, participants felt that the level of support they received was high and reported low levels of mental distress. This is the first known study regarding perceptions and needs of ultra-Orthodox Jewish women with advanced-stage cancer. Both diagnosis disclosure and palliative care options should be addressed and discussed with these patients so they may make important end-of-life decisions.
One of the common undesirable outcomes of pregnancy is perinatal loss. Healthcare systems strive to reduce the incidence of perinatal loss but typically little attention is on the experiences of bereaved mothers following perinatal loss, particularly in low and middle-income countries where such deaths are common. This research explored the lived experiences of mothers with perinatal loss in the Kumasi metropolis, Ghana. A qualitative design was used to explore the experiences of nine (9) bereaved mothers from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital's postnatal ward and the Mother and Baby Unit. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured interview guide, audio-recorded, and thematically analyzed. One major finding was that mothers restricted mourning their dead babies based on fear of recurrent perinatal loss and traditional beliefs on delayed return to fertility. Mothers blamed healthcare providers for their loss due to their concerns about care received. Gaps in communication flow from healthcare professionals to bereaved mothers were commonly identified as mothers struggled to make meaning of their loss and coped with cultural restrictions and beliefs. Healthcare professionals must explore mothers' concerns and "gut-feelings," and pay attention to their communication needs following perinatal loss.
Family caregivers of people with cancer encounter a wide range of problems including challenges managing patients' symptoms, difficulties navigating complex healthcare systems, and financial stressors associated with caregiving. Outpatient palliative care teams are ideally positioned to help caregivers respond to these challenges; however, little evidence is available to inform problem-solving support for caregivers in this setting. This article presents results from a secondary analysis of data obtained as part of a randomized clinical trial of a problem-solving intervention for family caregivers of people with cancer receiving outpatient palliative care. It describes the extent to which caregivers report adoption of positive and negative problem orientations and use of rational, impulsive, and avoidant problem-solving styles, and examines whether these problem-solving dimensions differ by age and gender. Results reveal statistically significant negative correlations between caregiver age and positive and negative problem orientations and use of a rational problem-solving style, and statistically significant gender differences with regard to negative problem orientation and use of an impulsive problem-solving style. Findings from this exploratory study highlight unique potential strengths and needs of caregivers, and set the stage for future research on problem-solving among cancer caregivers in the growing field of outpatient palliative care.