Editor Introduction.

Welcome to a new volume of the Journal! In this volume we hope to add much to the discourse in palliative social work practice and research. We look forward to the next issue and examining ‘racism and its challenges in palliative social work’ in a special section devoted to this topic. This issue begins with a continuing examination of the challenges encountered through the COVID-19 pandemic in several reflections entries that help us to understand the experiences of social workers and seriously ill individuals from a global perspective. The practice concepts and innovations in the issue include a look at how social workers can and should be involved in continually improving the process of practice, specifically documentation of interventions in an acute care hospital. Further, Fuentes & Pietrus importantly demonstrate how the interventions are linked with clinical practice theory. Social workers can best show their value when effectiveness in practice can be related to the rest of the health care team and administration. Also relative to health care systems, Potter and colleagues provide an example of a proactive approach to advance care planning that is used in both inpatient and outpatient settings. To ensure that individuals’ wishes are followed when they lose decision-making capacity, it must be done in advance of a serious illness and hospitalization. Next, Sinding and colleagues conducted a qualitative analysis of experiences with restricted visitation in one hospital due to COVID-19 pandemic. Fewer opportunities to speak with families and observe their interactions with the ill individuals limited assessment and hampered treatment planning. lt forced professional to utilize a variety of forms of communication to replace traditional methods. The study participants revealed these challenges and discussed how they adapted in these circumstances. Poppe and colleagues, next help us to understand that caregivers of individuals with ALS need support throughout the experience of care, including bereavement. Because of the intense nature of care and the debilitating aspects of ALS, these caregivers may experience complicated grief and need assistance in finding support. This was one of the themes identified by bereaved ALS informal caregivers. Professionals’ responses were complementary in that they focused on trying to identify gaps and find support for these caregivers. The authors argue for proactive interventions to help caregivers adjust to their new way of life without the individual. COPD has a complex illness trajectory which may seem more acute when older adults are living alone with this illness. This is exactly the reason that advance care planning is necessary. Hirakawa and colleagues conducted a study with health care professionals working with older adults living alone with COPD to identify barriers to ACP completion in this population. The authors believe that social workers can intervene to encourage completion of ACP having this understanding and utilizing a holistic perspective. Finally, also focusing on informal caregivers, Spatuzzi and colleagues examined the growing phenomenon of older ill caregivers caring for older ill family members. Older