Journal of social work in end-of-life & palliative care
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J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care · Jan 2015
Risk Factors for Anticipatory Grief in Family Members of Terminally Ill Veterans Receiving Palliative Care Services.
Anticipatory grief is the process associated with grieving the loss of loved ones in advance of their inevitable death. Because anticipatory grief has been associated with a variety of outcomes, risk factors for this condition deserve closer consideration. ⋯ Elevated anticipatory grief was found in families characterized by relational dependency, lower education, and poor grief-specific support, who also experienced discomfort with closeness and intimacy, neuroticism, spiritual crisis, and an inability to make sense of the loss. Thus, in this sample, anticipatory grief appears to be part of a cluster of factors and associated distress that call for early monitoring and possible intervention.
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J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care · Jan 2015
Mentoring the Next Generation of Social Workers in Palliative and End-of-Life Care: The Zelda Foster Studies Program.
As Americans live longer with chronic illnesses, there is a growing need for social workers with the knowledge and skills to deliver quality palliative care to older adults and their families. Nevertheless, there remains a critical shortage of social workers prepared to provide quality palliative and end-of-life care (PELC) and to maintain the field into the next generation. Formal mentorship programs represent an innovative approach to enhancing practice, providing support and guidance, and promoting social work leadership in the field. ⋯ The Zelda Foster Studies Program in Palliative and End-of-Life Care bolsters competencies and mentors social workers in PELC over the trajectory of their careers, and enhances the capacity in the field. Findings from the first six years of two components of the ZF Program are examined to illustrate the feasibility, benefits, and challenges of formal mentorship programs. The authors describe the background, structure, and evaluation of the initiative's mentorship programs, and discuss the implications of mentorship in PELC for social work education, practice, and research.
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J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care · Jan 2015
"I was ready to take him home": next-of-kin's accounts of loved one's death during hospice and palliative care discussions in Veterans Affairs Medical Centers.
This study explored next-of-kin's retrospective accounts of hospice and palliative care discussions for hospitalized veterans. In-depth, face-to-face interviews were used to generate narrative accounts of 78 next-of-kin's experience of their loved one's hospital care during the last days of the patient's life. One-third of participants reported taking part in a hospice or palliative care discussion during the patient's final hospitalization. ⋯ Discussions about hospice or palliative care have meaning, emotional impact, practical effects, and unintended consequences for next-of-kin. Social workers in hospital settings can play a critical role in supporting family members through the hospice and palliative care discussion process and facilitate timely care transitions. They also can attend to the psychosocial concerns of family members, particularly when death occurs prior to discharge to hospice or transfer to an inpatient palliative care service.
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J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care · Jan 2015
Effects of Constraints and Consequences on Plan Complexity in Conversations About End-of-Life Care.
The current study assessed the role of health care provider constraints and perceived consequences on plan complexity for conversations with patients about end-of-life care. Meta-goal constraints, perceived consequences associated with conversational engagement and planning theory provides the basis for research questions and hypotheses posed. ⋯ Perceived consequences of conversational engagement were predominantly positive and concerned the patient. Findings may enhance the understanding of social workers in their educational role regarding the potential training needs of health care team members in palliative care contexts.