Social Work Practice and End-of-Life Care

This book describes the practice of social work in supporting people at the end of life; it considers the nature and experience of living and dying in contemporary society; and it asks how social workers can best support people who are dying or bereaved.

Heather Richardson is Joint Chief Executive of St Christopher's Hospice, London, and Honorary Professor in Palliative Care at Lancaster University, UK. She is a nurse, and has held clinical, managerial and leadership roles in hospice/palliative care over the last thirty years. Her PhD focused on people's experience of day hospice. Gillian Chowns is a social worker by profession, and has practised, lectured and researched in palliative care. Her PhD examined the experience of children living with the life-threatening illness of a parent. She is Chair of the Board of Trustees of Palliative Care Works, a charity offering education, training and mentoring in resource-poor settings.

Introduction: Social Work Practice in End of Life Care 1. A Good Death? 2. Psychosocial Perspectives on End of Life Care 3. 'Living to Tell the Tale' - Narratives of Surviving Cancer and the Social Work Response 4. End of Life Care: Everybody's Business 5. Integrating Early Multi-disciplinary Advance Care Planning into Core Social Work Practice: Social Workers' Bread and Butter 6. Working with Communities to Develop Resilience in End of Life and Bereavement Care: Hospices, Schools and Health Promoting Palliative Care 7. Does the Culture of Modern Day Palliative Care Social Work Leave Room for Leadership? 8. Schwartz Rounds® - Promoting Compassionate Care and Healthy Organisations