Oncology And Palliative Social Work

Oncology and Palliative Social Work: Psychosocial Care for People Coping with Cancer illustrates the need for integrating early palliative care for patients with cancer and the important role social workers have in providing psychosocial support services across the cancer trajectory. There is a convergence of oncology and palliative social work specialties in the delivery of comprehensive, culturally-congruent, whole person cancer care. OPSW reflects the collective knowledge, skills, clinical experience and perspectives of a diverse group of interprofessional contributors, including best practices, emerging trends, and priorities in psychosocial oncology, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this evolving landscape. The volume is divided into four sections, each with five to eight thematically connected chapters. Topics include: diagnosing and treating cancer; equity, racism, cultural competence, and cultural humility; social determinants of health; cancer care amid pandemics, disasters and other traumatic events; survivorship, integrative programs, lifestyle and rehabilitation; innovative models in palliative care in oncology; the future direction of psychosocial oncology and palliative care, including research; psychosocial aspects of cancer; pain, symptom, and side effect management; a novel collaborative care model for people living with severe mental illness; interprofessional spiritual care; informal cancer caregivers; palliative and hospice care at the end of life; loss, grief, and bereavement; underrepresented, underserved, and vulnerable populations; ethical and legal issues; professional development and sustainability; credentialing, certification, and continuing education; technology; social work leadership skills; interprofessional practice; international oncology and palliative social work; and, strategies for guiding best practices for the future.

The development of this inaugural Handbook of Oncology Social Work: Psychosocial Care for People With Cancer provides a repository of the scope of oncology social workers' clinical practice, education, research, policy and program leadership in the psychosocial care of people with cancer and their families. It focuses on the unique synergy of social work perspectives, values, knowledge, and skills with the psychosocial needs of cancer patients, their families, and the health care systems in which they are treated. It addresses both the science and art of psychosocial care and identifies the increasing specialization of oncology social work related to its unique knowledge base, skills, role, and the progressive complexity of psychosocial challenges for patients with cancer. This Handbook equips the reader with all that we know today in oncology social work about patient and family centered care, distress screening, genetics, survivorship, care coordination, sociocultural and economic diversity, legal and ethical matters, clinical work with adults living with cancer, cancer across the lifespan, their caregivers and families, pediatrics, loss and grief, professional career development, leadership, and innovation. Our hope is that in reading this Handbook you will identify new areas where each of you can leave your mark as innovators and change agents in our evolving field of practice.

"It is so important to advocate for things that may not always seem possible. Getting to work with patients/families at the end of their life is the ultimate honor." - Lauren G Markham, MSW, LCSW, APHSW-C "In this work, one witnesses both depths of human suffering and heights of human transcendence that can inspire both awe and fear. At those times, I have found that surrendering my need to be "an expert" and instead, allow myself to simply be a "human" is the wisest action." - Kerry Irish, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOSW"--

Accessible and instructive,ÂPalliative CareÂguides and inspires health social workers to incorporate palliative care principles into their current clinical practice. Through the lenses of environmental theory and intersectionality, rich case narratives highlight opportunities for social workers to enhance their work, advancing whole-person care in the face of serious illness. Chapters include questions to concretize ideas and demonstrate real-world application, while case narratives cover a range of settings, diagnoses, and populations. This book is a useful tool for educators, learners, and practicing social workers working with individuals and families navigating complex health care systems.

As the evidence-base for clinical practice in the management of life-threatening diseases and care at the end of life increases, it is apparent that psychosocial factors play a most profound role, influencing outcomes at every level from quality of life and satisfaction with clinical services through to duration of survival and mortality. This book documents some, but by no means all, of the developments that have occurred in the past decade in the area of psychosocial oncology and palliative care in Hong Kong. Contributions describing interventions by practitioners involved in service development in nursing, social work and clinical psychology, are complemented by chapters describing academic research and theoretical perspectives. The unique cultural mix of Hong Kong is given rich emphasis in the adaptations made by practitioners and academics to the interventions and theoretical issues outlined. As both a documentation of the efforts of some of those who helped psychosocial oncology and palliative care evolve in Hong Kong, and as a reflection of the need to more critically evaluate the impact of intervention efforts in health care, this volume provides a valuable resource. Nurses, social workers, psychologists and doctors involved in delivering or planning cancer treatment or palliative care will find this book useful. This book challenges many attitudes prevalent in Hong Kong and will, we hope, begin to break some of the taboos that continue to generate unnecessary suffering among the people cared for by our health care systems. The valuable experience documented in these pages can help others build the next generation of services to those with life-threatening illness and those at the end of life.

As an essential and emerging practice, Pediatric palliative care seeks to prevent and relieve suffering for children with life-threatening conditions. Palliative care teams are composed of providers of various disciplines, including social workers, who collaborate to address the medical, social-emotional, and spiritual needs of the child, and their families. Social workers are especially accustomed to interdisciplinary care and may counsel, provide resources, facilitate communication, and promote person- and family-centered practices that are the basis of effective pediatric palliative care. This book presents practice strategies, experiential knowledge, and research related to practicing in─collaborative teams, ICU settings, and hospice. It also presents research that is informed by the perceptions and perspectives of bereaved parents, parents who have suffered a stillbirth, and parent caregivers of children with life-limiting illness. This book highlights the unique role social workers play, within care teams and in relationship with children who have life-limiting illness, and their families. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care.

The new global cancer data suggests that the global burden has risen to 18.1 million new cases per year and 9.6 million cancer deaths per year. A number of factors appear to be driving this increase, in particular, a growing and aging global population and an increase of exposure to cancer risk factors linked to social and economic development. For rapidly-growing economies, the data suggests a shift from poverty- or infection-related cancers to those associated with lifestyles more typical in industrialized countries. There is still large geographical diversity in cancer occurrence and variations in the magnitude and profile of the disease between and within world regions. There are specific types of cancer that dominate globally: lung, female breast and colorectal cancer, and the regional variations in common cancer types signal the extent to which societal, economic and lifestyle changes interplay to deferentially impact on the profile of this most complex group of diseases. Unfortunately, despite advances in cancer care, a significant proportion of patients at home, experience sub-optimal outcomes. Barriers to successful treatment outcomes include, but are not limited to: access to oncologists in the primary health centers, non-adherence, lack of experienced oncology and palliative care nurses in the community, inadequate monitoring and the lack of training of family and pediatric physicians. Telemedicine approaches, including telephone triage/education, telemonitoring, teleconsultation and status tracking through mobile applications, have shown promise in further improving outcomes, in particular for chronic cancer patients following their hospitalization. Lessons can be learned from existing hospices in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, Centers of Excellence in African (Uganda) and modern community services in India (Kerala). An important goal of this book is to describe and encourage professionals to develop new community programs in palliative care, which include training and empowering physicians and nurses in the community on the principles of palliative care. The Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) together with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) have conducted multiple courses ranging from basic palliative care to more specialized training in palliative care for multiple nationalities in Europe, Asia and Africa. Our experience clearly indicates that, to promote such activities, one needs strong leadership and confirmed political will to support the endeavor. The new book will emphasize the importance of having a core of multiple stakeholders including community leaders, government, NGOs and media to be actively involved in advocating for the cause and generating public awareness. This text will provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the outside-of-the-hospital treatment of cancer patients by medical, paramedical and volunteer personnel. In doing so, this text will encourage the creation of new palliative care services improving upon the existing ones and stimulate further research in this field. Part 1 of the text will begin with an overview of the current state of affairs of services provided to cancer patients while being cared for by primary health centers. It will also review the current literature regarding medical and psychological-based therapy options in the community for cancer patients at different stages of their disease. Part 2 will address the unique role of the community nurse, within the framework of the multidisciplinary team treating the patient, in the attempt to provide optimal evaluation and care in very challenging situations (such as with terminal patients). Part 3 will provide insightful models of this new discipline and serve as a valuable resource for physicians, nurses, social workers and others involved in the care of cancer patients. The book will take a multidisciplinary approach, integrating clinical and environmental data for practical management to enhance the efficacy of treatment while relieving suffering. Part 4 will also discuss the application of modern technological approaches to track symptoms, quality of life, diet, mobility, duration of sleep and medication use (including pain killers) in chronic cancer patients in the community. Part 5 of the book will also be devoted to modes of developing a collaborative program between governmental and non-governmental organization sectors. This includes volunteer workers in close collaboration with medical professionals for providing emotional and spiritual support, nursing care, nutritional support and empowering family caregivers. Such a model makes palliative care in the community a “people’s movement”, thus transferring part of the responsibility and ownership to the community.

The development of this inaugural Handbook of Oncology Social Work: Psychosocial Care for People With Cancer provides a repository of the scope of oncology social workers' clinical practice, education, research, policy and program leadership in the psychosocial care of people with cancer and their families. It focuses on the unique synergy of social work perspectives, values, knowledge, and skills with the psychosocial needs of cancer patients, their families, and the health care systems in which they are treated. It addresses both the science and art of psychosocial care and identifies the increasing specialization of oncology social work related to its unique knowledge base, skills, role, and the progressive complexity of psychosocial challenges for patients with cancer. This Handbook equips the reader with all that we know today in oncology social work about patient and family centered care, distress screening, genetics, survivorship, care coordination, sociocultural and economic diversity, legal and ethical matters, clinical work with adults living with cancer, cancer across the lifespan, their caregivers and families, pediatrics, loss and grief, professional career development, leadership, and innovation. Our hope is that in reading this Handbook you will identify new areas where each of you can leave your mark as innovators and change agents in our evolving field of practice.