This textbook on palliative social work is a companion volume to the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine and the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Nursing. To that end, this chapter will accomplish the following:

♦It is important to understand and identify the key skills utilized by the pediatric hospice or palliative social worker.

♦Health care professionals desire to understand the unique pediatric social work role on the interdisciplinary team.

♦Social workers learn to recognize the importance and influence of cultural factors in providing care to children and families.

♦Biopsychosocial-spiritual assessments and interventions are much more successful when social workers recognize and understand the differences in providing care to infants, children, and adolescents.