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:

♦Access to services is a challenge in rural and inner-city communities.

♦Continuity of care is difficult when patients are discharged to rural and inner-city communities where palliative care is not available.

♦Community collaboration is necessary to improve palliative care in rural and inner-city communities.

♦The financial viability of small hospices is threatened because they do not benefit from economies of scale and serve populations with low levels of health insurance coverage.

♦Providing palliative care in inner-city and rural communities is challenging

♦Access to medications to manage pain is problematic in some rural and inner-city communities.

♦Palliative care for diverse and underserved populations in rural and inner-city communities requires sensitivity to health, cultural, and spiritual beliefs.