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:
♦The role of palliative social workers in the health care decision-making process is multifaceted.
♦Various psychosocial and spiritual circumstances influence decisions made by patients and their families.
♦Cultural backgrounds and beliefs influence the illness experience as well as the social work role and response in serving patients and families of diverse cultures.
♦Advance directives have value and limitations in the process of medical decision making.
♦Conversations about personal preferences, values, and beliefs are essential to the decision-making process.
♦Social work skills in palliative care include the application of ethical principles and an understanding of the competing ethical principles often encountered in the decision-making process.
♦Knowledge of ethical principles leads to the responsibility to advocate and educate within the health care teams and the institution.