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:

♦Practice evaluation refers to a systematic assessment of the effectiveness of interventions to bring about positive outcomes for patients and families to ensure that they receive the most appropriate services available. The assessment of interventions and their outcomes is a key component of evidence-based practice.

♦Evidence-based practice refers to the integration of the best available research and clinical expertise with client values to direct care. In addition to improving outcomes for patients and families, an advantage of using evidence-based interventions in palliative social work is that those findings can be used to demonstrate the value of social work on interdisciplinary palliative care teams.