"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"--

The Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work is a comprehensive, evidence-informed text that addresses the needs of professionals who provide interdisciplinary, culturally sensitive, biopsychosocial-spiritual care for patients and families living with life-threatening illness. Social workers from diverse settings will benefit from its international scope and wealth of patient and family narratives. Unique to this scholarly text is its emphasis on the collaborative nature inherent in palliative care. This definitive resource is edited by two leading palliative social work pioneers who bring together an array of international authors who provide clinicians, researchers, policy-makers, and academics with a broad range of content to enrich the guidelines recommended by the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care.

This text is the definitive resource for practicing palliative social work clinicians. It is designed to meet the needs of professionals who seek to provide culturally sensitive biopsychosocial-spiritual care for patients and families living with life-threatening illness.

"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"--

The first text to explore the history, characteristics, and challenges of hospice social work, this volume weaves leading research into an underlying framework for practice and care. A longtime practitioner, Dona J. Reese describes the hospice social work role in assessment and intervention with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and the community, while honestly confronting the personal and professional difficulties of such life-changing work. She introduces a well-tested model of psychosocial and spiritual variables that predict hospice client outcomes, and she advances a social work assessment tool to document their occurrence. Operating at the center of national leaders' coordinated efforts to develop and advance professional organizations and guidelines for end-of-life care, Reese reaches out with support and practice information, helping social workers understand their significance in treating the whole person, contributing to the cultural competence of hospice settings, and claiming a definitive place within the hospice team.

The Oxford Textbook of Palliative Nursing remains the most comprehensive treatise on the art and science of palliative care nursing available. Dr. Betty Rolling Ferrell and Dr. Judith A. Paice have invited 162 nursing experts to contribute 76 chapters addressing the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs pertinent to the successful palliative care team. Organized within 7 Sections, this new edition covers the gamut of principles of care: from the time of initial diagnosis of a serious illness to the end of a patient's life and beyond. This fifth edition features several new chapters, including chapters on advance care planning, organ donation, self-care, global palliative care, and the ethos of palliative nursing. Each chapter is rich with tables and figures, case examples for improved learning, and a strong evidence-based practice to support the highest quality of care. The book offers a valuable and practical resource for students and clinicians across all settings of care. The content is relevant for specialty hospice agencies and palliative care programs, as well as generalist knowledge for schools of nursing, oncology, critical care, and pediatric. Developed with the intention of emphasizing the need to extend palliative care beyond the specialty to be integrated in all settings and by all clinicians caring for the seriously ill, this new edition will continue to serve as the cornerstone of palliative care education.

Emphasising the multi-disciplinary nature of palliative care the fourth edition of this text also looks at the individual professional roles that contribute to the best-quality palliative care.