Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T15:45:06.077Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Palliative and end-of-life care in the masters of social work curriculum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2017

Cathy Berkman  and
Gary L. Stein
Cathy Berkman*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University, New York, New York
Gary L. Stein
Affiliation:
Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University, New York, New York
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Cathy Berkman, Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University, 113 West 60th Street, New York, New York 10023. E-mail: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

There is a shortage of social workers who have palliative care expertise. The aging U.S. population and advances in extending life for seriously ill persons require social workers in a wide range of health care and other settings with specialized palliative care expertise, as well as those with basic competence in palliative care. The objective of the present study was to document course content on palliative care in MSW programs in the United States and Canada.

Method:

A cross-sectional design with an online questionnaire was used. All 248 accredited MSW programs in the United States and 32 programs in Canada were invited to participate. The measures included the characteristics of the courses on palliative care.

Results:

Of the 105 participating programs, only 10 had courses dedicated to palliative care, 9 of which were part of a specialization/certificate program. Few programs had plans to develop a dedicated course. There were 106 courses in 63 MSW programs with some content on palliative care. The majority of these had <25%, and few had at least 50%, of palliative care content.

Significance of Results:

Curricula are needed for preparing MSW graduates for specialty hospice and palliative care practice and non-specialty practice. While there are practice competencies for specialty practitioners, consensus on a core curriculum for all MSW students would be beneficial. Consensus on basic palliative care knowledge and skills for non-specialty social workers in health care and other settings and subsequent curriculum development are also needed. Innovative ways in which to introduce basic and more specialized content on palliative care into the already-crowded MSW curricula will be needed.

Keywords

EducationSocial workPalliative careMSW curriculum
Type
Original Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , April 2018 , pp. 180 - 188
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agnew, A. & Duffy, J. (2010). Innovative approaches to involving service users in palliative care social work education. Social Work Education, 29(7), 744–759.Google Scholar
Altilio, T. & Otis-Green, S. (eds.) (2011). Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bosma, H., Johnston, M., Cadell, S., et al. (2010). Creating social work competencies for practice in hospice palliative care. Palliative Medicine, 24(1), 79–87. Epub ahead of print Oct 20, 2009.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Canadian Association for Social Work Education (2015). Institutional Membership. Ottawa: Canadian Association for Social Work Education. Available from http://caswe-acfts.ca/members/institutional/.Google Scholar
Center to Advance Palliative Care (2015). America's Care of Serious Illness: 2015 State-by-State Report Card on Access to Palliative Care in Our Nation's Hospitals. New York: Center to Advance Palliative Care. Available from https://reportcard.capc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/CAPC-Report-Card-2015.pdf.Google Scholar
Christ, G. & Sormanti, M. (1999). Advancing social work practice in end-of-life care. Social Work in Health Care, 30(2), 81–99.Google Scholar
Council on Social Work Education (2015). Directory of Accredited Programs. Alexandria, VA: Council on Social Work Education. Available from http://www.cswe.org/default.aspx?id=17491.Google Scholar
Csikai, E.L. & Jones, B. (2007). Teaching Resources for End-of-Life and Palliative Care Courses. Chicago: Lyceum Books.Google Scholar
Csikai, E.L. & Jones, B. (2011). Professional development: Educational opportunities and resources. In Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work. Altilio, T. & Otis-Green, S. (eds.), pp. 695–701. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Csikai, E.L. & Raymer, M. (2005). Social workers' educational needs in end-of-life care. Social Work in Health Care, 41(1), 53–72. Available from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7696565_Social_Workers'_Educational_Needs_in_End-of-Life_Care.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dickinson, G. (2013). End-of-life and palliative care curricula in U.S. social work graduate programs. Illness, Crisis & Loss, 21(4), 315–324.Google Scholar
Gwyther, L.P., Altilio, T., Blacker, S., et al. (2005). Social work competencies in palliative and end-of-life care. Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care, 1(1), 87–120.Google Scholar
Institute of Medicine (2008). Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine. Available from https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12089/retooling-for-an-aging-america-building-the-health-care-workforce.Google Scholar
Institute of Medicine (2014). Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine. Available from https://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2014/EOL/Report%20Brief.pdf.Google Scholar
Kovacs, P.J. & Bronstein, L.R. (1999). Preparation for oncology settings: What hospice social workers say they need. Health & Social Work, 24(1), 57–64.Google Scholar
Kramer, B.J., Howland-Scafe, C. & Pacourek, L. (2003). Analysis of end-of-life content in social work textbooks. Journal of Social Work Education, 39(2), 299–320.Google Scholar
Meier, D.E. & Beresford, L. (2008). Social workers advocate for a seat at palliative care table. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 11(1), 10–14.Google Scholar
National Association of Social Workers (2004). NASW Standards for Palliative & End-of-Life Care. Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers. Available from https://www.socialworkers.org/practice/bereavement/standards/standards0504New.pdf.Google Scholar
National Association of Social Workers (2015). Advanced Certified Hospice and Palliative Social Worker (ACHP–SW). Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers. Available from https://www.socialworkers.org/credentials/applications/achp-sw.pdf.Google Scholar
Ortman, J.M., Velkoff, V.A. & Hogan, H. (2014). An Aging Nation: The Older Population in the United States (P25–1140). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce. Available from http://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/p25-1140.pdf.Google Scholar
Sumser, B., Remke, S., Leimena, M., et al. (2015). The Serendipitous Survey: A look at primary and specialist palliative social work practice, preparation, and competence. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 18(10), 881–883. Epub ahead of print Aug 13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supiano, K.P. & Berry, P.H. (2013). Developing interdisciplinary skills and professional confidence in palliative care social work students. Journal of Social Work Education, 49(3), 387–396.Google Scholar
Temel, J.S., Greer, J.A., Muzikansky, A., et al. (2010). Early palliative care for patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. The New England Journal of Medicine, 363(8), 733–742. Available from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1000678#t=article.Google Scholar
Turner, L., Kuyini, A.B., Agustine, S.S., et al. (2015). Social work student views on palliative care learning resources. Australian Social Work, 68(2), 259–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walsh-Burke, K. & Csikai, E.L. (2005 a). Professional social work education in end-of-life care: Contributions of the Project on Death in America's Social Work Leadership Development Program. Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care, 1(2), 11–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walsh-Burke, K. & Csikai, E.L. (2005b). The state of social work education. In Blacker, S. et al. (eds.), pp. 16–18. Charting the Course for the Future of Social Work in End-of-Life and Palliative Care: A Report of the 2nd Social Work Summit on End-of-Life and Palliative Care. Seattle, WA: The Social Work in Hospice and Palliative Care Network.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2016). WHO Definition of Palliative Care. Available from http://www.who.int/cancer/palliative/definition/en/.Google Scholar