Social work practice in pediatric palliative and end-of-life care : challenges and opportunities

As an essential and emerging practice, Pediatric palliative care seeks to prevent and relieve suffering for children with life-threatening conditions.

Palliative care teams are composed of providers of various disciplines, including social workers, who collaborate to address the medical, social-emotional, and spiritual needs of the child, and their families.

Social workers are especially accustomed to interdisciplinary care and may counsel, provide resources, facilitate communication, and promote person- and family-centered practices that are the basis of effective pediatric palliative care.

This book presents practice strategies, experiential knowledge, and research related to practicing in-collaborative teams, ICU settings, and hospice.

It also presents research that is informed by the perceptions and perspectives of bereaved parents, parents who have suffered a stillbirth, and parent caregivers of children with life-limiting illness.

This book highlights the unique role social workers play, within care teams and in relationship with children who have life-limiting illness, and their families. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care.