The death of elderly individuals takes place in different circumstances and settings such as painless death at home or painful death in a healthcare facility. Social workers have an important role in planning end-of-life care as part of providing essential social support to elderly individuals. The role of social workers in this process is attributable to the significance of their professional practice in a multidisciplinary palliative care team in hospice and hospital settings (Watts, 2013). Since the death of elderly individuals occurs in a variety of conditions and settings, social workers need to plan for end-of-life care. The planning and delivery of end-of-life care helps in helping the elderly cope with serious illness, face mortality or manage the process of dying in an effective manner.One of the major functions of social workers in their role in planning for end-of-life care is providing psychosocial and practical support to individuals who are approaching the end of their lives. In this case, social workers work together with nurses and other relevant healthcare professionals to provide clinical and complementary therapies that help in managing the process of dying and/or cope with serious illness. The therapies provided by social workers alongside healthcare professionals helps elderly individuals to manage...
In this process, these professionals act as a link between the elderly individual and his/her family as well as a link between the individual and healthcare providers (Watts, 2013). However, social workers are faced with ethical considerations in palliative care when creating family and social support networks for elderly individuals facing the end of their lives. Ethical dilemmas in this situation emerge from cultural and community differences because talking about death is a taboo in many cultures. Additionally, the complex ethical dilemmas that are important considerations in palliative and hospice care are attributed to the fact that the creation of social support networks has personal and community elements. As a result, social workers should undertake several measures to address these ethical dilemmas and help create meaningful social support networks for elderly individuals facing the end of their lives. Some of these vital measures in palliative and hospice care include negotiating the complex social terrain of family conflicts, dealing with social isolation, and addressing social inequality (Watts, 2013).
End-of-life care provided by nurses in palliative settings necessitates conscious awareness of several factors that contribute to the effectiveness of care. Factors that are significantly important components of nursing in end-of-life care include communication skills, advance care planning, sensitivity to contextual and cultural factors, support from the healthcare team, and continuing education. Communication skills The importance of communication skills in end-of-life care was acknowledged by Clayton et al. (2007), who developed a
Life Care End-of-life care may be one of the most difficult aspects of healthcare services. After all, the goal of most healthcare providers is to heal, and providing end-of-life requires a shift in perspective. One of the challenges in planning end-of-life care is that many healthcare providers are simply not comfortable discussing end-of-life (Detering et al. 2014). Fortunately, when providers take targeted classes with the goal of improving their ability
ethical hospice care is that it must be founded upon honesty. "Frank discussions about death and dying, clarifying knowledge of the underlying illness and knowledge of the dying process" is essential (Guido 2010: 35). However, this must be balanced with the patient's desire for confidentiality and his right to die in a way which honors his wishes. In this instance, a private and confidential discussion with Mr. West is
Cultural Issues in End of Life Care In this age of increased social diversity the cultural aspects of end-of-life care have become increasingly important in the nursing profession. This importance is however complicated by technology and the cultural problematics of extended life care through artificial means. In the book Cultural Issues in End-of-Life Decision Making (Braun, K, Pietsch, J.H. Blanchette, P. 1999) the crucial point is made that "providing cultural and
APNs have reported feeling greatly distressed when it comes to having to make end-of-life decisions because of a lack of support in this area. In conclusion, more effort needs to be put into making the lines less blurry for APNs so that they can make end-of-life decisions with more confidence and support. References: Ahrens, T., & Kolleff, M. (2003). Improving family communications at the end of life: implications for length of stay
End-of-Life Case StudyAbstractThe ethical issues that arise in decision-making process to end-of-life care will be addressed. Patient�s autonomy and preferences about treatment and end-of-life care should be respected by all parties which are inclusive of, but are not limited to; health professionals and family members. A patient may be incapacitated and may, thus, be unable to make decisions. In such a case, the values and preferences of the patient should
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