The Impact of Personal and Professional Loss on Advance Care Planning and Effective Care Delivery for Healthcare Social Workers

Abstract

Personal experiences can influence the practice of social work. However, the connection between past experiences with death and social workers’ practice has been underexplored. As such, this study surveyed social workers ( N = 74) about their personal and professional experiences of loss, personal advance care planning, and professional practices. Results demonstrated that social workers that experienced prior loss were more likely to complete an advance directive and communicate their end-of-life wishes. Additionally, those who had experienced personal and professional loss showed greater effectiveness on measures of patient- and family-centered communication and care delivery. Findings suggest positive outcomes for encouraging social workers to connect their personal and professional experiences surrounding death and dying to effectively serve in their professional capacity.

How can social workers be meaningfully involved in palliative care? A scoping review on the prerequisites and how they can be realised in practice

“… 43 , 52 , 111 – 113 Previous research has evidenced a low job satisfaction among social workers in palliative care settings due to the high stress–high loss environment, resulting in a considerable prevalence of burnout. As personal experiences with death, dying and bereavement influence professional care delivery, 46 , 114 social workers who have more of those experiences may be better equipped for palliative care practice. Furthermore, low job satisfaction has also been linked to a low understanding of the social work contribution among other professionals, 90 a general feeling of being disvalued in multidisciplinary practice 72 , 76 and the inability to put holistic social work values into practice due to various policy or organisational constraints.…”