Holding On and Letting Go

Abstract

Abstract Palliative social workers will be attending to grief and bereavement in their respective settings. Palliative social workers combine humility and skill to provide impeccable assessment, which includes a working knowledge of widely held assumptions about grief that are not supported by empirical research. Awareness of other variables that influence grief include the quality of care proved over the continuum of illness, racism, culture, spirituality, disenfranchised and/or ancestral grief, gender/sexual identity, and COVID-19 pandemic issues helps inform assessment that seeks to understand each person’s unique experience. Appropriate and effective intervention also requires knowledge of current bereavement research and theory. The field of grief and bereavement is continuously evolving, and palliative social workers need to stay current and adjust their practice accordingly. Self-awareness and self-care are additional responsibilities that enable social workers to sustain effective practice over time.