Social Work in Pediatric Palliative Care

Abstract

Abstract Social workers have long been integral to efforts to improve care for children and their families along the continuum of illness and strive to address the unique needs of children with serious illness. Pediatric palliative social workers are often in a position to assist families in identifying and addressing their greatest concerns at a time of overwhelming stress, identifying the psychosocial, social justice, and family systems variables that influence and inform their responses and needs. The social work skill sets that include person-in-context assessment, therapeutic counseling, interpersonal skills, group facilitation, and systems knowledge are of great value in pediatric palliative care teams.