Home and hospital; hospice and palliative care: how the environment impacts the social work role

Abstract

Social workers play key roles on interdisciplinary hospice teams and in hospitals on oncology or palliative care teams. Though palliative care settings include both home hospice and hospital-based consultation services, the different environments and scope of practice impact the role of the social worker. The purpose of this article is to examine the similarities and differences in coordination of care, teamwork, and collaboration in these two fields in order to highlight opportunities for enhancing clinical skills and developing our confidence and presence in asserting social work expertise with our transdisciplinary colleagues.