Development of e-learning Education Programs for Social Workers in Hospice and Palliative Care / 한국호스피스완화의료학회지

ABSTRACT

Education is essential for specialists in charge terminal care of cancer patients. In the second 10-year plan to conquer cancer under the Cancer Control Act, the Korean government announced a plan to train more hospice and palliative care (HPC) specialists based on quantitative HPC expansion. Specifically, the government aims to develop e-learning programs to foster social workers in HPC, following those offered to doctors and nurses. In HPC, social workers have served a vital role in helping patients overcome psychological and social issues. As professionals, they have carried out their responsibilities and played their part in the field to help HPC to take root and be institutionalized in Korea. To date, it has been difficult to obtain practical knowledge and skills for social workers due to the lack of systematic training program. Development of an e-learning program for social workers, as proposed in this study, should strengthen social workers in charge of terminally-ill cancer patients in terms of their identity, expertise, and practical skills in clinical setting and improve their access to education. We also hope the program to be further developed by the government by introducing an education system that offers refresher courses to guarantee social workers' continued expertise through.