ABSTRACT
Palliative care is rooted in the conceptualization and application of whole-person care. The field of social work is rooted in a commitment to social justice emanating from an analysis of how power, privilege, and oppression impact everyone. This chapter explores theoretical frameworks to both complicate and clarify lived experience of patients, families, and self through systems of power as well as tools for reflection to catalyze self-awareness. The intent is to understand the impact of the pervasive sociopolitical systems of oppression, namely imperialism, patriarchy, and white supremacy. The chapter also explores the theories of the ecological systems model, intersectionality, and antiracism, as well as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the many public murders of Black people in the United States by police. It then explores the theories of ecological systems theory, intersectionality, and anti-racism to set a backdrop for the text at large while suggesting the possibility that palliative social work is always a social justice practice. Importantly, intersectionality can be used to better understand experiences of power and oppression, and the ways one person can experience both. Social workers working in healthcare can ask themselves how they are aligned with and perpetuating unequal systems of care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, its psychological, emotional, and existential toll continues to grow and indeed may now rival the physical suffering caused by the illness. Patients, caregivers, and health-care workers are particularly at risk for trauma responses and would be well served by trauma-informed care practices to minimize both immediate and long-term psychological distress. Given the significant overlap between the core tenets of trauma-informed care and accepted guidelines for the provision of quality palliative care (PC), PC teams are particularly well poised to both incorporate such practices into routine care and to argue for their integration across health systems. We outline this intersection to highlight the uniquely powerful role PC teams can play to reduce the long-term psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.