Susan Blacker

Social Work Competencies in Palliative and End-of-Life Care

Abstract Social workers from clinical, academic, and research settings met in 2002 for a national Social Work Leadership Summit on Palliative and End-of-Life Care. Participants placed the highest priority on the development and broad dissemination of a summary document of the state-of-the-art practice of social work in palliative and end-of-life care. Nine Summit participants reviewed the literature and constructed this detailed description of the knowledge, skills, and values that are requisite for the unique, essential, and appropriate role of social work. This comprehensive statement delineates individual, family, group, team, community, and organizational interventions that extend across settings, cultures, and populations and encompasses advocacy, education, training, clinical practice, community organization, administration, supervision, policy, and research. This document is intended to guide preparation and credentialing of professional social workers, to assist interdisciplinary colleagues in their collaboration with social workers, and to provide the background for the testing of quality indicators and “best practice” social work interventions.

Conscious Conversations: Managing Conflict and Collaboration in Interprofessional Palliative Care Teams (503)

2. List the steps necessary to prepare for a media interview. 3. Develop her key message and practice delivering this message in a mock interview. How do you develop and deliver clear, simple messages regarding palliative care? How and when do you respond to a media request? What do you talk about, and what don’t you talk about? What causes confusion, and what can get you in trouble? This interactive experience will help you to improve your instincts and successfully tackle these issues. Perceptions of palliative care and the institutions and issues it represents can be clarified or confused through the media. Irrespective of whether an interview is face to face, via telephone, or via email, every interview is an opportunity to tell your story and convey your message. How effectively you do this will determine whether people gain an understanding of palliative care or instead become confused and take away misunderstandings such as associating palliative care with death panels, euthanasia and rationing. This interactive session will be co-presented by an expert inmedia relations whoworks withCAPC to respond to media requests regarding palliative care and a physician with expertise in teaching communication and facilitating skills practice. During the session, they will utilize brief didactics to describe the key elements of preparation for and execution of an interview; video review of effective interviews of palliative care clinicians in the nationalmedia; facilitated large group discussion of potential pitfalls and how to avoid them; and skills practice involving a mock interview. Media is the most powerful tool of communication andhas played an important role in the social issues of almost every era. As an emerging field with wide-reaching applicability, we must take advantage of media opportunities as they present themselves. By the end of the session, participants will be prepared to respond to interview requests from local and national media and deliver their message with clarity and confidence.