Social workers' participation in the resolution of ethical dilemmas in hospice care

Ethical dilemmas are inherent in every health care setting. A sample of hospice social workers with no direct access to a hospice ethics committee (N = 110) was surveyed regarding ethical issues in hospice care, how the issues were managed, and the extent to which social workers participated in resolution of ethical dilemmas. Common issues discussed were the patients' medical condition, involvement of family, and family denial of terminal illness. Difficult cases were discussed most often in interdisciplinary team meetings. Social workers were most involved in traditional social work activities, such as providing knowledge of community resources and patients' psychosocial histories and promoting self-determination in policies.