Social work practice in palliative and end-of-life care: a report from the summit

In 2005 a Social Work Summit on End-of-Life and Palliative Care was hosted by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) with support from the Project on Death in America (PDIA) and National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). Building on the work of a first summit held in 2002, work groups focused on practice, research, policy, and education with "State of the Field" presentations used as a point of convergence for setting priorities and developing action plans. This article describes a process of document selection and review which was designed to isolate aspects of social work practice and to determine concordance with domains and guidelines detailed in the interdisciplinary consensus document, Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care, a publication of the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care (http://www.nationalconsensusproject.org). In addition, a group of documents written by colleagues in medicine and nursing were chosen for evaluation as they reflect the emerging and valued incorporation of palliative care principles into specialties such as pediatrics and intensive care. This second review was focused on determining the nature and scope of social work presence and participation and on understanding if the role of the profession was clearly articulated in these specialty areas. This article discusses the historical context and relevant findings that may contribute to the growth of the profession in this rich and burgeoning specialty.