Adult Hospice Social Work Intervention Outcomes in the United States

A descriptive and critical analysis of the available empirical literature on social work psychosocial intervention outcomes for adult hospice patients and caregivers was conducted. The electronic bibliographic databases CINHAL (EBSCO), MEDLINE, ProQuest, EMBASE, Campbell Collaboration, and The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library) were searched. Search criteria were (a) social work interventions, (b) intervention was tested, (c) adult hospice patients and/or caregivers, (d) studies within the United States, (e) and studies between 2004 and 2014. Of the 21 studies that met the initial search criteria, 5 publications met all review criteria. Based on assessment of study results, intervention effect, and quality of evidence, the ADAPT Problem-Solving Intervention (PSI) and the Hospice Caregiver Support Project have some indications of practical effect on caregiver quality of life, anxiety, stress, and problem-solving skills. The Caregiver Life Line (CaLL) intervention had little to no effect on caregiver role stress or coping skills. The few available studies provide foundational insight into the need for the expansion of research efforts to evaluate hospice social work interventions and document the contributions of social work to the field.