Social Workers Support World Hospice and Palliative Care Day

Unified day celebrated October 7

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) honors World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, which is recognized around the world by social workers and others on October 7.  The theme for World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2006 is Access to care for all – highlighting the fact that everyone has the right to high quality end of life care but that more needs to be done to enable everyone to access that care.

Social workers have been involved in hospice and palliative care services since the inception of the hospice movement.  The values of hospice, palliative care, and social work correlate with an emphasis on the whole person, the family unit, access to appropriate care, the quality of a person’s life, and the ability to live and die free of pain.

NASW provides its members with products and services that enhance their understanding of and service to those in need of end of life and palliative care.  NASW has comprehensive Standards for Social Work Practice in Palliative and End of Life Care and a Policy Statement on End of Life Care as reference documents for social workers.   Additionally, NASW has developed a series of online continuing education courses, called WebEd, for social workers, including Understanding End of Life Care: The Social Worker’s Role.  Other WebEd courses with end of life content include Understanding Cancer: The Social Worker’s Role and Understanding Aging: The Social Workers Role.

NASW has partnered with the Hospice Foundation of America in promoting their annual teleconferences on end of life care.  NASW is also a partner with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in their Caring Connections campaign, which promotes advocacy to quality care by educating consumers on end of life care and needs.

For more information about social workers’ involvement in end of life and palliative care, please visit: http://www.helpstartshere.org/health_and_wellness/death_and_dying/default.html.  For more information about World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, please visit: www.worldday.org.

About the National Association of Social Workers
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), in Washington, DC, is the largest membership organization of professional social workers with 140,000 members. It promotes, develops, and protects the practice of social work and social workers. NASW also seeks to enhance the well being of individuals, families, and communities through its advocacy.