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Advance care planning throughout the end-of-life: focusing the lens for social work practice
- Author:
- BLACK Kathy
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life and Palliative Care, 3(2), November 2007, pp.39-58.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia
Three trajectories of decline represent the end-of-life course for some 95% of Americans: a short period of rapid decline (generally as the result of cancer) affecting some 20%; slow decline, with intermittent serious episodes (generally chronic heart failure or emphysema) affecting some 25%; and long term dwindling (generally physical frailty or serious cognitive failure) followed by death from a minor physiological problem, affecting some 40%. Advance care planning is thus increasingly important, and this paper discusses the needs related to each of the three trajectories, emphasising the particular skills of social workers in facilitating such planning throughout the end-of-life course with both individuals and their families. However, further research is needed to explore the specific needs of each trajectory, and how advance care planning is best conducted logistically and clinically. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580).