Ciência-IUL
Publicações
Descrição Detalhada da Publicação
Satisfying needs and expectations of terminal cancer patients: organizational challenges to social workers
Título Revista
International Journal of Healthcare Management
Ano (publicação definitiva)
2017
Língua
Inglês
País
Reino Unido
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Abstract/Resumo
Despite medical and scientific advances, numerous clinical essays and research to fight cancer, continue to persist in the twenty-first century endless concerns associated with this pathology with strong impact on the individuals’ lives particularly at economic, social, emotional, relational, behavioural and spiritual levels. Metamorphosing this reality still seems to be a distant event moreover because this pathology is still considered one of the leading causes of death in different countries worldwide where Portugal is no exception. This study aims to study the motivations expressed by cancer terminally ill and their caregivers where the main differences are characterized. The results show that the clinical, social, spiritual, economic and emotional issues associated with the end of life context are numerous therefore patients and their caregivers may have a number of circumstances to face. The presentation of the patients and their caregivers’ needs, the expression of motivations, the requests for social work, the emotions experienced at the end of life are some of the core features of the study. We show disparities between patients and their caregivers, including different motivations, needs, requests and different manifestations related to the place of death that constitute a major challenge for social work in the context of care at end of life and palliative care. The paper identifies a number of organizational issues relevant for healthcare management contexts. Such issues recognise the importance to integrate social work innovate procedures and protocols on internal medical departments, planning hospital discharges making psychosocial and complicate grief risks screening in patient´s admission, promote social work palliative care education and training to hospital social workers, create and development more hospital palliative care teams in acute hospitals. Also the relation between cost-quality seems to place social workers in a very relevant healthcare management position.
Agradecimentos/Acknowledgements
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Palavras-chave
Social work,Terminal cancer disease,Patient and families’ expectations,Caregivers,End-of-life,Palliative care,Hospital management
Classificação Fields of Science and Technology
- Medicina Clínica - Ciências Médicas