Social Work Should Be More Proactive in Addressing the Need to Plan for End of Life

Abstract

Few people engage in planning for life’s end and the prevalence of preparedness is particularly low in ethnic communities. As a profession, social work is well equipped to help increase planning for life’s end and the care people wish to receive. However, the profession cannot simply defer to those in hospice and palliative care settings to address this issue. There is a need for earlier and equitable access to death preparation, and social workers can be instrumental in helping to insure equal opportunities for proactive planning for death. The ways social work may become more proactive in assisting individuals and families to prepare for the end-of-life are discussed.