Dataset Information

The impact of COVID-19 on palliative care social work: An online survey by a European Association of Palliative Care Task Force.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The SARS-Cov-2 (COVID-19) pandemic affected the delivery of health and social care services globally. However, little is known about how palliative care social work services were impacted.

Aim

The aim of this study was to capture and analyse data from palliative care social workers who provided professional support in a range of settings across 21 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design

A cross-sectional survey-based design was used for this empirical study and this paper primarily focuses on the quantitative responses.

Setting/participants

Participants, palliative care social workers, were drawn internationally via members of the EAPC Social Work Task Force and the World Hospice Palliative Care Social Work network.

Results

We received 362 survey responses from 21 countries. Most (79%) respondents worked with adults in in-patient units or hospitals. The number of referrals during COVID-19 increased more in non-European countries, compared to European countries. The full range of social work services could no longer be delivered, existing services changed and 65.3% of participants reported higher levels of pressure during the pandemic, which was linked to higher levels of staff absence and additional duties. For many respondents (40.8%), this included facilitating online communication between patients and their families.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 resulted in adaptations to service delivery, increased pressure on staff and moral distress, like other health and social care professions. All members of the palliative team need support and supervision to ensure effective interdisciplinary working and team cohesion.

SUBMITTER: Roulston A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10186133 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The impact of COVID-19 on palliative care social work: An online survey by a European Association of Palliative Care Task Force.

Roulston Audrey A Ross Jana J Dobrikova Patricia P Piccione Tania T Reigada Carla C Mackova Marie M Wasner Maria M

Palliative medicine 20230410 6

<h4>Background</h4>The SARS-Cov-2 (COVID-19) pandemic affected the delivery of health and social care services globally. However, little is known about how palliative care social work services were impacted.<h4>Aim</h4>The aim of this study was to capture and analyse data from palliative care social workers who provided professional support in a range of settings across 21 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.<h4>Design</h4>A cross-sectional survey-based design was used for this empirical stud ...[more]

PMID: 37038744

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Project description:ImportancePalliative care improves quality of life for patients and families but may be underused.ObjectiveTo assess the association of an intervention to increase social work staffing in Veterans Health Administration primary care teams with use of palliative care among veterans with a recent hospitalization.Design, setting, and participantsThis cohort study used differences-in-differences analyses of the change in palliative care use associated with implementation of the Social Work Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) staffing program, conducted from October 1, 2016, to September 30, 2019. The study included 71 VA primary care sites serving rural veterans. Participants were adult veterans who received primary care services from a site enrolled in the program and who received inpatient hospital care. Data were analyzed from January 2020 to August 2022.ExposuresThe PACT staffing program was a clinic-level intervention that provided 3-year seed funding to Veterans Health Administration medical centers to hire 1 or more additional social workers in primary care teams. Staggered timing of the intervention enabled comparison of mean outcomes across sites before and after the intervention.Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcome was the number of individuals per 1000 veterans who had any palliative care use in 30 days after an inpatient hospital stay.ResultsThe analytic sample included 43 200 veterans (mean [SD] age, 65.34 [13.95] years; 37 259 [86.25%] men) and a total of 91 675 episodes of inpatient hospital care. Among the total cohort, 8611 veterans (9.39%) were Black, 77 069 veterans (84.07%) were White, and 2679 veterans (2.92%) were another race (including American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander). A mean of 14.5 individuals per 1000 veterans (1329 individuals in all) used palliative care after a hospital stay. After the intervention, there was an increase of 15.6 (95% CI, 9.2-22.3) individuals per 1000 veterans using palliative or hospice care after a hospital stay, controlling for national time trends and veteran characteristics-a 2-fold difference relative to the mean.Conclusions and relevanceThis cohort study found significant increases in use of palliative care for recently hospitalized veterans whose primary care team had additional social work staffing. These findings suggest that social workers may increase access to and/or use of palliative care. Future work should assess the mechanism for this association and whether the increase in palliative care is associated with other health or health care outcomes.

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Dataset Information

The impact of COVID-19 on palliative care social work: An online survey by a European Association of Palliative Care Task Force.

Background

Aim

Design

Setting/participants

Results

Conclusions

Publications

The impact of COVID-19 on palliative care social work: An online survey by a European Association of Palliative Care Task Force.

Similar Datasets

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