Op basis van vijf goede praktijkvoorbeelden zijn aanbevelingen geformuleerd om de psychosociale zorg in de palliatieve fase te verbeteren. Maatschappelijk werkers kunnen psychosociale zorg combineren met praktische hulp. Zij hebben bijvoorbeeld ervaring en deskundigheid in het werken met een systeem van familie en/of naasten rondom een patiënt. Maatschappelijk werkers kunnen daarom van toegevoegde waarde zijn in de palliatieve fase.

De poster is op 9 mei 2009 gepresenteerd tijdens het congres 'Committed to People' van de EAPC (European Association of Palliative Care).

• Poster 'Learning from early adopters' (PDF, 9 mei 2009)
• Handout 'Learning from early adopters' (PDF, 9 mei 2009)

Abstract - Learning from early adopters
Kraan M1, van der Poll A1, Scholte M2
1Agora, Bunnik, Netherlands, 2Movisie, Utrecht, Netherlands

Psychosocial problems and needs in palliative care deserve specific attention. Doctors and nurses are capable to notice the first signals of psychosocial problems, but they are not always able to recognise and treat specific psychosocial problems. Therefore, social workers could play an important role in psychosocial care for palliative patients. They are educated to understand how social factors, processes and changes can influence lives.
This fall a study, which focuses on social workers in palliative care, will be accomplished. The research
question is: what are good examples of early and structural involvement of social workers in psychosocial care within the palliative care in the Netherlands and which recommendations for improvement can be extracted from these examples for all professionals involved?
This research will focus on how psychosocial care is organised around the patient. The researchers will
search and describe five good practices in different settings: a general and academic hospital, a hospice, an elderly home and a home care situation. In each setting semi-structured interviews will be held with different professionals providing psychosocial care. Based on the interviews a case description will be written.
From these case descriptions several recommendations will be extracted for all professionals involved in psychosocial help and care. The definitive product will be a practical instruction that can be used to improve psychosocial care in the palliative phase.