Transdisciplinary Palliative Care: Tuning In with Our Hearts, Minds, and Spirits
摘要
In their chapter, licensed clinical Social Workers Esther Ammon and Jennifer Christophel Lichti share the power of transdisciplinary care. While their desire in palliative care is to engage with patients and families as early as possible in their illness experience, they also meet families at times of crisis when patients may be nearing the end of life and no longer able to participate in care planning. This work requires a fluidity in practice, and an ability for palliative care teams to utilize a transdisciplinary approach attending to complex and overlapping stressors by incorporating aspects of spiritual care, family systems theories, cultural humility, and parallel planning with external support systems like religious communities. Their chapter offers case studies of care provided in both hospital and community settings with patients who are at different stages of their illness trajectories. The vignettes illustrate ways in which palliative care teams join with patients and families in a collective process to approach end of life decisions with cultural humility and reverence.