Under-taught : the continuing education needs of non-palliative medical social workers in Singapore

Abstract

Singapore is facing an aging population, and majority of end-of-life patients are not seen in palliative care settings. Non-palliative medical social workers – medical social workers not in the palliative care team and not specifically trained in palliative care – are hence expected to provide palliative and end-of-life care in their practice. With the lack of specialized training, these medical social workers often feel ill-equipped to provide such care. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the continuing education needs of non-palliative medical social workers in Singapore and identify gaps in current training provisions, so as to enhance the local education and training framework. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews, the training needs of five non-palliative medical social workers were explored. Using a grounded theory approach to data analysis, eight themes in two categories were revealed. The first category of ‘Learning Methods’ comprises 1) Vocational Experience, 2) Other Professionals, and 3) Experiential Learning, while the second category of ‘Competencies’ consists of 4) Death and the Self, 5) Resources and Processes, 6) Care and Coping, 7) Patient-Family Profiles, and 8) Interdisciplinary Understanding. These findings highlight the need to update the local medical social worker competency framework and to develop new continuing education programs for non-palliative medical social workers. Keywords: non-palliative medical social workers, palliative and end-of-life care, continuing education, training