Hospice Photography's Effects on Patients, Families, and Social Work Practice

This qualitative study examined the influence of hospice photography on patients' end-of-life experiences, families' experiences with hospice and grief, and hospice social work practice. Hospice photography was defined in this study as photographs of hospice patients taken by social worker...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of social work in end-of-life & palliative care Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 19 - 41
Main Authors Shuber, Charlotte, Kok, Adrian
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Routledge 02.01.2020
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Effects
End of life decisions
Families & family life
Family - psychology
Family caregivers
Female
Grief
Hospice care
Hospice Care - psychology
hospice patients
hospice social work
Human dignity
Humans
Job satisfaction
Life experiences
Male
Patients
Photography
Professional practice
Qualitative research
Self esteem
Social work
Social Work - methods
Social workers
Social Workers - psychology
Technology
Terminally Ill - psychology
Termination
hospice social work
Family caregivers
photography
hospice patients
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:This qualitative study examined the influence of hospice photography on patients' end-of-life experiences, families' experiences with hospice and grief, and hospice social work practice. Hospice photography was defined in this study as photographs of hospice patients taken by social workers in the service of legacy construction. Six social workers were interviewed about the photographs they had previously taken of patients. The themes revealed were categorized as hospice photography's perceived and potential effects on patients, families, and practice and the role of smartphone technology. The data suggested that hospice photography may positively affect patients, families, and practice due to its reported ability to build and enhance rapport, facilitate therapeutic discussion, affirm patients' dignity, worth, and self-esteem, provide opportunities for bearing witness, and increase social workers' job satisfaction. Potential effects of the use of hospice photography in social work practice included the ability to tangibly contextualize the end-of-life experience; improve termination and closure; and provide comfort during the grieving process.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1552-4256
1552-4264
DOI:10.1080/15524256.2019.1703876