Partners in Palliative Care

Mary Beth Morrissey is a social science researcher with the Fordham Graduate School of Social Service, USA. She earned her Ph.D. in May 2011 at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service in gerontological social work and was a recipient of the Fordham University May 2011 Langenfeld Research Award for doctoral research. She is also a practising health care attorney with over 20 years of experience serving health care providers in various health care settings. Her research has focused on health and mental health policy, public health law, pain and suffering among seriously ill older adults, and relational paradigms of communication in palliative systems of care. She provides education to interdisciplinary professionals on translating legal and ethical norms into clinical practice. Bruce Jennings is a director of bioethics at the Center for Humans and Nature, a Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health and a Senior Consultant at The Hastings Center, both in the USA. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the forthcoming 4th edition of the Encyclopedia of Bioethics. He writes on ethics, political theory, and public policy issues – mainly in the areas of health and the environment.

1. Introduction Mary Beth Morrissey and Bruce Jennings 2. Building on Community Assets to Improve Palliative and End-of-Life Care Judith Dobrof, Janna C. Heyman, and Reva M. Greenberg 3. Phenomenology of Pain and Suffering at the End of Life: A Humanistic Perspective in Gerontological Health and Social Work Mary Beth Morrissey 4. Narrative Palliative Care: A Method for Building Empathy Patricia Stanley and Marsha Hurst 5. Key Role of Social Work in Effective Communication and Conflict Resolution Process: Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) Program in New York and Shared Medical Decision Making at the End of Life Patricia A. Bomba, Mary Beth Morrissey, and David C. Leven 6. The Influence of Culture on End-of-Life Decision Making Karen Bullock 7. Religion and Spirituality: Assessment and Intervention Kenneth J. Doka 8. Health Care Costs in End-of-Life and Palliative Care: The Quest for Ethical Reform Bruce Jennings and Mary Beth Morrissey