Decision making in end-of-life care for patients who lack decision making capacity: Attitudes of medical social worker toward end-of-life care in Japan.

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26870511
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Social welfare and social work studies; Medical sociology
• Research Institution: Yamaguchi Prefectural University
• Principal Investigator: Kamishiraki Etsuko 山口県立大学, 社会福祉学部, 准教授 (90551127)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): AOKI Kunio 山口県立大学, 名誉教授 (80142826) ; MAEDA Shoichi 慶應義塾大学, 健康マネジメント研究科, 教授 (20396708) ; OH SeWoong 宇都宮大学, 地域科学部, 専任講師 (00708000) ; YAMAMOTO Kayoko 西南学院大学, 人間科学部, 准教授 (00364125)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 医療ソーシャルワーカー / 緩和ケア / 終末期医療

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we analyzed the mentality of medical social workers (MSW) on their role in palliative and end-of-life care and investigated attitudes. A questionnaire survey was conducted targeting 825 MSW from cancer medical center hospitals. Analyzed results from 239 effective respondents is as follows. As a result of factor analysis on the mentality of the role of MSW, a ten factor structure including "Assessment on patients and families etc" was found. In the future, it is necessary to clarify the cause, and other related factors regarding the attitude.

Free Research Field

医療福祉