Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38372027›Full record

ArticlePalliative medicine2024

'So being here is. . . I feel like I'm being a social worker again, at the hospice': Using interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore social workers' experiences of hospice work.

Hayley Scanlon, Gary Latchford, Matthew Allsop

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Palliative medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Hayley ScanlonLeeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, St James' University Hospital, Leeds, UK.ORCID 0009-0009-5315-1295
Gary LatchfordUniversity of Leeds, Leeds, England, UK.
Matthew AllsopUniversity of Leeds, Leeds, England, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7399-0194
University of Leeds · GBLeeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSocial workers have a significant role in hospices working with clients who are facing death but there is limited detailed understanding of the emotional impact of this work on social workers. Research has highlighted that those involved in hospice work find the work both a struggle (e.g. because of heightened emotions) and rewarding (noting that end-of-life care can feel like a privilege).

aimTo explore UK hospice social workers' emotional experiences of work and how this influences their practice.

designSemi-structured interviews were conducted with hospice social workers. Interviews were transcribed and transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. SETTING/

participantsEight social workers from different hospices in the UK.

resultsFive overlapping superordinate themes emerged: making a difference to clients and families ('the difference made'), the emotional impact of working in hospices ('dealing with people's emotions, and death, and dying, it's serious stuff'), the relational context of this type of work ('awareness of affinity to connect'), the ways in which coping is facilitated in hospices ('seen it coming') and a foundation theme, connection and disconnection to values ('(dis)connection to values').

conclusionsThe results offer an exploration of social workers' experiences of their work in hospices; how adept they were at coping and how they prepared for and made sense of the often emotionally-laden experiences encountered. Their experience of the rewards and meaning derived from their work offers important findings for clinical practice. Further research is suggested to explore a multitude of healthcare professionals' perspectives across country settings using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

Indexed as

Hospice CareHospicesTerminal CareEmotionsHumansSocial Workers‘burnoutcompassion fatiguehospice carehospicesoccupational stressPalliative carepsychological’qualitative researchsocial workers

Identifiers

PMID38372027
PMCPMC10955780
OpenAlexW4391947194

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.