End-of-life decision making: Practices, beliefs and knowledge of social workers in health care settings

The aim of the present study was to examine the involvement, beliefs, and K nowledge of social workers in health care settings in the process of making decisions regarding life-sustaining treatments. A convenience sample of 68 social workers participated in the study (65 F and 3 M; mean age = 42.4; S D = 10.0. Fifty-two participants worked at hospitals and 16 at nursing home s. The area in which social workers reported being mo, E involved were activit ies related to family members. The extent of social workers' involvement wa s related to their beliefs regarding their role and their knowledge about l ife-sustaining treatments. Findings of this study emphasize the need for developing educational progra ms aimed at expanding social workers' Knowledge in order to increase their autonomy and professional involvement in end-of-life decision making.