Responding to Grief: Conclusions for Social Care

Abstract

Although those working in social care in the UK are familiar with constant reorganisation and change, the changes on the horizon at the start of the new millennium are likely to be more far reaching than ever before. Demographic and political changes have led to increasing need and rising expectations, unmatched by increases in resources. Social care workers make up approximately 5 per cent of the UK workforce, spanning all age groups and with a wide range of experience and training. These include a small number of highly specialised social workers in palliative care; and a larger number of professionally qualified social workers working in mainstream rather than specialist settings. Amongst social work students, there is interest in working with dying and bereaved people, but often little knowledge of the ways in which this is possible, outside specialist agencies.