Den sociala vårdaren? En studie om kuratorns stödjande och behandlande arbete inom Palliativ vård

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to explore the supportive and therapeutic practice with patients and their kin performed by the social worker within specialist palliative care. A qualitative research methodology was used where the social workers was asked to describe cases in which they were involved. We interviewed five social workers within specialist palliative care, all active in the southern regions of Sweden. The interviews were taped and transcribed and later analyzed for common themes. The themes were grouped into different categories which were analyzed with Katie Eriksson’s theory of caring. We found that the life story forms the basis of the supporting and therapeutic practice with the patients. By taking part of the patient's life story, it opens the door to reconciliation, both with friends and family and with herself and her choices in life. Some of the common elements in the interaction between the social workers and patients were: interplay between "small talk" and "heavier" topics of conversation, the reformulation of the patients’ life story, as well as normalization and neutralization of patients' and kins’ emotional reactions. The social workers’ also described how they actively work to engage the family in the care of the patients. We found that the content of the social workers psycho-social practice well appears to reflect the content of the concepts described in Katie Eriksson’s theory of caring. The results are discussed in relation to perceptions of professional social work which is then contrasted with Katie Eriksson's ideas about caring.