Social work roles and ethics in U.S. medical aid in dying 
Health & Social Work; Cynthia Helen Nover; 9/26
This article fills a gap in the literature by discussing U.S. social work roles and MAiD [medical aid in dying] through an ethical decision-making framework and suggests social work roles, ethics, and risks of MAiD. Mandatory reporting expectations for U.S. social workers may cause confusion with MAiD, so it is important to distinguish between harm to self and MAiD (which is legal in 12 states and the District of Columbia) for hastening death. Relevant ethical expectations include self-determination, social justice, dignity and worth of a person, informed consent, and competence. Terms related to MAiD, including voluntary stopping of eating and drinking, and the current U.S. legal context for social work practice in this area are also described herein.

Palliative social workers' contributions to cultivating prognostic awareness: A qualitative study using the Prognostic Awareness Impact Scale framework
Journal of Palliative Medicine; by Arden E O'Donnell, Juliet Jacobsen, Rennie Bimman, Sarah Stone, Taylor B Wensley, Judith G Gonyea; 9/26
Prognostic awareness is central to informed, value-concordant care for patients with serious illness. Although often conceptualized as cognitive understanding of a time-based prognosis, emerging research highlights prognostic awareness as a multidimensional process involving cognitive understanding, emotional coping, and adaptive response. Objective: To describe the strategies hospital-based specialty-level palliative social workers use to cultivate prognostic awareness, using the Prognostic Awareness Impact Scale (PAIS) framework of cognitive understanding, emotional coping, and adaptive response. Conclusions: APHSW-C SWs play an important role in supporting patients' and families' understanding of the likely disease trajectory and prognosis, viewing their work as an ongoing, relational, and emotionally mediated process. Findings suggest that the PAIS may offer a useful framework for identifying profession-specific contributions to this process.

Best case/worst case: A multisite randomized trial of scenario planning for patients with late-stage kidney disease
Journal of American Geriatrics Society; by Lily N. Stalter, Bret M. Hanlon, Kyle J. Bushaw, Jenna Nitkowski, Anne Buffington, Katharine L. Cheung, Amy B. Zelenski, Kristine Kwekkeboom, Amar D. Bansal, Deidra Candice Crews, Holly M. Koncicki, Daniel Lam, Alvin H. Moss, Maya K. Rao, Dawn Felicity Wolfgram, Jeniann Yi, Carrie Brill, Tamara Isakova, Margaret L. Schwarze; 9/26
Best Case/Worst Case (BC/WC) is a communication tool to support nephrologists and older adults with advanced chronic kidney disease with decisions about dialysis. We compared the effectiveness of training nephrologists to use BC/WC versus usual care on receipt of palliative care, quality of life (QOL), quality of communication, dialysis initiation, and death. While we hypothesized that improving prognostic awareness and communication would increase palliative care utilization, the challenges of connecting patients with life-limiting kidney disease to palliative care are multifaceted, well documented, and likely not surmountable with a communication intervention alone. Conclusion: Training nephrologists to use the BC/WC communication tool does not significantly affect receipt of palliative care or other measurable clinical outcomes.

Post-diagnosis cannabis use and its association with health status and quality of life in cancer survivors
Supportive Care in Cancer; by Nasim Kasiri, Corinne McDaniels-Davidson, Neal Doran, Sandip P. Patel, David R. Strong, Humberto Parada Jr; 9/26
We included 652 respondents in this study, which were weighted to represent the cancer center patient population [58.6% non-Hispanic White; 58.5% female; 51.8% ≥ 65 years]. Most reported above average status for mental health (67.2%) and QoL [quality of life] (64.2%), and almost half (47.1%) reported above average physical health. Odds of post-diagnosis cannabis use were significantly higher among survivors with average or below average mental health ... Conclusion: Cancer survivors reporting average or below average health status or QoL had higher odds of cannabis use.

Traumatic bereavement among incarcerated women: Understanding and responding to complex grief after the death of a child
MDPI; by Catherine Gallagher, Nena P. Messina; 9/26 
Incarcerated women face elevated suicide risk at the intersection of chronic loss, cumulative trauma, and constrained environments. In prison, the death of a child constitutes a profound and overlooked traumatic bereavement. This conceptual manuscript examines how carceral environments restrict privacy, autonomy, family contact, mourning rituals, and social and clinical support, thereby adversely reshaping grief. Restricted information, exclusion from rituals and relational validation, and punishment for grief-related behavior may obstruct narrative reconstruction, continuing bonds, and maternal identity reorganization. The model further considers how acute grief interacts with chronic stress, sustained threat responsivity, sleep disruption, and cumulative allostatic burden to intensify psychological and somatic distress without assuming a uniform neurobiological pathway.

[Turkey] “Life still has meaning for me!” Exploring sources of meaningful life among palliative care patients: A qualitative study
Supportive Care in Cancer; by Hazal Sonbahar Ulu, Güleser Güney Yılmaz, Ayşenur Baysal Yiğit, Elif Merve Cesur, Şeyma Sarışen, Rıfat Bozkuş, Sedef Şahin; 9/26 
Palliative care has increasingly shifted from a biomedical model toward holistic approaches that address physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs. Meaning in life is a key determinant of quality of life in advanced illness, yet patient perspectives on how meaning is constructed within inpatient settings remain underexplored. This study aimed to explore how individuals receiving inpatient palliative care at a tertiary hospital in Turkey construct and sustain meaning in their daily lives. Meaning in palliative care appears to be sustained through social connectedness, spirituality, hope, participation in meaningful occupations, supportive environments, and continuity of identity. Integrating occupation-focused interventions, spiritual care, and environmental modifications within palliative care services may help preserve continuity, dignity, and emotional well-being.

You know you’ve reached middle age when you’re cautioned to slow down by your doctor, instead of by the police.  ~Joan Rivers