A client with terminal cancer requests hospice care at home. Which professional should initiate a referral?

A client with terminal cancer requests hospice care at home. Which professional should initiate a referral?

• A. Social worker
• B. Nurse
• C. Pharmacist
• D. Dietitian

Answer: (A)

Initiating hospice care involves coordinating medical comfort with the psychosocial and practical support the patient and family will need at home. The social worker is best suited to start this process because they assess and address the patient’s and family’s psychosocial needs, help with goals of care and advance directives, and connect the family to hospice programs and essential community resources, including financing and arranging home-based services. While a nurse plays a key role in symptom management and care planning, and pharmacists or dietitians provide clinical support, they’re less involved in initiating access to hospice. The social worker’s focus on linkage, advocacy, and barrier removal makes them the most appropriate professional to initiate the referral.

Initiating hospice care involves coordinating medical comfort with the psychosocial and practical support the patient and family will need at home. The social worker is best suited to start this process because they assess and address the patient’s and family’s psychosocial needs, help with goals of care and advance directives, and connect the family to hospice programs and essential community resources, including financing and arranging home-based services. While a nurse plays a key role in symptom management and care planning, and pharmacists or dietitians provide clinical support, they’re less involved in initiating access to hospice. The social worker’s focus on linkage, advocacy, and barrier removal makes them the most appropriate professional to initiate the referral.