ABSTRACT
Social workers encounter profound human suffering in many fields of service and are called upon to help and support people at critical points in their lives. There are times when the suffering can be alleviated and other times when solutions will be extremely difficult to find. End-of-life care and bereavement are areas of social work practice that call for a response to suffering that goes beyond the usual repertoire of psychosocial interventions. This chapter will explore some of the challenges that social workers face in end-of-life care and bereavement support and, in particular, how the expressive and creative arts can provide resources that enhance coping and resilience for patients, families and for the workers themselves. Case vignettes drawn from my work as an art therapist and social worker in palliative care will be used to illustrate these themes. Arts-based research is a relatively new field of qualitative research and its methods of inquiry are increasingly being used to further understanding of this very complex area of human service and engagement with people who are vulnerable as they prepare for death. The potential of using collage as a particular example of an arts-informed method for research and practice will be discussed in relation to dying and bereavement.
