HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE AS A COMPONENT OF THE STATE’S SOCIAL POLICY AND A DIRECTION OF COMMUNITY SOCIAL WORK

Currently, in Ukraine, which is in the situation of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the target group of palliative care patients requires special attention and qualified assistance, which will be facilitated by: 1) development and implementation of the state’s social policy strategies for the terminally ill; 2) provision of palliative and hospice care not only by medical professionals, but also directly by social work professionals who are knowledgeable in this area. The society should realize that the development of hospices and palliative care units capable of providing quality services to people with a limited life prognosis serves as an indicator of the care of the general public (state, society, community) for a person. In view of the above, the purpose of this article is to consider the development of hospice and palliative care in Ukraine and the role of a social work specialist in a multidisciplinary team, whose professional activity is an indicator of society’s concern for an incurably ill person, that is, for a Human Being in general. The study found that the concept of hospices/palliative care units is focused on the implementation of such important tasks that social work professionals - implementers of social policy - are called upon to solve, such as: 1) organization of a relaxed (familiar, home-like, i.e., taking into account the difficult situation and special needs of the patient, comfortable or as close to comfort as possible) environment for palliative patients on the one hand, and for their immediate environment on the other; 2) genuine (true, natural) care that inspires to live despite suffering, pain and fear of impending death; 3) creation of a warm spiritual and emotional atmosphere (this includes children, parents, friends and other relatives, as well as pets); 4) satisfaction of the patient’s needs and last wishes (if possible); 5) preparation of the terminally ill patient and his/her immediate environment for the realization and acceptance of death as the final stage of life. In the future, the study of the essence of the hospice/palliative care concept will help to highlight problematic issues related to the development and effective provision of hospice and palliative care in Ukraine, in particular, to clarify the competencies that a social work specialist should have in this area.