The death of a loved one is a significant event experienced by everyone at some point in their lives. Thus, it is important for social workers to understand how grief affects surviving friends and family. Models of grieving establish the general stages or process through which an individual progresses; however, these stages do not necessarily occur in lockstep order. People who experience grief may do so in a different sequence or revisit earlier stages. Additionally, individuals’
social environments, including diversity and cultural factors, influence how they approach their own death or grieve the loss of others. Understanding the various ways people cope helps social workers anticipate their responses and assist
them.
Grief work is challenging. Addressing the needs of grieving family members can diminish social workers’
emotional, mental, and physical resources. In addition to developing strategies to assist grieving individuals in crisis,
then, you must develop strategies that support your own self-care.
In this Assignment, you apply a grieving model to work with families in a hospice environment, address how diversity affects grieving, and suggest strategies you can use for self-care.
Submit a 2- to 4-page paper in which you do the following:
• Explain how you would apply the grieving model you selected to social work with families in a hospice environment.
Explain why you chose this grieving model versus others.
• Identify elements of the grieving model that might be difficult to apply to your social work practice. Explain why you anticipate these challenges.
• Analyze how diversity might impact the grieving process. How would this inform your application of the grieving
model?
• Identify strategies you would use for your own self-care as a social worker providing grief counseling. Explain why
these strategies might be effective.
Required Readings
• Zastrow, C. H., Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hessenauer, S. L. (2019). Understanding human behavior and the social
environment (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.
o Chapter 15, “Psychological Aspects of Later Adulthood” (pp. 672–702)
• Newell, J. M. (2019). An ecological systems framework for professional resilience in social work practice. Links to an
external site. Social Work, 65(1), 65–73. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swz044
• Teater, B., & Chonody, J. M. (2020). How do older adults define successful aging? A scoping review. Links to an
external site. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 91(4), 599–625. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091415019871207
• Yousuf-Abramson, S. (2020). Worden’s tasks of mourning through a social work lens. Links to an external site. Journal of Social Work Practice, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2020.1843146
Required Media
• Walden University, LLC. (2021). Social work case studies Links to an external site. [Interactive media]. Walden
University Canvas. https://waldenu.instructure.com/
o Navigate to Sara and to Francine.
• Walden University, LLC. (2021). Models of grieving Links to an external site. [Interactive media]. Walden University
Canvas. https://waldenu.instructure.com/
Last Completed Projects
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