Making the Invisible Visible: Culture and Palliative Care Social Work in Asian/Asian American Communities

As the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic reverberate today, systemic barriers to quality healthcare continue to disproportionately affect BIPOC/AAPI patient populations. This class will highlight cultural considerations when working with terminally ill patients in minority communities, with a particular focus on working with Asians and Asian Americans. Delivering culturally-sensitive palliative care requires thoughtful reflection of practitioners’ lived experiences that directly shape the clinical space. As social workers have an important responsibility to examine their own social locations, interactive exercises will be incorporated in this discussion. Strategies to identify common themes such as filial piety, the role of the family, and spirituality as prominent cultural values that influence end-of-life care in Asian/Asian American populations.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Social workers who take this class will be able to:

1. Gain a better understanding of the historical and cultural context of diverse Asian and Asian American experiences, particularly as they navigate end-of-life issues
2. Explore and honor their own social locations as important factors that shape the worker-patient dyad
3. Identify at least three culturally sensitive strategies to conduct more culturally attuned palliative care assessments and interventions

Kristine Naputo, LMSW

Kristine Naputo is an oncology social worker at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Having prior experience in clinical research, she has a particular interest in understanding the disparities of quality cancer care in minority communities. She entered the social work field to work more closely with BIPOC/AAPI patients, providing person-centered palliative care that honors their cultural identities. She has presented on these topics at national and local forums.

Kristine received her MSW at New York University Silver School of Social Work, and her BS in Public Health at Rutgers University. She was a fellow in the Zelda Foster Palliative and End-of-Life Care Program. 

Class fees are listed below:

• Full Tuition - $75
• GSS Alumni - $62.50
• Current Field Instructor to a Fordham MSW student - $62.50
• Current Adjunct Online Faculty - $62.50
• SWHPN Member - $62.50
• 3+ from one agency registering at same time - $50
• Current Military and Veterans - $50
• Non-Fordham Current MSW or Social Work Doctoral Student - $37.50
• Current Fordham MSW or PhD Student - $25
• Fordham Alumni Palliative Care Fellow - $25
• Field Instructor or Career Mentor to a CURRENT Palliative Care Fellow - $0
• Fordham faculty and staff - $0
• Current Fordham Palliative Care Fellow or Montefiore Fellow - $0

Continuing Education Hours

Completion of this class will result in the receipt of two and one-half (2.5) continuing education hours. CEHs are not awarded for partial completion of the class.

You will receive the Zoom link for joining the class by the day before the class. IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE LINK BY THIS TIME, PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER. 

You will need a computer and a reliable WiFi connection. The computer may be a desktop or a laptop. It may be an Apple or Windows computer.

If you have never used Zoom before, you will likely be prompted to download an applet, which is a small program that allows Zoom to communicate with your computer. This is safe and you will need to do this to join the class.

It is NOT advised that you participate using a table (e.g,.an iPad) or a cellular phone. The software is not optimized for these devices.

Please plan to join the online class 15 minutes before the start time to be sure that you don’t have any problems connecting. We cannot provide technical support to you and refunds won’t be offered if you have technical problems. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact us at [email protected] at least a few days before the class.