Differentiating and Integrating Chaplain and Social Worker Roles in Palliative Care
Published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, a new study presents a Venn diagram developed by a national working group of palliative care chaplains and social workers to clarify role differentiation and overlap in specialty teams. The framework maps shared and discipline-specific competencies across assessment, intervention, and professionalism domains. It highlights chaplains’ expertise in spiritual, religious, and existential care and social workers’ focus on psychosocial and systems-level needs, while also emphasizing shared responsibilities such as symptom support, grief counseling, and advance care planning. Grounded in transdisciplinary practice, the tool is intended to improve collaboration, role clarity, and the delivery of comprehensive palliative care.