Margaret Reith is Senior Social Worker, and formerly social work manager at the Princess Alice Hospice, Surrey. Her extensive practice experience includes health-related social work in hospital and hospice settings and forensic mental health. She is the author of "Community Care Tragedies: A Practice Guide to Mental Health Inquiries". Malcolm Payne is Policy and Development Adviser and formerly Director of Psycho-social and Spiritual Care at St Christopher's Hospice, London. He previously worked in social services, the local and national voluntary sector and various academic posts. He is Honorary Professor, Kingston University/St George's University of London, Visiting Professor, Opole University, Poland and author of many books including "What is Professional Social Work? Social Care Practice in Context" and "Modern Social Work Theory".

"...we have in this book a valuable resource for anyone living and working with loss, by which I mean that it is essential reading for us all." Sue Taplin, Hospice Information Bulletin

• Introduction; Social work, end-of-life and palliative care; Death and dying: awareness and uncertainty; Communication at the end of life: truth and hope; Engaging and assessing in end-of-life care; Intervention in end-of-life social work; Grief and bereavement: ideas and intervention; Multi-professional end-of-life care; Ethical and value issues for end-of-life social work; Group and macro interventions.

Margaret Reith is Senior Social Worker, and formerly social work manager at the Princess Alice Hospice, Surrey. Her extensive practice experience includes health-related social work in hospital and hospice settings and forensic mental health. She is the author of "Community Care Tragedies: A Practice Guide to Mental Health Inquiries". Malcolm Payne is Policy and Development Adviser and formerly Director of Psycho-social and Spiritual Care at St Christopher's Hospice, London. He previously worked in social services, the local and national voluntary sector and various academic posts. He is Honorary Professor, Kingston University/St George's University of London, Visiting Professor, Opole University, Poland and author of many books including "What is Professional Social Work? Social Care Practice in Context" and "Modern Social Work Theory".

"...we have in this book a valuable resource for anyone living and working with loss, by which I mean that it is essential reading for us all." Sue Taplin, Hospice Information Bulletin

• Introduction; Social work, end-of-life and palliative care; Death and dying: awareness and uncertainty; Communication at the end of life: truth and hope; Engaging and assessing in end-of-life care; Intervention in end-of-life social work; Grief and bereavement: ideas and intervention; Multi-professional end-of-life care; Ethical and value issues for end-of-life social work; Group and macro interventions.