AOSW Connections

Thank you for checking out this issue of AOSW Connections! I’m so proud of the two issues that were published already this year, and I’m also excited to share this one with all of you!  

We begin with a President’s Message from Linda Mathew, DSW, MSW, LCSW-R, reflecting on recent happenings within AOSW, including the new vision and mission statements. Kelly Hendershot, LGSW, LMSW, AOSW’s Education Director, also writes a reflective article on the many highlights from the annual conference that was held in June in Atlanta.  

Congratulations on making our 2025 AOSW Conference such a tremendous success! We were thrilled to welcome 412 oncology social workers, including 116 first-time attendees and 101 non-members. I hope that our non-member attendees felt a genuine sense of connection and belonging. I also hope they saw firsthand the value of being part of AOSW, as well as the passion and dedication of this group of professionals.   

To everyone who attended AOSW’s 41st Annual Conference: Unite to Ignite – Cultivating Connections in Atlanta—thank you! Your presence and participation made this in-person gathering unforgettable. 

Congratulations to Kerry Irish and Debra Mattison, two longtime oncology social workers and AOSW members, who have written a new book titled Navigating Serious Illness: A Pathway for Exploring Life, Love, & Legacy. Using their decades of experience working with oncology patients and families, this book is designed to serve as a supportive resource for individuals with a serious illness and their loved ones, as well as a meaningful and practical clinical resource for oncology, palliative care, and hospice social workers and other mental health professionals.

The following individuals joined AOSW so far in 2025! We are so happy you are part of our community.

The State Representatives recently welcomed several members to their group. Please join us in congratulating them! 

Palliative care is a specialty practice that can evoke feelings of profound meaning and honor for practitioners. To be able to support patients and families with chronic or serious illnesses, or those anticipating their own death, has been described as rewarding and enriching.

The role of oncology social work in palliative care has always been to approach the whole individual in the context of their life and to provide support that reflects their personal values and unique experiences. As palliative care clinicians, we often find that as a person approaches the end of life, the prevalence of psychological, emotional, and existential distress increases.

I started my oncology career as an inpatient social worker working with hematology patients and their families. During those initial years, I worked with individuals throughout the continuum of care, from initial diagnosis to relapsed disease to end of life. Mainly, the patients had low to moderate psychosocial risk. I would see very few end-of-life cases. 

Palliative care is a “type of care focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of illness with the goal of improving quality of life for the patient AND the family” (Center to Advance Palliative Care, n.d). Quality of life is often connected to relationships, those that we have with activities or with people. As social workers, we address these areas through our psychosocial assessments. However, how often are we assessing the psychosocial needs of the caregiver as well? 

Palliative and end-of-life (EOL) care are central to oncology social work, yet structural racism hinders equitable care for patients of color. This impacts referrals, pain management, hospice use, and treatment aggressiveness. This article explores how racism functions as a structural barrier and offers evidence-based strategies for dismantling inequities.