Social Work

Betty Kramer’s research has strengthened understanding of male caregivers, caregiving gains, transitions in the caregiving career, and the distinctive nature of end-of-life caregiving. With her colleagues she has put forth competencies and a national research agenda for social work research in palliative and end-of-life care. Dr. Kramer has received support to implement several projects relevant to improving palliative care. Her research has documented insufficiencies in end-of-life care in leading social work textbooks, and she has more recently studied innovations in care for frail low-income elders with advanced chronic disease. Her current projects: 1) assess the feasibility of integrating hospice consultation to improve the provision of palliative care in a managed care setting; 2)examine the predictors of family conflict at the end of life; 3) explore the role that family conflict plays in the experience of complicated grief; and 4) investigate the distinctive experience of end of life care provision in the Family Care Program.

Teaching: SW 440 Practice I: Foundations of Generalist Practice; SW 821 Aging and Mental Health; SW 825 Grief, Loss, Death and Life; and SW 949 Qualitative Methods in Social Science Research