Todd
Becker,
LMSW
PhD Student, Graduate Research Assistant
University of Maryland School of Social Work
Todd Becker is a third-year doctoral student at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. Todd previously worked as a hospital social worker, specializing in the areas of oncology, upper abdominal transplant, and cardiology. His research interests include gerontology and thanatology with specific foci in death anxiety, the wish to hasten death, and bereavement.
Presenting at the Nexus Summit:
Background: Research shows only 30% of Americans have advance directives (ADs). The lack of ADs may create challenges for families and health care professionals (HCPs) who must make critical, medical decisions on a patient’s behalf with limited information. HCPs are particularly suited to lead advance care planning (ACP) conversations. However, inconsistent implementation of ACP material in academic curricula may contribute to HCPs’ perceptions of low self-efficacy and discomfort in leading ACP, which represent significant barriers to care delivery. This intervention advanced prior…