KHARON

Thanatology Review

Electronic Journal

Content

Volume 29

Number 4 · 2025

Original article


 LEA LENGYEL
LEA LENGYEL

PhD szociális munkás, gyásztanácsadó

lengyel.lea@gmail.com

“I Don’t Think of My Dead to Cry, but to Remember How Much They Joked, Always”: Experiences of Client Death Among a Social Worker in Homeless Care

Abstract ♦ The poor health status of homeless individuals and the personal experiences of social workers both confirm that supportive work with this population increasingly ends with the death of the client. In Hungary, no comprehensive research has yet been conducted on how social workers in homeless services experience the death of their clients or accompany them through end-of-life stages, what roles are expected of them by the institutional system, and what their own needs and professional responsibilities are in these situations. This study aims to partly fill this gap by exploring the experiences of a caseworker social worker from the moment a resident was hospitalized, through their death, and up to the funeral, also incorporating the perspectives of peers. The case study highlights the urgent need to address this topic and to develop institutional responses – not only within homeless care services but also across other fields of social service provision.