Announcing JAMA AI - A new journal from the JAMA Network
JAMA Network; by Roy H. Perlis, Annette Flanagin, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo; 10/15/26
We are pleased to announce that JAMA AI, the 14th journal in the JAMA Network, will launch in early 2027. JAMA AI will address the full spectrum of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care, from foundational advances to real-world clinical implications. We will strive to publish clinical research that involves not only AI, but the full range of computational tools as they are applied to improve human health. Beyond AI, the journal will publish impactful studies that incorporate mobile apps, wearable sensors, physiologic monitors, digital imaging and pathology, virtual reality, and all the analytic and implementation methods necessary to apply these technologies in medicine and health care. We will also publish studies that capture the effects of technology on health more broadly, including AI and social media.

Before the holidays, Glenview families are invited to learn how to start the conversations they keep putting off 
Newsnet, Glenview, IL; by EIN Presswire; 10/20/26 
For many families, the holidays are when they finally notice it. A parent who seems more tired, a few new dents on the car, a house that isn’t quite being kept up the way it used to be. And then everyone goes home without saying anything. ...

• What to do when Mom or Dad says “I’m fine” and you know they’re not
• How to approach the driving conversation when nobody wants to take the keys
• Getting siblings on the same page, especially when one is carrying most of the caregiving
• Lesser-known resources such as VA benefits and care planning support

Editor's Note: How might you replicate this--using your own resources and connections--for the families in your community who might need your services?

Lobbying update: $1,520,000 of Humana Inc lobbying was just disclosed 
Quiver Quantitative; by Quiver Lobbying Radar; 10/20/26 
$1,520,000 of HUMANA INC lobbying was just disclosed, from Q3 of 2026, in a new Lobbying Disclosure Act filing. This included lobbying on issues like: "Medicare Advantage (MA) Policy and Reimbursement Medicare Part D Issues Medicaid Policy Issues Including Dual Eligibles Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM) and Pharmacy Policy and Reimbursement Issues Home Health Policy and Reimbursement Issues Implementation of Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 Public Law No. 117-169 H.R. 3514/S.1816, Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act of 2025 (119th Congress) Prior Authorization Policy and Regulatory Issues CMS-4185-F2 Medicare Advantage Risk Adjustment Data Validation Final Rule Primary Care and Value-Based Care Policy and Reimbursement Clinical Policy Issues Including Workforce and Mental Health Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS): ... [the list continues]

[Canada] Expert Q&A: New palliative care resource for frontline workers supports people experiencing homelessness
University of Victoria press release; by Stephanie Harrington; 10/13/26
National curriculum builds on community expertise. A new palliative and end-of-life care resource is providing frontline workers nationally with tools and strategies to better support people who are aging with serious illness alongside poverty and homelessness. The University of Victoria-led collective of researchers, frontline workers and palliative care practitioners launched the new curriculum at the Montreal International Congress on Palliative Care. Kelli Stajduhar is a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Palliative Approaches to Care in Aging and Community Health at UVic and professor in the School of Nursing and Institute on Aging & Lifelong Health. She heads the UVic research program that developed the curriculum, called Palliative Care Is… Strengthening Community-Based Approaches to Palliative and End-of-life care in Homeless and Harm Reduction Settings.

Q2 earnings highs and lows: Chemed (NYSE:CHE)vs the rest of the senior health, home health & hospice stocks 
FinancialContent; by StockStory; 10/20/26 
Looking back on senior health, home health & hospice stocks’ Q2 earnings, we examine this quarter’s best and worst performers, including Chemed (NYSE: CHE) and its peers. ...

• Chemed (NYSE: CHE) ...
• Best Q2: BrightSpring Health Services (NASDAQ: BTSG) ...
• Weakest Q2: AdaptHealth (NASDAQ: AHCO) ...
• Addus HomeCare (NASDAQ: ADUS) ...
• Brookdale (NYSE: BKD) ...
• Market Update ...

The workforce crisis healthcare leaders can’t afford to ignore | part two 
Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Ron Hetrick; 10/16/26 
The greatest threat to your organization’s future may be having too few people to deliver the care you promise. In Part Two of The Workforce Crisis Healthcare Leaders Can’t Afford to Ignore, Chris Comeaux welcomes back Ron Hetrick to explore how healthcare leaders can prepare for a future shaped by an aging population, growing care needs, and a shrinking pipeline of workers. Hetrick moves from demographic warning signs to practical leadership decisions: redesigning difficult jobs, building training pipelines, creating workplaces people want to stay in, and evaluating expansion through the lens of available talent. He also explores how private home care could intensify competition for caregivers ...   
Editor's Note: Explore the related article in today's issue, "NY nursing home hit with $6.8M verdict in understaffing case."

Husband donates seven figures to build Newport News hospice home in honor of late wife 
13 News - ABC, Newport News, VA; by Germyah Batey; 10/20/26 
A seven-figure donation to the Riverside Foundation will help bring a new hospice home to Newport News, inspired by one husband’s experience caring for his wife, who died from Alzheimer’s disease earlier this year. James Thorton is making the gift in honor of his wife, Donna, his high school sweetheart and wife of 56 years. ... Thorton became Donna’s full-time caregiver, helping manage her daily needs, medications, and comfort. “There are parts of dementia which I could manage and control,” he said. “I could make sure she’s fed, make sure that she got her meds on time, make sure she was comfortable.” Riverside’s palliative care team eventually stepped in to help care for Donna at home. Thorton said the team was pleasant and understanding, an experience that inspired him to help other families facing similar challenges.

Study finds dementia influences decisions about life-sustaining treatment, even when advance directives request it
CU Anschutz newsletter; by Kelsea Pieters; 10/7/26
A new CU Anschutz study found that dementia status can influence end-of-life treatment decisions, even when a patient’s advance directive requests life-sustaining care. The findings highlight the importance of ongoing conversations about end-of-life wishes and choosing a surrogate who understands and will honor those preferences. People were about 19 percentage points less likely to recommend life-sustaining treatment for a seriously ill patient with dementia than for a patient without dementia, even when an advance directive requested life-sustaining care, according to new research from the University of Colorado Anschutz. The study, published in JAMA Network Open [Surrogate decision-making for older adults with and without dementia by Lauren Hersch Nicholas, Scott D. Halpern, Kenneth M. Langa, Mario Macis], surveyed nearly 6,000 U.S. adults to examine how a patient’s dementia status, advance directive, physician recommendations and a surrogate decision-maker’s own preferences influenced recommendations about end-of-life care.
Publisher's note: Bold and italics mine - this is a striking finding! Per the article's conclusion, "These findings highlight the importance of preparing patients and surrogates for care decisions through explicit discussions of goals of care and decision-making roles."

HopeWest Gala raises funds for Delta County families experiencing aging, serious illness, and grief
Delta County Independent [CO]; by HopeWest; 10/13/26
This year’s HopeWest Gala, themed “A Night of Romantic Renaissance,” transformed the Bill Heddles Recreation Center on Sept. 19 into a world of fiery dragons and faraway castles. The sold-out event raised more than $77,000 to support HopeWest programs and services throughout Delta County. 323 guests gathered in support of the HopeWest mission to profoundly change the way the community experiences aging, serious illness and grief, one family at a time.

Aspirus Health to close Woodruff hospice care facility
WJFW [NBC12, WI]; 10/15/26
Aspirus Health is closing a Woodruff hospice care facility. In an email to WJFW, Aspirus said "based on the changing needs of the Northwoods community,, Aspirus Health will sunset hospice care at Seasons of Life Hospice House in Woodruff and transition hospice care to homes, assisted living facilities, nursing homes and other appropriate community settings." The Seasons of Life Hospice House was an eight-bed hospice house but it will be transitioning to hospice care to homes and nursing homes and shuttering the Woodruff location. A closing date has not been finalized yet. [The Aspirus Health press release is: Seasons of Life hospice care transitioning to home and community settings: Change will preserve compassionate hospice services while extending support across the Northwoods.]

Best case/worst case: A multisite randomized trial of scenario planning for patients with late-stage kidney disease
Journal of American Geriatrics Society; by Lily N. Stalter, Bret M. Hanlon, Kyle J. Bushaw, Jenna Nitkowski, Anne Buffington, Katharine L. Cheung, Amy B. Zelenski, Kristine Kwekkeboom, Amar D. Bansal, Deidra Candice Crews, Holly M. Koncicki, Daniel Lam, Alvin H. Moss, Maya K. Rao, Dawn Felicity Wolfgram, Jeniann Yi, Carrie Brill, Tamara Isakova, Margaret L. Schwarze; 9/26
Best Case/Worst Case (BC/WC) is a communication tool to support nephrologists and older adults with advanced chronic kidney disease with decisions about dialysis. We compared the effectiveness of training nephrologists to use BC/WC versus usual care on receipt of palliative care, quality of life (QOL), quality of communication, dialysis initiation, and death. While we hypothesized that improving prognostic awareness and communication would increase palliative care utilization, the challenges of connecting patients with life-limiting kidney disease to palliative care are multifaceted, well documented, and likely not surmountable with a communication intervention alone. Conclusion: Training nephrologists to use the BC/WC communication tool does not significantly affect receipt of palliative care or other measurable clinical outcomes.

A river does not argue with the rock - it flows around it. The river wastes no energy fighting. It finds a way. Wisdom is not stubborn debate; it is quiet, steady movement forward.