Making Halloween S.A.F.E.R. for individuals with dementia 
Alzheimer's Foundation of America; press release; 10/26/26 
Frightful sights, scary sounds, and costumed strangers might be Halloween traditions, but they can be unsettling for individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-related illnesses. With October 31 approaching, the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) is offering tips to make Halloween S.A.F.E.R. for loved ones living with dementia. ...

• Simplify decorations ...
• Adapt activities to your loved one’s capabilities and interests. ...
• Foster a calm environment. ...
• Ensure supervision during trick-or-treating. ...
• Retain adequate lighting for safety. ...

As Compassus marks two decades, the organization continues expanding access to home-based care 
American Healthcare Leader; by Stella Nolan; 10/27/26 
Reaching a 20-year milestone is significant for any healthcare organization. Doing so while reshaping a business model, expanding across 33 states, and caring for more than 180,000 patients each year is something else entirely. Few leaders have witnessed that transformation as closely as Laura Templeton, Chief Operating Officer. [Read Laura's reflections on two decades of changes.] ... Looking ahead, Compassus focuses on expanding access to home-based care, strengthening coordination across the healthcare continuum, and finding new ways to improve the patient and family experience.

ArcHouse CEO: ensuring safe, speedy hospice admissions 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 10/26/26 
Effective and speedy admissions processes can have a significant influence on the quality of hospice care. This October, the Hospice News Elevate podcast explores the value of effective and efficient admissions, as well as the role of technology in that activity. Hospice News spoke with Paul Mocur, Jr., co-founder and CEO of ArcHouse, a pre-admission platform for care-at-home serving hospice, palliative, and home health providers.

Translating evidence into practice: implementing caregiver burden assessments in palliative care clinic 
American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care; by Nasreen Bagwan Malik, Sherief Ghozy, Kitty Fan, Cheryl Green, Denise Mohess; 10/13/26 
Background: Caregiver burden assessments lack clinical uniformity in palliative care. Existing evidence-based interventions often impose resource demands that are prohibitive for smaller programs. 
Objectives: (1) Demonstrate the practical utility of routine caregiver screening paired with an interdisciplinary team (IDT) response protocol. (2) Identify patient and caregiver factors influencing burden. 
Conclusion: This workflow provides a replicable roadmap to transition caregivers from “invisible patients” to actively supported extensions of the care unit, reinforcing dyadic assessments as standard practice in outpatient palliative medicine.

What the dying dream about, and why a Buffalo doctor wants the world to listen 
The Buffalo News, Buffalo, NY; by Jon Harris; 10/;27/26 
When Dr. Christopher Kerr and his research team at Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo began studying the end-of-life experiences of their patients, the work was intended to convince skeptical doctors that they should recognize predeath visions and dreams as medically important to improve the care provided to the dying. But after years of research, interviews with more than 1,400 patients and a published book, many of Kerr’s fellow physicians remained uninterested. Kerr’s findings, however, seeped out and reached an even wider audience. Since his TEDx Talk in Buffalo in 2015, Kerr has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Oprah Winfrey for The Oprah Podcast and, just recently, by Steven Bartlett for the popular podcast, The Diary of a CEO.

Physician organizations back new challenge to Medicaid work rule 
American Medical Association (AMA), Chicago, IL; Press Release; 10/27/26 
The American Medical Association (AMA) and the Maryland State Medical Society (MedChi), joined by several national physician organizations, filed an amicus brief in Taylor v. Kennedy, a new lawsuit challenging federal regulations that make it harder for people with serious or complex medical conditions to qualify for an exemption from Medicaid work requirements. The brief, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, supports the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and argues that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) exceeded its statutory authority by imposing narrow restrictions on the medical frailty exemption established by Congress under H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

HHS drops expired 2025 Alzheimer's treatment goal in new dementia plan focused on prevention and early detection 
Medical Daily; by Cole Mercer; 10/27/26 
The federal government has rewritten its national dementia strategy, shifting the focus toward prevention and earlier detection. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the updated national plan on Alzheimer's and related dementias on Oct. 22 at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The new plan replaces six long-standing goals with four. ...

• Four New Goals and the Promises Behind Them ...
• The Evidence Check on Prevention ...

Free webinar for physicians and healthcare professionals: Veterans nearing the end of life - distinct needs, specialized care
VITAS Healthcare; Press Release; 9/14/26 for 11/11/26 webinar

• Wednesday, Nov. 11 (Veterans Day), 1-2 p.m. ET
• Larry Hetu-Robert, VITAS bereavement services manager and veteran liaison, will discuss PTSD, moral injury, and how military culture affects veterans’ end-of-life care.
• Virtual. 1 CE credit available. 
• Registration: https://www.vitas.com/events/2026/11/webinar-veterans-nearing-the-end-of-life

Competencies and barriers in the role of palliative nursing in cancer care 
Oncology Nurse Advisor; by Vicki Moore, PhD; 10/27/26 
Nurses working in palliative oncology generally must integrate technical competence, emotional capacity, and cultural awareness across various stages of illness, according to a recent literature review published in the International Journal of Palliative Nursing, which also outlined challenges nurses may experience in this process. “While nurses demonstrate important strengths in symptom management and patient-family support, gaps remain in psychosocial, spiritual, cultural and ethical preparation,” the study’s authors wrote in their review. This integrative literature review was a synthesis of evidence regarding how competence, compassion, emotional labor, and educational preparation intersect in palliative oncology nursing.

Austin nonprofits and philanthropists making a difference 
Modern Luxury, Austin, TX; by The Editors; 10/26/26 
In Austin, generosity runs deep. Meet the individuals and organizations who lift lives across the city and invite all of us to share in the rewarding work. ... Project Transitions, a nonprofit founded in 1988 that provides housing, recuperative care, and hospice for people living with HIV, operates a 61-unit supportive housing community called Burnet Place. Austinite Terry Eaton, the president and chief curator of Eaton Fine Art, recently collaborated with Austin artists to curate a pro bono art collection there, extending more than two decades of support ahead of World AIDS Day, Dec. 1. projecttransitions.org 

[Canada] Dementia doctors, provinces differ on question of advance consent in MAID 
Pique NewsMagazine, Toronto, Canada; by Nicoale Ireland; 10/27/26 
As the federal government tables new legislation that would allow advance requests for medical assistance in dying, the stark difference in opinion between two provinces highlights an ongoing debate about what constitutes true consent among who have dementia. Justice Minister Sean Fraser introduced legislation on Tuesday to decriminalize providing MAID to people with dementia and other conditions that take away the capacity to consent if they ask for it in advance while they're still mentally capable. Bill C-41 states that "a person would have to be experiencing intolerable suffering at the time MAID is provided, even if all the conditions in their advance request have been met." It's up to provincial governments to decide whether — and how — to allow people to make advance requests and have those wishes fulfilled in the future.

If you light a lamp for someone, it will also brighten your path. ~ Buddha