Literature Review

Sanofi Collective - Foundation S stands behind transformative children's palliative care project in Kenya Global Treehouse Foundation; Press Release; 1/27/26 A significant grant from the Foundation S - the Sanofi Collective will enable a transformative three-year project delivering comprehensive grief and bereavement care to families affected by childhood cancer in Kenya. This is about more than funding: it’s about ensuring families are seen, supported and not left to navigate their most challenging moments alone. Foundation S’s investment is a significant milestone in integrating grief and social-emotional support into healthcare systems - an area too often overlooked, yet essential to the dignity and well-being of children and those who love them.

Lifespark’s COMPLETE Senior Living Model sets new standard for senior living innovation Business Wire, Minneapolis, MN; Press Release; 1/27/26 Lifespark, a complete senior health company managing more than 50 senior living communities in Minnesota and Wisconsin, has unveiled its COMPLETE Senior Living (CSL) model with plans for significant growth in 2026. The CSL model integrates four key components: Lifespark Senior Living Management, SPARK Growth and Wellness led by Dr. Bill Thomas, Lifespark Medical Group, and Lifespark Hospice.

Very often you are in the right place, at the right time, but you don't know it. ~ Maria Tallchief

Protecting patients at the end of life: Why CON still matters / part one, with Tim Rogers and Paul A. Ledford Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast/video hosted by Chris Comeaux with Time Rogers and Paul A. Ledford; 1/28/26 Certificate of Need (CON) laws remain one of the most debated—and misunderstood—regulatory frameworks in healthcare.  In this in-depth conversation, Chris Comeaux is joined by two of the nation’s most respected Hospice association leaders: Paul A. Ledford, President & CEO of the Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association, and Tim Rogers, President & CEO of the Association for Home & Hospice Care of North Carolina.

Half a million without power and dozens of deaths. A winter storm’s toll, in numbers Associated Press; by Jeff Martin; updated 1/27/26, 1:50pm EST As a deadly storm that brought crippling ice to the South and deep snow to the Northeast finally swirled out to sea, it represented a light at the end of the tunnel for some. However, roughly half a million Americans were still without power or heat, and temperatures were forecast to fall well below freezing Tuesday evening in areas where the massive ice storm did its worst damage. ... Here’s a look at the storm by the numbers. ...

Urns over caskets: Cremations now way more popular than burials Axios; by Carly Mallenbaum; 1/25/26 Cremations are now twice as common as burials in the U.S., reversing a norm from two decades ago, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. Why it matters: Shifting attitudes around religion, cost and the environment are reshaping how Americans handle death. By the numbers: Cremation surpassed burial nationwide in 2015 — and the gap has only widened since, with the NFDA projecting cremation will continue gaining share. ... Instead of opting for a traditional burial — which requires more land use, upkeep, embalming processes and items like caskets — people are going greener. 

Rethinking medications at the end of life for patients with advanced cancerCure; by Ruan Scott; 1/27/26 Key Takeaways

[United Kingdom] Winner's £25k hospice donation matched by lottery BBC News; by Rebecca Kenyon; 1/27/26 A lottery winner who donated £25,000 of her prize to a Kent hospice which cared for her late husband says she is "thrilled" her donation has been matched by the company which ran the draw. Linda Styles donated the money to the Heart of Kent Hospice in Aylesford in August after winning £250,000 in the People's Postcode Lottery. ... It costs £7.6m a year to provide services at the hospice but only 20% of that funding comes from the government. The hospices says this means it relies on voluntary donations for the other 80%.

What home-based care consumers really want Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 1/27/26In interviews conducted by Cozy Home Community with patients and family members who received home-based care, six key themes emerged as factors that influence their perceptions of care —  education, navigation, community and fit, families serving as health care “quarterbacks” and the importance of emotional intelligence and empathy.

The most important thing you need to know about end of life planning Forbes; by Peter Ubel; 1/22/26 ... Many experts say I should document my preferences clearly and unambiguously in my medical records so that, in the case of mental incapacity, my doctors can look at what I say and honor those preferences. According to the AARP, leaving ahead detailed instructions about your end-of-life preferences means “that you remain the captain of your own ship.” ... I respect these experts. And I do not begrudge anyone who has filled out such a document. But I worry that this approach won’t work and could even backfire. That is why I prefer a different approach, which I will describe shortly. But first, I need to explain why these kind of detailed advanced directives could backfire. ...

The role of specialty palliative care in cancer surgery: Rebecca Aslakson & Myrick ShinallGeriPal podcast; by Eric Widera, Alex Smith, Rebecca Aslakson, Myrick Shinall; 1/29/26Recent randomized controlled trials have shown that routine perioperative palliative care does not improve outcomes for patients undergoing curative-intent cancer surgery. No, that wasn’t a typo. Regardless of how the data were analyzed, the findings remained consistent: perioperative palliative care DID NOT improve outcomes in the only two randomized controlled trials conducted in this area—the SCOPE and PERIOP-PC trials... One key takeaway for me from this discussion was the idea that patients undergoing curative-intent surgery might simply be too early in their cancer trajectory to derive meaningful benefits from palliative care, and maybe the focus should be more on geriatrics. I especially appreciated the closing discussion about the future of research in this area: if routine perioperative palliative care doesn’t improve outcomes, what should the next generation of studies focus on?

Changing the story data tells about Black health The Seattle Medium, Seattle, WA; by Joseph Williams; 1/26/26 When it comes to the health of Black Americans, the numbers don’t lie. ... Last August, Word In Black launched its Insights & Research Division, a data-focused department centered on the perspectives, priorities, and lived experiences of Black Americans. The goal is straightforward: find out what Black people think about the issues affecting them most, analyze the results, and use those insights to reshape the narrative.

How does palliative care work under Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Law? WorkersCompensation.com; 1/25/26 What does it take for an injured worker in Rhode Island to receive palliative care? State regulations spell out the steps ... "Palliative care" means the first 12 visits for medical services provided by a physician licensed by the State after maximum medical improvement has been attained. ... Additional palliative care beyond the 12 visits after the employee reaches maximum medical improvement, is conditioned on the authorization of the claim administrator (insurer, self-insured employer, third party administrator) upon the request of the employee’s treating physician (Medical Provider).