Literature Review

Hospice Tree Lighting Remembrances 2025Hospice & Palliative Care Today; compiled by Joy Berger; 11/26/25 We celebrate many hospice organizations who are having remembrance tree lighting ceremonies for this 2025 holiday season. Click for a list of 27 hospices, with links to articles for each. Did you have a similar event, but it's not listed? Please email me, jberger@hospicepalliativecaretoday.com. 

My Thanksgiving Week "To Do" List" ~ Anonymous, on Pinterest

5 Questions to ask your elders over the holidaysNew York Times; by Dana G. Smith; 11/24/25Interviewing loved ones brings you closer and offers a window into the past... For the person being interviewed, the experience can help with “a sense of life completion and a sense of being heard and understood and being able to tell their story,” said Dr. Ira Byock, an emeritus professor at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine specializing in palliative care. [Questions include:]

Rainbow 35th anniversary cookbook available Watertown Daily Times, Jefferson, WI; by Kenyon Kemnitz, Rainbow Community Care; 11/22/25 Rainbow Community Care, a trusted independent healthcare provider serving Jefferson, Dodge, and surrounding counties, is excited to announce that its commemorative 35th Anniversary Cookbook, “Nourishing Body & Soul” is officially available for purchase. This community-sourced cookbook features over 300 recipes. It is a beautiful, heartfelt keepsake filled with the best-kept family secrets and cherished stories from the very people who built Rainbow: volunteers, local families, dedicated healthcare workers, and community supporters. All have been part of Rainbow’s 35-year journey of providing compassionate care to rural South Central Wisconsin. “This is more than just a cookbook,” said Rainbow Community Care Clinical Liaison Dana Traynere. “Every recipe tells a story of connection and community, ...Editor's Note: Yes, this creative fundraiser is "more than just a cookbook" with its family recipes filled with memories and relationships from the past for the present and family meals ahead. What favorite family recipes--filled with stories of loved ones who have died--will grace your Thanksgiving table tomorrow?

In-flight emergencies: Practical medicine and ethical considerations Medscape; by Stephen Powell, MD, Bret A. Nicks, MD, MHA, Michael W. Supples, MD, MPH; 11/3/25As a medical professional, are you prepared to respond to an in-flight medical emergency as a passenger on a commercial aircraft? Key questions are addressed about the scope of care, available equipment, decision-making regarding diversions, and liability concerns. Editor's Note: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) "expects the 2025 Thanksgiving travel period to be the busiest in 15 years." Please read and share.

General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja on aligning profit with purposeDNYUZ; 11/23/25 Hemant Taneja, who leads one of the world’s largest venture firms, believes doing good isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s good business. At a moment of technologically driven upheaval, the General Catalyst CEO says leaders must bake positive social impact into a business’s soul from the start. Though Taneja and his wife are signatories of the Giving Pledge, he argues philanthropy is no longer enough. “In times like this, think deeply about your values because that’s going to be your guiding light in how you make difficult decisions,” he tells TIME.

Give thanks and pass the stuffing: Maryland is grateful for much this year The Baltimore Sun; by Jean Marbella; 11/25/25 In a turmoil-filled world, gratitude might seem elusive. But then, there’s that newborn infant or a son in med school, the simple gift of the snooze button and the big thrill of a walk-off homer, a homicide rate going down and a school redistricting plan finally ending. ... We could go on, and Maryland’s elected officials, athletes, artists, personalities and at least one rascal did, telling The Baltimore Sun what makes their Thanksgiving tick this year. ... Political scientist Mileah Kromer, director of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Institute of Politics: “I’m thankful for the nurses, doctors, and clergy who work in hospice care. I lost my mom to ALS this past April, and her end-of-life experience left me with a deep sense of gratitude for the people who care for patients and their families during one of the most profoundly difficult times in their lives. 

Rediscovering purpose in the hardest moments of cancer care Medscape; by Mark A. Lewis, MD; 11/7/25 ... I'm a GI oncologist, and about a quarter of my patients have metastatic pancreatic cancer. Treat that awful disease often enough and, believe me, you start to doubt your own abilities as a supposed healer. I mean, talk about overpromising and underdelivering. ... When you judge your worth by your outcomes, especially longevity, imposter syndrome sets in like dry rot, and feelings of ineffectiveness lead to therapeutic nihilism in the very caregiver that patients look to for hope. It turns out, though, the best antidote to self-pity is right in front of me every day: my patients. ...

Thanksgiving revisited: 2024 and 2025 I-70 West and Beyond - Travels Through Life; blog by Laurie Sunderland; Thanksgiving 2024 and 2025

Letters without limits: Jesse Tetterton The Johns Hopkins News-Letter; by Omkar Katkade; 11/22/25 Letters Without Limits, founded by students at Johns Hopkins and Brown University, connects volunteers with palliative care and hospice patients to co-create “Legacy Letters.” These letters capture memories, values and lessons that patients wish to share, preserving stories that might otherwise be lost. By honoring these voices and preserving legacies, Letters Without Limits hopes to affirm the central role of humanism in medicine, reminding us that every patient is more than their illness and that their voices deserve to be heard.

Geisinger medical students accompany Scranton, Wilkes-Barre Allied hospice patients with No One Dies Alone program WWIA/PBS/NPR; by Lydia McFarlane; 11/23/25 Tommy Ahlin was very close with his grandfather. He looked up to the man he called “Pap-Pap” for his military service, wisdom and family values. He spent the last few months of his life in a nursing home under hospice care, where he died at age 97. “Unfortunately, on the day he passed, he did pass by himself and was alone for a couple of hours before anyone got to him," Ahlin said. ... Ahlin, a second-year student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, or GCSOM, is now a representative for the No One Dies Alone program, which partners the medical school with Allied Services Hospice. Program volunteers vigil sit, which means to provide company to hospice patients whose loved ones can't be with them.

Hospice gets free solar power as firms chip in BBC News, Luton, England; by Louise Parry; 11/22/25 A solar company said it had seen "amazing generosity" from local and international firms who pulled together to provide a hospice with free renewable power. Keech Hospice in Luton has received an array of 504 photovoltaic panels, which would usually cost about £200,000 to install. "We're calling it a solar legacy project, not just a one-off donation, as it will save the hospice £50,000 a year," said project manager Eddie Doherty. Liz Searle, chief executive of Keech said: "This gift doesn't just power our building — it powers hope, care, and community for years to come."

CMS' TEAM model leaves hospitals scrambling before 2026 launch Modern Healthcare; by Bridget Early; 11/21/25 On January 1, 2026, Medicare will launch the Medicare Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM), a mandatory fee-for-service model with bundled payments for five common procedures. ... More than 700 hospitals are required to participate and develop partnerships for post-acute care.  Detailed information on the model and a list of participating hospitals can be found here.