Literature Review

Hospice staff cycle more than 300 miles to work VNExplorer - bbc.com; 6/13/24 Hospice staff have collectively cycled more than 300 miles this week to raise money for their place of work. Seven St Margaret's Hospice employees cycled to work on Tuesday morning to mark Bike Week. ... The group raised £1,000 for the Taunton hospice, which they say could pay for 24 hours of expert specialist care on its inpatient unit, with donations still coming in. ... The idea for the challenge began with senior IT technician, Jack Gorman, whose colleagues had been encouraging him to cycle to work more often. Tom White, head of business intelligence, challenged Mr. Gorman that if he cycled to and from work - a 50-mile commute to work and back - then Mr. White would cycle in from his Barnstaple home, a round trip of 100 miles. ...Editor's Note: Does this spark ideas for your organization, especially for your office-based staff? Take this and adapt it to a fun, practical, revenue-generating, relationship-building activity for your organization. 

Of Mice and Meaning: Multidisciplinary perspectives on the interconnectedness of pain, stress, and suffering The Free Library; by Claire Woodward and Taylor Woodward, Indiana University Bloomington; 6/13/24 ... We are siblings and scholars from seemingly disparate disciplines (one in humanities and one in neurobiology), yet we are both engaged in work to understand--and ultimately alleviate--various facets of pain and suffering. We currently work in two different laboratories at the same institution (Indiana University). Taylor works in a lab with mice and Claire works in a lab on storytelling. Our scholarship includes interpreting reactions to pain, stress, and suffering, both felt and observed, behavioral and aesthetic. Such observations provide further insights into understanding how the mind and the brain process pain and suffering. ...

Minnesota family featured in new Amazon docuseries covering end-of-lifeCBS News WCCO (MN); by Mackenzie Lofgren, Derek James; 6/12/24A Blaine woman and her family will be featured in Amazon Prime's new six-episode docuseries, "Take Me Out Feet First." The docuseries follows individuals advocating for end-of-life options. The series was created by New York City native, Serene Meshel-Dillman, who was inspired to make the docuseries after she witnessed both of her parents end their lives in the comfort of their home. "Take Me Out Feet First" is a six-part docuseries made in partnership with the nonprofit advocacy group Compassion & Choices. Each episode will follow a different individual or family who has, advocated for, or is actively exploring end-of-life options. The docuseries is available to stream now on Amazon Prime.

Celebrate CNA Week Toolkit: June 13-19, 2024 NAHCA - The CNA Association; retrieved from the internet 6/14/24 This year, CNA Week is from June 13th to June 19th. With the theme of "We'll Be There For You," NAHCA created this toolkit for CNAs and for the skilled nursing centers, assisted living communities, and staffing and home health agencies they work for so that everyone can celebrate, recognize, and pay their respects to the incredible work that the nearly 1 million-strong contingent of frontline heroes does everyday for elders and people with disabilities. Editor's Note: We apologize for the late date of this notice, as it has not been showing up in our many newsfeeds. That fact illustrates how healthcare too often neglects our valued Certified Nursing Assistants. Are you doing something special to thank your CNA's? If you post something on your website to honor your CNA's, please let me know via jberger@hospicepalliativecaretoday.org. Thank you.

How fraudulent hospices evade regulators Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 6/5/24A slew of fraudulent hospices in California are dodging consequences by shuffling patients around between provider numbers. That’s according to multiple sources who spoke with Hospice News, expressing their concerns about patterns of fraud continuing even as government regulators crack down on the sector. Since 2021, numerous media and government reports have emerged of unethical or illegal practices among hundreds of newly licensed hospices, particularly among new companies popping up in California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona. Despite the best efforts of regulators and law enforcement, hospice leaders are concerned that many bad actors are slipping through the cracks. ...

Acting now to sustain and improve America’s healthcare system: Advice from innovative physicians and health system leadersSheppardMullin Healthcare Law Blog; by Kathleen O'Neill, John Golembesky, Jeralin Cardoso, Chi Huynh & Carolyn Young; 6/6/24 At [the recent] America’s Physician Groups Spring conference in San Diego, California, we listened as physicians and health system leaders described the ways in which they are responding to short and long term challenges to the sustainability of America’s healthcare system in its current form. It now stands at a critical juncture, facing challenges such as provider shortages and burnout, increasing concerns around access and cost for pharmaceutical products and other supplies, the increasing burden of managing chronic diseases, rising demand for services across the spectrum from an aging population, and balancing the transition to value-based care models in a predominantly fee-for-service environment. ... Here, we outline the key areas of focus described by leaders at the conference: ... 

Mapped: The highs and lows of the world’s happiness landscapeBigThink.com (originally posted in 1440 Daily Digest; by Frank Jacobs; 6/3/24The Gallup World Poll reveals regional peaks and valleys of happiness across all of the continents. At a glance, we see that happiness levels are relatively high across the Americas, in Europe and Oceania, and generally lowest across Africa and South Asia. In North America, Canada (6.9) came out on top, happier than the U.S. and Mexico (both 6.7). The least happy country in North America is the Dominican Republic (5.8) — perhaps unfairly, as its bad-to-worse neighbor Haiti wasn’t surveyed.

Red River Valley expands services for dual-eligible populationsHospice News; by Holly Vossel; 6/11/24North Dakota-based Hospice of the Red River Valley is focused on expanding its home- and community-based services among dual-eligible Medicare and Medicaid populations in need of greater support. Serious and terminally ill patients in lower socioeconomic and underserved regions face several competing challenges in accessing health care, according to Tracee Capron, executive director at Hospice of the Red River Valley. Developing a sustainable care delivery model that better addresses unmet needs among patients and their families requires significant investment, Capron said. 

Geriatric End-of-Life Screening Tool prediction of 6-month mortality in older patientsJAMA Open Network; by Adrian D. Haimovich, MD, PhD, Ryan C. Burke, PhD, MPH, Larry A. Nathanson, MD, David Rubins, MD, R. Andrew Taylor, MD, MHS, Erin K. Kross, MD, Kei Ouchi, MD, MPH, Nathan I. Shapiro, MD, MPH, Mara A. Schonberg, MD, MPH; 5/31/24In this prognostic study of 82,371 ED encounters within a tertiary care emergency department, the Geriatric End-of-Life Screening Tool (GEST) performed robustly on external validation, identifying 11.6% of the population as having a 30% or greater mortality risk. Compared with serious illness diagnoses, GEST provided a greater net benefit as a screening tool using decision curve analysis. The findings of this prognostic external validation study highlight the opportunity to use pragmatic, prognostic electronic health record algorithms to identify older adults in the emergency department for end-of-life care interventions.Publisher's Note: See related article posted earlier this week from McKnight's Long-Term Care News, Screening tool predicts older adults’ need for end-of-life care intervention.

Pride Month 2024: LGBTQ+ Resources for Hospice & Palliative Care OrganizationsCompiled from various search engines for our newsletter's readers

U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne: Crack down on hospice fraud Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 6/12/24 Rep. Beth Van Duyne, (R-Texas) has emerged as one of Washington’s most vocal advocates for hospice providers in Congress. ... Van Duyne was among a group of lawmakers that wrote to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks LaSure last month requesting updates on the agency’s battles against fraudulent providers, as well as a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on quality issues in the hospice space. Hospice News spoke with Rep. Van Duyne in Washington D.C. on congressional efforts to root out fraud and where they should go next. 

Geriatric conditions and healthcare utilization among older adults living in subsidized housingJournal of the Americal Geriatric Society; by Sarah E Kler, L Grisell Diaz-Ramirez, Kira L Ryskina, Sun Young Jeon, Kanan Patel, Thomas K M Cudjoe, Christine S Ritchie, Krista L Harrison, W John Boscardin, Rebecca T Brown; 6/24Older adults living in subsidized housing have higher hazards of hospitalization and nursing facility utilization compared to those in the general community. Housing-based interventions to optimize aging in place and mitigate risk of nursing facility utilization should consider risk factors including functional impairment and dementia.

Loneliness, psychological distress, and the moderating effect of positive aspects of caregiving among cancer caregiversSupportive Care in Cancer; by JoAnn Jabbari, Kyle A Pitzer, Keisha White Makinde, Jacquelyn J Benson, George Demiris, Debra Parker Oliver, Karla T WashingtonThe results of this study shed new light on the relationship between loneliness and symptoms of psychological distress experienced by family caregivers of cancer patients, providing a better understanding of the impact that recognition of positive aspects of caregiving has on the association between loneliness and psychological distress symptoms. Our findings emphasize the importance of targeting family caregiver loneliness in order to reduce psychological distress among family caregivers of cancer patients.