Literature Review

Royal Marines musicians play for dying bandmate Verified News Explorer Network, from the United Kingdom; 6/25/24 Musicians from the Royal Marines laid on a poignant performance at a hospice for their dying bandmate. Newlywed Sophie Ward, 27, was joined by her husband Richard, patients, staff and volunteers for the emotional final performance. Sophie was moved in her bed on to the patio adjoining her room to listen and watch her beloved band for one last time, accompanied by her husband - a fellow Royal Marines musician. Sophie, who suffers from Motor Neurone Disease, has been an inpatient at the hospice in Winsley near Bradford-upon-Avon, Wiltshire, since mid-June. Sophie was moved in her bed on to the patio adjoining her room to listen to her beloved band. ... Her colleagues, dressed in the uniform, marched and performed songs chosen by Sophie. 

Big Bend Hospice names leaders to head Seven Oaks Health Business Wire, Tallahassee, Florida; 6/25/24 Big Bend Hospice, a leading provider of end-of-life care in Florida's Big Bend region, announced key leadership promotions today to head its new parent company, Seven Oaks Health. The promotions position Seven Oaks Health for continued growth in fulfilling its mission of reimagining healthcare for those facing chronic, serious, or terminal illness, with a focus on empowering patients to live healthier lives wherever they call home.

Garnet Health shutters palliative care program Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 6/25/24 New York state-based Garnet Health has announced a restructuring plan that spells the demise of its inpatient palliative care services. The plan includes layoffs of about 1% of the health system’s workforce, numbering 26 employees. This is estimated to save Garnett $4.6 million in salaries and benefits. “[Garnet] continues to be challenged with significant labor expenses, inflation on supplies and equipment, and low payor reimbursement rates,” the health system indicated in a statement. The restructuring is the result of financial headwinds, including decreased demand. Patient volumes are gradually increasing, but not yet to pre-pandemic levels, the company stated in an announcement.

Sometimes, it’s enough to just be there for someone in need. A quiet presence speaks volumes. A friend who volunteers for Hospice said, “Don’t just do something, sit there." - Julie Smith, in her "Dear grads ..." Commencement Speech

Palliative care physician: ‘Healing is possible’ even when cure is not Healio, Chicago, IL; by Jennifer Byrne; 6/26/24During her fellowship as a palliative care physician, Sunita Puri, MD, met a patient who taught her that healing is possible even when cure is not. Alice, a 35-year-old woman, had acute myeloid leukemia. ... Nobody wanted to say it out loud, but Alice was dying. “She was only a couple years older than me. She’d lived in San Francisco, a few streets away from where I lived in my residency,” Puri, program director of the hospice and palliative medicine fellowship program at UMass Chan School of Medicine. ... “She had a vibrancy that I had always hoped to embody, but she was intubated, wide awake, on dialysis and starting to suffer from ascending paralysis.” ... During rounds one day, Puri told her attending that she was at a loss about how to help Alice and didn’t feel she was doing anything meaningful for her. “My attending said, ‘What if just being at her bedside is achieving something meaningful?’” Puri recalled. “I’d always understood healing and cure to be different, but this was when I really felt it.” ... “What if healing is choosing to understand that there’s going to be suffering that we can’t alleviate — and sometimes that’s our own — but the most important thing to bring to that is presence?” she said. [Click on the article's title to continue reading.] Editor's Note: Though not directly related to this article, read "Today's Encouragement" at the end of today's newsletter.

Aroostook House of Comfort hosts 11th Annual Golf Classic: Raises over $80kThe Aroostook Hospice Foundation proudly hosted its 11th Annual Golf Classic on Saturday, June 15 at the Presque Isle Country Club, successfully raising over $80,000 for the Aroostook House of Comfort. This remarkable achievement was made possible through the generous contributions of 162 sponsors, 46 teams, 60 in-kind donors and 32 dedicated volunteers. ... The unwavering generosity of community members and partners allows them to maintain a 9,800-square foot, state-of-the-art facility where individuals and families receive compassionate care, comfort, and support during their hospice journey. Editor's Note: The Aroostook House of Comfort is an inpatient hospice and respite care facility owned by the Aroostook Hospice Foundation and staffed by Northern Light Home Care & Hospice, in South Portland, Maine.

Medical aid-in-dying bill stalls in Delaware Senate Bay to Bay News, Dover, Delaware; by Joseph Edelen; 6/24/24 An act that would allow physician-assisted suicide stalled in the state Senate on Thursday. House Bill 140, if enacted as written, permits a terminally ill individual who is an adult resident of Delaware to request and self-administer medication to end their life in a humane and dignified way. ... The bill, brought by Rep. Paul S. Baumbach, D-Newark, narrowly passed the House of Representatives in April, with a vote of 21-16. On Thursday in the Senate, the measure logged 10 yes votes and nine no votes, with Sen. Kyra Hoffner, D-Dover, not voting. But Senate sponsor Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, then changed his yes vote to no. The alteration meant that the initiative stalled in the Senate but could be brought back to its floor for another vote by Sunday, the last day of this year’s legislative session. Many senators seemed emotional while speaking about the measure Thursday. ...

A paradigm shift for healthtech CEOs: Increasing patient satisfaction and retention Forbes; by Eric Giesecke; 6/24/24In our hyperconnected world, seamless communication is the norm. From the latest news to customer service chats, consumers expect streamlined interactions. However, the healthcare and healthtech industries have lagged in adopting consumer-friendly practices. ... A patient’s experience is extremely important for healthcare organizations to thrive. It’s important to remember that in the digital age, competitors are not just other healthcare companies. ... So how can we customize experiences better than ever before? One important step is taking the time to understand your organization's current technology. ...

Getting muddy for Center for Hospice Care LaporteCounty.life; by Center for Hospice Care, Valpraiso, IN; 6/24/24The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend the South Bend Sod Busters hosted their annual mud bog. For years a portion of the proceeds from this event have benefitted Center for Hospice Care. One of the first times Red Fisher attended the event as the events manager for Hospice Foundation, he told the organizers, "When you go over $100,000 total for this event, I will go down the bog in a white tuxedo!" A couple of years ago, they surpassed that mark – and this year Red kept his word. Thanks to our friends at Louie's Tux Shop, Red got into one of the vehicles and went down the bog – not once, but twice – while wearing a stylish white tux!Editor's Note: Calling all leaders, what fun, fundraising challenge might you offer?

Children’s Healing Center opens in Ypsilanti Township in July DBusiness Magazine, Detroit, MI; by R. J. King; 6/24/24 The Children’s Healing Center will open its doors in Ypsilanti Township on July 8, offering children with weakened immune systems and their families a safe and clean place to play. ... The facility is the Children’s Healing Center’s second location after first opening its doors in Grand Rapids in 2015. The new state-of-the-art 11,000-square-foot facility features a hospital-grade environment where families can engage in a diverse range of innovative programming free of charge. “It has always been our goal to open a second location of the Children’s Healing Center,” says Amanda Barbour, founder and CEO of Children’s Healing Center. “The kids, young adults, and families who rely on us have very few options for social interaction, so we provide an invaluable outlet to build friendships and fight the effects of isolation and loneliness. The Children’s Healing Center states it is a first-of-its-kind year-round recreational facility for kids and young adults aged 0-26 with weakened immune systems and their families that provides opportunities for play, programming, education, and socialization. 

Improving advanced care planning for late-stage cancer Medical Xpress; by Melissa Rohman; 6/24/24 Multilevel care interventions improved clinician–documented advanced care planning (ACP) compared with a clinician-level intervention alone for patients with genitourinary cancer, according to findings published in JAMA Oncology. "Clinicians often have limited time to assist patients in fully understanding ACP. This intervention is one approach to improve ACP and care delivery among patients with advanced stages of genitourinary cancer," said Gladys M. Rodriguez, MD, MS, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology and lead author of the study. For patients diagnosed with late-stage cancer, ACP can help reduce unnecessary acute care, increase palliative care and improve quality of life. However, previous reports have found that less than 20% of patients will engage in ACP with their health care providers. ... The primary outcome was ACP documentation in the electronic health record by the patient's oncology clinician within 12 months. Secondary outcomes included shared decision-making, palliative care use, hospice use, emergency department visits and hospitalizations within 12 months.

Reflections: Three ways to think about death and dyingPost Alley, Seattle, WA; by Anthony B. Robinson; 6/21/24Our book group had a wrap-up session on our “Aging and Mortality” series last night. We invited everyone to share their own take-aways from our six books. What did we learn? What was comforting? Challenging? How might this effect your planning and decision-making? Before I share my own take-aways from the series, I would note one general theme in what we read: the more we isolate death and the dying, the more we fear death. Here my three take-aways from the series and our conversations:

Jimmy Carter’s long stay in hospice dispels myths about end-of-life care Miami Herald; by Brian Dunleavy; 6/24/24 Former President Jimmy Carter's being in hospice for 16 months makes him an "outlier," but it also highlights the multifaceted nature of end-of-life care and dispels myths about that care, experts told UPI. ... [Dr. Joan Teno, a former hospice provider and an expert in geriatric care said,] "President Carter is an outlier in that only a small percentage of hospice patients survive more than 15 months," she told UPI in an email. "The fact that he has lived so long on hospice is testament to his excellent medical care at home and, if I had to guess, his will to live." It also illustrates the core focus of hospice, which is typically geared toward people with an anticipated life expectancy of 6 months or less, for whom curing their underlying illness isn't an option, Teno added. Defying the odds: More than 90% of patients who enter hospice care die within the first six months, and nearly 40% die within the first week, according to the National Institutes of Health.Editor's Note: Too many hospice organizations and news outlets have used former President Jimmy Carter's longer-than-normal hospice stay to discount and ignore core "hospice" care. Rarely--if ever--have any of these news article been transparent to mention the CMS Hospice Face-to-Face Encounter Requirement. This article is more transparent by describing his hospice stay of 16 months as being as "outlier." Still, its headline can be misleading with its phrase "... dispels myths about end-of-life care."