Literature Review

Living with dementia: To improve lives, we need to change how we think and talk about this experience in aging societies EurekAlert! - AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science); peer reviewed publication by The Hastings Center; 9/24/25 To experience or even contemplate dementia raises some of the most profound questions: What does it mean to be a person? How does someone find meaning in life while facing progressive neurological deterioration? ... To improve the lives of our fellow citizens who are living with dementia or providing dementia care, all of us need to pay attention to how we imagine and talk about these interwoven and increasingly common experiences, concludes Living with Dementia: Learning from Cultural Narratives in Aging Societies, a special report published by The Hastings Center for Bioethics. This report responds to calls from health care and social service practitioners for new ways to depict and talk about dementia, a collective term for Alzheimer disease and related dementias. Editor's Note: Click here for free access to multiple articles in this crucial report, such as

Building blocks of hospice family caregiver support Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 9/24/25 Untapped reimbursement opportunities exist when it comes to developing a sustainable family caregiving infrastructure in the face of rising demand for home-based hospice care. ... Among the payment avenues with potential to improve support for caregivers is the Medicaid-funded Structured Family Caregiving (SFC) program. SFC coverage includes a modest financial stipend to health care providers that offer home- and community-based services for caregivers. ... Roughly 63 million Americans are family caregivers, an increase of nearly 50% since 2015, according to a report from the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. About one-in-every-four adults is a caregiver to a family member, with 40% of these individuals providing high-intensity care, the report found. About half of the nation’s caregivers reported negative financial impacts, with one-in-five unable to afford basic needs such as food and 25% taking on debt. Additionally, one-in-five caregivers have poor health outcomes, the report found.Editor's Note: Are you aware that the 2008 CMS Hospice Conditions of Participation identify the "family" 423 times? (Yes, I've searched, counted, and categorized.) Click here for AARP's 2025 edition of Caregiving in the US.

Driving innovation: Healthsperien launches Center for Health Research, Policy & Strategy led by seasoned experts  PR Newswire, Washginton, DC; by Healthsperien; 9/23/25 Healthsperien announces the official launch of its Center for Health Research, Policy & Strategy, marking the third in a series of new Centers of Expertise designed to provide clients with specialized, high-quality services and reinforce Healthsperien as a comprehensive partner and integrated hub for health policy, government relations, and research strategies. ... The Center will be led by Dianne Munevar, Partner, who joins Healthsperien after serving as Vice President of Health Care Strategy at NORC at the University of Chicago. She will lead a seasoned team of 5 research, policy, and strategy experts, who also come from NORC at the University of Chicago, ...

Valley Regional Medical Center launches new palliative care program Valley Central.com, NBC-23 and CBS-4, Brownsville, TX; by Jesse Mendez; 9/22/25 Valley Regional Medical Center has launched comprehensive palliative care services through its hospitalist group, HNI Healthcare, to support patients and families facing serious illness. The new palliative care services at Valley Regional Medical Center aim to provide compassionate, patient-centered care, focusing on symptom management and emotional support, as well as goals-of-care discussions to align treatment with patients’ values and preferences.

Elara Caring and National HME announce exclusive partnership to provide durable medical equipment services nationwide Business Wire (BW), Dallas & Irving, TX; Press Release; 9/23/25 Elara Caring, a leading national home health provider offering high-quality clinical and personal care services, and National HME, a leading provider of durable medical equipment (DME) solutions and services, today announced that they have entered into an exclusive agreement under which National HME will deliver its best-in-class DME services to Elara Caring’s 49 hospice locations across the United States. 

Hospice home for veterans named after philanthropist in Nevada Audacy.com - Connecting Vets; by Julia DeDoux; 9/22/25 A Reno, Nevada-based nonprofit dedicated to ensuring veterans have access to the medical care they need has named its newly opened hospice home in honor of a philanthropist whose gifts have been critical to its efforts. Veterans Guest House said the facility, which opened in June, will be known as the Cynthia Lake House. Lake has been instrumental in expanding access to both medical and end-of-life care for veterans across northern Nevada. In 2022, she founded Veterans Guest House’s Patient Advocacy Program, which connects veterans with transportation, post-operative care, and personal support. The impact of the program inspired Lake to scale the vision to 24/7 personalized care, making the hospice house possible.

Study provides new insight into loneliness among home care recipients McKnights Home Care; by Paul Katz, MD and Barbara Resnick, PhD; 9/22/25 ... A team of international Investigators, led by researchers at the University of Waterloo, recently reported on the link between loneliness and mortality among home care recipients in Canada, Finland and New Zealand. The study can be found in the July issue of the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (Vol 26 (7) 105687 July 2025). ... Home care recipients may be more prone to loneliness, given mobility and sensory problems that limit engagement in the community.  ... Interestingly, investigators noted that individuals with less informal care had the highest rates of loneliness. An explanation may be that those with less complex health needs requiring  less support from family members may lead to more social isolation.

Hospice, palliative care services yield high quality, cost savings Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 9/22/25 Hospice and palliative care services can result in better outcomes and reduced costs, recent research has found. A recent study by Empassion Health examined 45,957 seriously ill patients receiving supportive care through the organization from January 2023 to April 2025. The study found a 35% reduction in total cost of care per patient during the final year of life when compared to other individuals. ... The study illustrates the significant quality and cost impacts of hospice and palliative care delivery, Robin Heffernan, CEO and co-founder of Empassion Health, said ... 

[Canada] Huron Shores Hospice host record breaking Handbags for Hospice fundraiser [$284k]CKNX NewsToday.ca; by Ryan Drury; 9/22/25 ... The now annual event in its ninth year raises money for compassionate end-of-life care at Huron Shores Hospice. This year's event was held on September 18 and Huron Shores Hospice shared in a media release that a new fundraising record of $248,000 was set. Huron Shores Hospice Executive Director Cathy Herbert began the evening's speeches by thanking everyone for making the night happen and continuing to support the hospice and its role in the community. All the funds raised will support Huron Shores Hospice’s mission ...

Noel: Life events bring clarity to the truth about change Telegraph Herald, Dubuque, IA; by Lavonne Noel, Executive Director for Hospice of Dubuque; 9/21/25 When my children were young, they enjoyed the “Where’s Waldo” books. ... Like us, Waldo finds himself in a complex, dynamic world. The reader is challenged with finding Waldo hiding somewhere amid the chaos. ... [Lavonne uses the Waldo metaphor to describe her recent mid-March to early-July leave of absence, due to her new grandbaby's medical needs and her own hip replacement/recovery. She describe the following about this time away.] ...  My thoughts frequently centered on these three truths:

How some people are using playlists to prepare for dyingBBC News; by Alex Taylor; 9/21/25  For years, local DJ Dave Gilmore soundtracked other people's nights out in pubs and clubs. But now he's curating a uniquely personal playlist - the songs of his own life to carry him through terminal illness. The list includes both November Rain and Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns and Roses, The Shadows by Apache - which inspired Dave to play guitar - and Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. ... Moments like this emphasise the power of music to forge everlasting connection. ... The impact is neurological as well as emotional, explains Sarah Metcalfe, managing director of the Utley Foundation's Music for Dementia campaign. Brain activity scans show music "lights up" multiple parts of our brain, simultaneously touching physical and emotional sense centres. "Even if one part of the brain is damaged, those other parts can still be accessed," Sarah says.

Ground-breaking pilot brings medical students into nursing homes in Hampshire University of Southampton, United Kingdom; by the University of Southampton; 9/18/25 Third-year medical students are undertaking placements in local social care settings in a new pilot programme developed by the University of Southampton and the Hampshire Care Association. The initiative aims to bridge the gap between health and social care by providing the next generation of doctors with real-world insight into the care sector and the critical role it plays in people’s lives. 

Let us all be the leaders we wish we had. ~ Simon Sinek