Literature Review

Impact of prognostic notifications on inpatient advance care planning: A cluster randomized trialJournal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Jessica E Ma, Kayla W Kilpatrick, Clemontina A Davenport, Jonathan Walter, Yvonne Acker, Noppon Setji, Maren K Olsen, Mihir Patel, Michael Gao, Matthew Gardner, Jamie Gollon, Mark Sendak, Suresh Balu, David Casarett;12/25A poor prognosis is an important trigger for advance care planning (ACP) conversations, but clinicians often overestimate prognosis... A pragmatic cluster randomized trial... randomized attending physicians on the inpatient medicine team. An email and page notification was sent to physicians randomized to intervention group for admitted patients at high risk of 30-day and 6-month death based on a machine learning model. The notification recommended to have and document an ACP conversation in the electronic health record (EHR)... Patients of physicians randomized to the intervention group were more likely to have a documented ACP conversation by the randomized physician compared to the control group.

[UK] 'It’s like a weight lifted off your shoulders’: A qualitative study of adult carers taking a breakJournal of Family Issues; by Richard Meade, Debbie Cavers, Neneh Rowa-DewarView; 11/25Unpaid carers play a vital role in supporting individuals with life-limiting conditions, yet without adequate support, they risk poor health and burnout. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted with carers who had used temporary institutional respite services in Scotland. Six key themes emerged: ‘Caring is all-consuming’; ‘Caring changes sense of self’; ‘Relief, recovery, repair’; ‘Breaks give carers their lives back (briefly)’; ‘A break doesn’t solve everything’; and ‘Trust in the respite centre is crucial’. Findings indicate that institutional respite care provides overwhelmingly positive experiences for most carers, offering them essential relief and recovery from the demanding nature of caregiving. However, the benefits were often short-lived, with carers expressing a need for longer and more frequent breaks.

Trinity Health’s COO on getting a PACE program up and running Modern Healthcare; by Diane Eastabrook; 12/11/25 Anne Lewis calls Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly one of the “best-kept secrets” to containing rising costs for health systems. As chief operating officer of Trinity Health PACE, Lewis is helping the nonprofit Catholic health system expand the federal-state program that is expensive to launch and can take a few years to turn a profit. The program provides home care, prescriptions, meals and transportation for mostly Medicare-Medicaid dual-eligible older adults who can receive nursing home-level care in their homes.

December: The month where you can say, ‘I’ll do it next year’ and actually mean it!

Volunteers woven into the fabric of Horizon Hospice and Palliative Care The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA; by Cindy Hval; 12/11/25 Ruth Wagley believes home is a profound place. The volunteer coordinator for Horizon Hospice and Palliative Care said her life experience has come full circle. “I had home births. I home-schooled my kids. Now, I work in a place where we value home death,” she said. “The heart of hospice is that no one dies alone, or in pain, and everyone can die at home.” Although she had managed volunteers throughout her career, she had never worked for a company where that type of service was essential to the funding and operation of the business. Medicare/Medicaid mandates that hospices provide at least 5% of patient care hours through volunteers. “Volunteers are woven into the fabric of Horizon Hospice,” she said.Editor's Note: Do you think of your hospice volunteers as being "woven into the fabric" of the services you provide, or as an add-on, an afterthought, just another regulatory requirement? Especially at the holidays, be sure to thank your volunteers in ways that are meaningful to them.

Solvay gets nearly 45K from Super One’s register round-up Fox 21 Local News, Duluth, MN; by Jadie Jones; 12/10/25 Super One raised nearly 45 thousand dollars for Solvay Hospice House. These funds were raised during their recent register round up campaign where customers could choose to round up their change or donate more when checking out. This campaign was at 19 regional stores. Solvay has been a register roundup participant for 18 years now, raising more than 373 thousand in total.

Executive Personnel Changes - 12/5/25

Enhabit's strategic positioning and 2026 pricing outlook: Navigating regulatory headwinds with valuation resilienceAInvest; by Charles Hayes; 12/10/25 ... Conclusion: Enhabit's strategic initiatives-rooted in efficiency, innovation, and diversification-demonstrate a proactive approach to mitigating 2026's regulatory challenges. By reducing visit intensity, renegotiating payer contracts, and expanding hospice services, the company is positioning itself to maintain profitability even under a 6.4% Medicare cut. Its strong balance sheet and disciplined cost structure further reinforce valuation resilience.Editor's Note: Am I reading this correctly? Leading interventions are "reducing visit intensity" paired with "expanding hospice services"? I understand the importance of maintaining profitabilty. However, what is the core purpose? Examining Enhabit Hospice quality scores on the National Hospice Locator (data from CMS), the first 5 Enhabit hospices that populated had quality scores of 68/100, 60/100, 60/100, 58/100, and 41/100. The national average is 67/100. What kind of care would you want for your family member? For yourself?

Connecting communities across the globe: Atlas protocol Palliative Care and Social Practice; by Rebecca Newell, Juan Esteban Correa-Morales, Vilma A Tripodoro, Steven Vanderstichelen, Ghauri Aggarwal, Samar Aoun, Erin Das, Farah Demachkieh, James Downar, Silvia Librada, Julieanne Hilbers, Julie Lapenskie, Emmanuel Luyirika, Saif Mohammed, Masanori Mori, Ekkapop Sittiwantana, Libby Sallnow; 12/4/25 ... Eighteen global experts contributed to developing and validating the survey, with 14 of 15 items meeting the Content Validity Index threshold.  ... This protocol addresses a critical gap in Public Health Palliative Care literature by providing an inclusive and participatory method to map the compassionate community's landscape. The resulting data will promote visibility, partnerships and future research, supporting greater recognition of global compassionate communities and their contributions to primary palliative care.

AARP: 55 percent of family caregivers use tech to coordinate care McKnights Home Care; by Donna Shryer; 12/9/25 Technology adoption is surging on both sides of the caregiving equation. AARP estimates there are about 63 million unpaid caregivers nationwide, and among those caregivers age 50 and older, 55% now use one or more digital tools to manage routines, coordinate care or track health. Among all adults age 50+ (unpaid caregivers and care recipients), 78% say they rely on technology to stay connected with friends and family, according to AARP’s newly released 2026 Tech Trends and Adults 50-Plus report.

Prison hospice: From the inmate hospice volunteers’ perspective – a “snapshot” by Barry R. Ashpole ehospice; by Barry R. Ashpole; 12/6/25 ... [In the words of a prison inmate]: "... When they brought in a hospice, it gave us an avenue to take care of each other. In order to get in here, they’re pretty sick. They’re dyin’. ... All you’re doin’ is makin’ their passing easier. We hold their hands. We pray. And we bathe ‘em. We feed ‘em, ... We take care of all the things that they need. And when that patient has a family, his family is allowed to come back in here to the hospice. When I started hospice, I thought it would be about what I can give to the patient, what I could do for that patient to make ‘em feel better. But when you do what you do, the feeling that you get back from them, you can’t even describe it."

VITAS Hospice Services faces serious data breach investigation Investors Hangout; by Evelyn Baker; 12/9/25 ... In a significant turn of events, VITAS Hospice Services, LLC, the largest for-profit hospice chain in the United States, is facing scrutiny due to a massive data breach. Recent investigations revealed that sensitive information of 319,177 patients was compromised, raising concerns over data security and patient privacy. As investigations continue, more details about the breach are emerging, prompting calls for accountability from the company.