Literature Review

Husband with Parkinson's was admitted into at-home hospice program and has dramatically improved. Have others experienced this? Aging Care; by Klwolf; 1/21/26 My DH has Parkinson’s that has been getting progressively worse for months. In early December we had him assessed for hospice and he was admitted. Since then, he’s improved dramatically. Has anyone else experienced dramatic improvement AFTER hospice enrollment? The hospice staff simply shrugs and says this sometimes happens and that we need to be prepared for him to revert back to his previous state. Editor's Note: Many clinicians have seen individuals improve after hospice enrollment, often due to better symptom control, reduced stress, or consistent interdisciplinary care. The concern here is not the improvement itself, but the hospice team’s reported response. A shrug can feel dismissive to families already living with uncertainty. How do we teach teams to communicate about improvement—honoring hope while preparing families with clarity, compassion, and trust?

Defining palliative care quality in a tight reimbursement environment Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 1/27/26 Palliative care delivery is undergoing an evolutionary period of change. These services are offered in several different ways across the country, which brings both benefits and challenges when it comes to defining quality in the space. Today’s palliative care providers are shaping the outlook of the field, but through diversified approaches, according to Brynn Bowman, CEO of Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). The field is reaching a pivotal stage when it comes to supply and demand or resources, an issue that greater standardization could help to address, she indicated. 

Winter weekend storms: Off the grid United States power outage tracker USAToday.com; real-time data map; updated every 15 minutes  USA Today provides a real-time U.S. Power Outage Tracker that aggregates data from more than 1,000 utility companies nationwide. This interactive map updates automatically every 15 minutes, offering near–real-time visibility into outages as severe weather and blizzard conditions unfold. Editor's Note: Share, save, and bookmark this resource. Use it to stay ahead of power disruptions in your service areas. For leaders in affected or high-risk regions, final preparations today can reduce harm this weekend. Assess and review with your leaders and teams (especially newer employees): 

WHO statement on notification of withdrawal of the United States World Health Organization; 1/24/26 As a founding member of the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States of America has contributed significantly to many of WHO’s greatest achievements, including the eradication of smallpox, and progress against many other public health threats including polio, HIV, Ebola, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety and more.WHO therefore regrets the United States’ notification of withdrawal from WHO – a decision that makes both the United States and the world less safe. The notification of withdrawal raises issues that will be considered by the WHO Executive Board at its regular meeting starting on 2 February and by the World Health Assembly at its annual meeting in May 2026.

‘Death Cafe’ will explore end-of-life issues, over refreshments OC Register, Orange County, CA; by Teri Sforza; 1/21/26 The Orange County Deathworkers Alliance wants to chat about your inevitable demise. Yes, members say, they’re a blast at parties! The Alliance is not a grief support group exactly, but a collection of caregivers, doulas, doctors, organizers and the like who help folks get a grip on the details attendant to their own mortality, and/or the mortality of loved ones. ... Death Cafés are a global movement, allowing people to discuss the oft-taboo thoughts and questions they have about the end of life. Organizers say the format encourages folks to share personal stories, explore their feelings and/or simply listen to other perspectives in a supportive atmosphere.

If you wait until you feel better to start living, you might be waiting forever. Go live your life. Do it sad. Do it anxious. Do it uncertain. Because healing doesn't always come before the experience. Sometimes, the experience is what heals you.

Sunday newsletters focus on headlines and top read stories of the last week (in order) - enjoy!

Comment on the 2025 Global Map of Palliative Care: Data clarity and consistencyJournal of Pain & Symptom Management; by Guangwei Ji, Jin Ke, Fei Sun; 12/25We read with great interest the findings from the "First-Ever Global Ranking of Palliative Care: 2025 World Map Under the New WHO Framework" published in November 2025. As the first comprehensive review post the COVID-19 pandemic, this article provides an updated mapping of palliative care development worldwide. The use of a new WHO framework in 201 countries and territories, offers an invaluable overview on the global state of palliative care, particularly inspirational for countries that are launching palliative care policies or programs.

Concurrent care and equity: Addressing palliative care gaps for African American men in rural communities with a serious respiratory illnessAmerican Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine; by Cathy L. Campbell; 12/25Hospice and palliative care are often hard to access for African Americans (AA) living in rural areas with serious respiratory illnesses. Under the Medicare Hospice Benefit, patients must stop curative or life-sustaining treatments for their terminal illness, which limits options for concurrent care. This is a major challenge for AA men, whose average life expectancy is 67.8 years—about 10 years shorter than the national average. They also experience more care transitions in the last 6 months of life compared to White and Hispanic patients. These frequent transitions show how fragmented the health system is and how it often fails AA families. Using intersectionality and a vignette, this paper explores how overlapping factors—lived experience as AA man, rural location, and serious illness—affect access to palliative care.

A qualitative study of chaplains spiritual care for persons with dementia in long-term careJournal of Applied Gerontology; by Meganne K. Masko, Sarah McEvoy, Jung Kwak, Kathryn Lyndes, Alexia M. Torke, Shelley Varner Perez, George Fitchett; 12/25This study explored how chaplains provide spiritual care for residents with dementia in long-term care, which is not well understood. We conducted six separate semi-structured focus groups with a total of 16 chaplains who provide care for people with dementia in long-term care facilities across the U.S. Two main themes emerged: the broad and multifaceted role of chaplains in long-term care, including responsibilities to residents, staff, and family, and dementia-specific spiritual care adaptations and delivery practices, including learning through experience, using multisensory tools, relying on presence, music, and emotional resonance. Chaplains’ adaptive, person-centered spiritual care for residents with dementia highlights the need for dementia-informed chaplaincy training and greater integration of chaplaincy into interdisciplinary care planning in long-term care settings.

Evaluating palliative care needs in patients with advanced non-malignant chronic conditions: An umbrella review of needs assessment tools Healthcare; by Chrysovalantis Karagkounis, Stephen Connor, Danai Papadatou, Thalia Bellali; 12/24/25 Patients with advanced non-malignant chronic conditions experience illness burdens and palliative care needs comparable to those of oncology patients, yet palliative care is often introduced late. Identifying individuals with potential palliative care needs is complex, and although multiple tools exist, the most appropriate approach for assessing needs in this population remains unclear. This umbrella review aimed to identify and evaluate tools used to systematically assess palliative care in adults with advanced non-malignant chronic conditions, with a specific focus on their content, structure, and psychometric properties.