Literature Review

Community supports Hospice East despite winter weather The Winchester Sun, Winchester, KY;  by John Chaney; 2/8/26 Despite a fresh layer of snow from the night before, a steady stream of supporters filled the Winchester Elks Lodge #2816 on Saturday, February 7, 2026, for its monthly charity breakfast fundraiser benefiting Hospice East. ... The Elks Lodge hosts various buffet breakfasts on the first Saturday of each month from September through March, with all proceeds going to a selected local charity. ...  “Hospice does so much good for grieving families and it’s a great organization to give back to,” Johnson said of this month’s recipient. ... Approximately 15 volunteers helped prepare and serve the meal, working toward the lodge’s typical goal of raising about $3,500 per event.Editor's Note: These kinds of community fundraisers raise more than money. They raise memories. Sharing a meal together evokes meaningful around the tables, among those preparing and serving food, and instill a sense of both receiving and giving. While dollar amounts are smaller than large galas, "meaning" amounts are immeasurable.

How an ethics course can prep you for med school: It can strengthen communication and empathy and help with complex treatment and research decisions. U.S. News & World; by Neha Raju; 2/10/26 Medical school applicants often focus on the most tangible parts of preparation: grades, MCAT scores, clinical hours and research. Ethics courses, when considered at all, are sometimes treated as peripheral or “nice to have” rather than genuinely useful. That view misses how central ethical reasoning has become ...

Experiencing grief this Valentine's Day? VITAS® Healthcare launches Valentine Helpline in Florida PR Newswire, Miramar, FL; by VITAS Healthcare; 2/10/26 As Valentine's Day approaches, a time often associated with love and connection, many people experience heightened feelings of grief, loneliness or emotional strain after the loss of a loved one or while anticipating an impending loss. To support those navigating these complex emotions, VITAS Healthcare will host a Valentine Helpline on Saturday, Feb. 14, offering free, confidential grief support to Florida residents.

Positive experiences of seriously ill lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer persons and their partners with healthcare providers: Project Respect American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Cathy Berkman, PhD, MSW, Gary L. Stein, JD, MSW, Noelle Marie Javier, MD, Kimberly D. Acquaviva, PhD, MSW, David Godfrey, JD, Sean O’Mahony, MD, Shail Maingi, MD, Carey Candrian, PhD, Christian González-Rivera, MUP, Imani Woody, PhD, and William E. Rosa, PhD; 1/24/26 Results: There were numerous reports of respectful, affirming, and competent care, including: healthcare providers who were open about discussing a respondent’s LGBTQ+ identity and their specific health concerns; intake and assessment forms that included pre-specified choices for sexual orientations and gender identities; using correct names, pronouns, and gender; healthcare providers who identified as LGBTQ+ or signaled being an ally; and treating spouses, partners, and widows respectfully and including them in decision-making.

Hospice doctor shares what happens in the moments immediately after death Good; by Adam Albright Hanna; 2/3/26 Throughout human history, one question has bewildered every civilization, society, and individual. What happens after we die? For some people, it is a question for science. For others, it is a question of faith. But for Dr. B.J. Miller, it is a question that he is totally fine not knowing the answer to. Miller is a hospice and palliative care physician at the University of California, San Francisco. He is one of the world's leading voices on dignified death, and for him, the end of life is actually about the living. ... "I’ve been around people who are just about to die," Miller said. "Bodies that have just died. And there is this lingering sense, it’s true. There’s a feeling. It’s a palpable... yeah, there’s a lingering." ... "I didn’t need to have control over everything, I didn’t need to know the answers anymore. I mean, I love not knowing. The answer’s unimportant. It’s just a sacred and gorgeous moment."Editor's Note: Having served in direct hospice patient care from 1993–2002, I was present with many persons during their active dying and in the moments just after death, including attending deaths as a chaplain. Over time—and especially through the intimate experience of my parents’ deaths—that sense of sacredness Dr. Miller describes remains real for me. So I find myself wondering and asking non-clinical leaders: when you look at Average Daily Census (ADC), Length of Stay (LOS), and other familiar metrics, what do you see? Numbers on a spreadsheet? Or living measures of something immeasurably human—something that truly matters?

‘Behind the Blue’: Lindsay Ragsdale on growing pediatric health care and supporting Project ADAMUK Now, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY; by Allison Perry and Kody Kiser; 2/6/26 From College of Medicine research labs to the halls of UK HealthCare, Lindsay Ragsdale, M.D., has spent much of her career at the University of Kentucky. Now the chief medical officer for Golisano Children’s at UK, she oversees a growing team of specialists and subspecialists dedicated to providing the most complex care for the children of Kentucky. In this episode of “Behind the Blue,” Ragsdale discusses her career at UK, the role of palliative care, the growth of the children’s hospital and her own son’s experience as a pediatric cardiology patient.

Woman who allegedly stole $3.2m from Medicare boasted about lavish home Complex; by Helen Storms; 2/7/26 A California woman has been arrested after allegedly stealing $3.2 million from Medicare as part of an elaborate hospice scam. The woman, identified as 49-year-old Flor Mora, shared photos of the lavish $4 million dream home she bought from the funds she is accused of stealing before being hit with felony charges. Mora purchased the luxurious seaside home located in the Carmel Highlands in Monterey County, California, in November 2025. It would later be featured in the Washington Street Journal and even voted the House of the Year. Little did voters know that Mora had paid for the early 20th-century style home with reportedly stolen funds.

Senior Nannies Home Care Services joins forces with Choice Health at Home Desert Sun, EIN Presswire, Tyler, TX; Press Release; 1/30/26 Senior Nannies Home Care Services and Senior Advantages Assisted Living Placement Services (“Senior Nannies”), ... is proud to announce it has joined forces with Choice Health at Home (“Choice”), a leading multi-state operator of home health, hospice, personal care, rehabilitation, and specialty in-home services. The transaction marks Choice’s entry into the Southeastern United States, establishing Florida as a strategic anchor and creating a scaled, integrated personal care platform to support a broader regional expansion.

We’re all going to die: It’s time to get more comfortable with talking about dying India New England News; by Anna Lamb, Harvard staff writer; 2/7/26 More than 90 percent of Americans believe that we should be able to talk about death and dying, according to a recent poll. But only 27 percent were comfortable doing it, and 31 percent were uneasy about contemplating their own mortality. But things may be starting to change. ... Susan Block, founding chair of the Department of Supportive Oncology at Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, thinks it’s time. ... Block and two other palliative care physicians at Harvard-affiliated hospitals shared their thoughts on having difficult conversations about dying and what those talks can teach us.

They balanced life and work. Now more women are quitting. Here's why USA Today; by Jessica Guynn; 1/29/26 ... [In]2025, more than 455,000 women left the workforce. Now, a national survey casts a light on what drove that decision for many women. Nearly half of the women who voluntarily left said they did so because of their caregiving responsibilities and the high cost and limited availability of child care, according to a survey from women’s advocacy group Catalyst. 

Community Hospice & Palliative Care unveils Advanced Cardiac Care Program Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 2/9/26 Florida-based Community Hospice & Palliative Care has launched an Advanced Cardiac Care Program to serve patients and families wrestling with heart disease. The hospice, an affiliate of Alivia Care, designed the program in collaboration with the American Heart Association (AHA) and the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation. It will provide a suite of services specifically designed for patients with cardiac conditions.

Governor Hochul signs Medical Aid in Dying Act into New York state law New York State - Governor Kathy Hochul, Albany, NY; Press Release; 2/6/26 Governor Hochul today signed legislation S.138/A.136 that will allow medical aid in dying to be available to terminally ill New Yorkers with less than six months to live. This historic bill signing comes after careful reflection and deliberation with the sponsors of the bill, advocacy organizations, and everyday New Yorkers ... The bill, as passed by the Legislature originally included a number of protections in order to ensure that no patient was coerced into choosing medical aid in dying and that no health care professional or religiously affiliated health facility would be forced to offer medical aid in dying. The Governor worked with the Legislature to include additional guardrails that will make sure people won’t be taken advantage of, while still ensuring terminally ill New Yorkers have the choice to die comfortably and on their own terms, including: [continue reading] ...