Literature Review

The secure leader: How attachment styles shape leadership | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Jamie Goff; 3/18/26 What if the greatest barrier to effective leadership isn’t a lack of skills—but a lack of self-awareness?  What if the real challenge isn’t learning more tactics, but understanding the internal stories, beliefs, and patterns that shape how you lead every day? In Part One of this powerful conversation, Chris Comeaux sits down with Dr. Jamie Goff, executive coach and author of The Secure Leader, ... Dr. Goff challenges the traditional focus on technical leadership skills and instead shines a light on the internal mindset shifts that truly transform leaders.

VA Pittsburgh chaplains: Providing hope, healing and spiritual support for Veterans U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; by Jordan Harris; 3/9/26 From suicide prevention to end-of-life care, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) chaplains deliver compassionate, holistic support that strengthens the well-being of Veterans and staff. Chaplains provide more than spiritual guidance -- they offer hope, comfort and connection when Veterans need it most. Whether it’s supporting someone through a mental health crisis, walking alongside families during end-of-life care, or simply listening in moments of uncertainty, chaplains are a steady presence. Their work helps Veterans find meaning, resilience and peace as part of their healing journey.

How "The Pitt" can prepare you for the end of lifeKatie Couric Media; by Maggie Parker; 3/20/26 If you're sensitive to seeing death on screen, you shouldn't watch The Pitt. Set in a major city's emergency room, on the hit medical procedural, death is inevitable, and frequent. ... The way end-of-life issues are addressed on the show was carefully thought out and intentionally diverse. ... Unfortunately, it's rare for the media to portray death and dying authentically, according to Dr. Underleider's analysis of more than 141,000 scripted TV episodes from 2010 to 2020. ... This season, The Pitt takes its quest to realistically depict death to another level, with the introduction of a terminal cancer patient, Roxie, who knows what's coming and doesn't want to go home to face it. We spoke to Dr. Ungerleider about her reaction to Roxie's final moments, her experience working with the creators, what they get right about end of life, and why it matters. ...Editor's Note: Pair this with our previous posts, "HBO’s ‘The Pitt’ inspires viewers to consider organ donation, end-of-life planning" and "How ‘The Pitt' gets death right."

Regional pediatric Education and Assistance Collaborative for Hospice nurses (REACH): A tele-educational intervention Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing; by Taylor Aglio, Alexa Bobelis, Ashley Autrey, Tracy Hills, Alexandra Superdock, Arshia Madni, Kelly Bien, Nidhi Mali, Erica C Kaye; 3/20/26... To address [the gaps between hospice care for seriously ill children and their families and adult-focused hospice paradigms], a multidisciplinary team comprising physicians, nurses, psychosocial clinicians, community members, and bereaved parents was convened to develop the Regional Pediatric Education and Assistance Collaborative for Hospice Nurses (REACH) initiative. Using a community-based participatory research approach, a stakeholder-driven tele-educational intervention was designed, refined, and implemented as a pilot for hospice nurses across Tennessee. Pilot data showed this hub-and-spoke model to be feasible, acceptable, and impactful, increasing hospice nurses' knowledge and comfort with provision of pediatric care in the community.

The good deaths of people who never marry: Lifelong single people are most likely to die pain-free and at peace. Psychology Today; by Bella DePaulo, PhD; 3/8/26 People who are single and want to stay that way are often taunted with scare stories about what will happen to them toward the end of their life—they will grow old alone, they will die alone, and all the rest. Same for people who have no children. But is the quality of the end of their lives really worse for those who never marry (or never have kids) than it is for those who are married, remarried, divorced, or widowed (or who have grown children)? We now have an answer, and it is not at all what those dire warnings predicted.Editor's Note: This Psychology Today article provides an additional focus on "people who never marry" from the article we posted on 3/20/26, “We make our own families”: Do child-free people die alone? Hospice worker shares her experience. Important: "child-free" does not necessarily mean the person never married. Likewise, "never married" does not necessarily mean the person is "child-free."

Hospice organizations call for Medicare provider enrollment moratorium in California Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 3/20/26 A coalition of hospice and home health industry stakeholders are calling for a statewide moratorium in California on provider enrollments due to widespread Medicare fraud. A key area of focus is the greater Los Angeles County area. The group of providers and associations has written to U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz saying that rampant fraud in the state requires federal intervention. The signatories on the letter included the Save Home Health Coalition, California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA) and Texas Association for Home Care and Hospice (TAHCH).

* CEO, Hildegard House, nonprofit, Louisville, KY

Alliance submits comment letter on the Department of Education’s notice of proposed rulemaking, ‘Reimagining and Improving Student Education’ (RISE) National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 3/3/26 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) has submitted a response to The Department of Education’s proposed rule, titled Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE).  While the Alliance appreciates the Department’s aim of promoting fiscally responsible spending, the comment letter expresses concern that the proposed rule’s narrow definition of professional degree, and the resulting exclusion of nursing, physical therapy, physician assistant, occupational therapy, and social work advanced degree programs, would have a unintended consequence for the healthcare workforce and the millions of Americans who depend on care delivered in the home.

Metro East hospice aide caring for her own son with rare terminal disorder First Alert 4, Collinsville, IL; by Jeffrey Bullard; 3/13/26 A Collinsville mother has worked as a hospice care aide for more than 13 years, and soon she will be placing her son in that care. “She is the best,” said Brenda McGarvey of Amber Mers, her coworker at Unity Hospice Care. “If you didn’t know Amber personally, you would never know what she is going through,” explained Beverly Lee. Amber is facing a mother’s worst nightmare. Her son Emil is dying.

Alzheimer’s definitions, biomarkers, and antibodies: Halima Amjad, Barak Gaster, and Heather WhitsonGeriPAL podcast; by Alex Smith, Eric Widera, Halima Amjad, Barak Gaster, Heather Whitson; 3/12/26It’s an era of breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s research, yet for many clinicians, it’s also a time of profound uncertainty. We are currently navigating competing definitions of the disease, multiple new biomarkers coming on market seemingly every week, and the clinical rollout of new amyloid antibodies. How do we translate this rapid-fire science into daily practice? On this week’s GeriPal podcast... we dive deep into:

[Spain] Queen Letizia supports universal access to palliative care Aragon Health Research Institute | Biomedical Research Center; Press Release; 3/16/26 Her Majesty Queen Letizia received a delegation from the Spanish Society of Palliative Care (SECPAL) with representatives from all essential professional profiles in palliative care. During the meeting, they conveyed to Queen Letizia the current situation of palliative care in Spain as well as the important challenges that persist ... Queen Letizia showed her sensitivity and commitment towards ... those facing advanced illnesses or who are at the end of their lives, and conveyed to SECPAL her support for initiatives aimed at strengthening the development of palliative care in Spain. ... Faced with this reality, SECPAL handed the queen over a decalogue [ten-point plan] which outlines the priorities for the development of palliative care in our country, such as ensuring that there are sufficient resources and appropriately trained teams at all levels of care.

Call for applications: Investigator in Residence ProgramASCENT press release; 3/2/26The Advancing the Science of Palliative Care Research Across the Lifespan (ASCENT) Consortium invites applications for its 2026 Investigator in Residence Program. The goal of this program is to increase the number of palliative care investigators, expand the range of institutions where palliative care research is performed, and develop scientific and leadership capabilities leading to future successful grant proposals, both through ASCENT and extramurally. Applications due Thursday, March 26 at 5:00 pm PT.