Literature Review

The rise of home death in the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based study of death certificate data for adults from 32 countries, 2012–2021EClinicalMedicine, Part of The Lancet, by Sílvia Lopes, Andrea Bruno de Sousa, Mayra Delalibera, Elizabeth Namukwaya, Joachim Cohen, Barbara Gomes; 1/24Data on place of death for all adults (18 years and over) that died from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2021 were requested (47 countries approached, 32 included). Our study shows that there was a rise in home deaths during the pandemic, but with variability across countries, sex, age, and causes of death.

A report on the innovative University of Colorado Community Hospice and Palliative Medicine FellowshipKatherine T Morrison, F Amos Bailey, David Nowels, Maurice C ScottThis article introduces the Community Hospice and Palliative Medicine (CHPM) Fellowship, an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Advancing Innovation in Residency Education (AIRE) project designed to enable mid-career physicians (at least five years out from residency or fellowship) to achieve eligibility for board certification in HPM.

Construction of Hospice Care evaluation system for terminally ill patients in ICUPubMed, Patient Prefer Adherence, by Qin-Ling Wang et.al; 1/10/24Conclusion: In this study, three rounds of Delphi consultation methods were used to construct an evaluation index system for the nursing quality of hospice care for ICU patients. The evaluation indicators formulated closely focus on the physiological and psychological characteristics of ICU patients, which can provide a better reference for ICU patients with advanced life in the future.

Sara McKay named Chief Executive OfficerHospice of Washington County press release; 1/11/24Hagerstown, Md., and Chambersburg, Penn.  – Sara McKay has been named Chief Executive Officer of Hospice of Washington County, Hagerstown, Md., and Franklin Hospice, Chambersburg, Penn., effective January 4, 2024. She succeeds Ernesto Lopez, who was named President of The Denver Hospice in Colorado in August 2023. McKay had been serving as Acting CEO of Hospice of Washington County and Franklin Hospice since last August.

Rural hospitals are caught in an aging-infrastructure conundrumFortune, by Markian Hawryluk and KFF Health News; 1/11/24Kevin Stansbury, the CEO of Lincoln Community Hospital in the 800-person town of Hugo, Colorado, is facing a classic Catch-22: He could boost his rural hospital’s revenues by offering hip replacements and shoulder surgeries, but the 64-year-old hospital needs more money to be able to expand its operating room to do those procedures.

Taking the 'polar' plunge - Fundraiser for Volunteer Hospice of Clallam CountySequim Gazette, by Keith Thorpe; 1/10/24Participants in the New Year’s Day polar bear dip in Port Angeles braved the chilly water of Port Angeles Harbor at Hollywood Beach on Jan. 1. More than 100 dippers took part in the annual ritual, which served as a fundraiser for Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County.

Videos help increase communication of care goals for hospitalized older adultsNational Institute on Aging; 1/11/24A video intervention delivered to older hospital patients by palliative care educators helped increase communication and documentation of care preferences. These findings, published in JAMA Network Open, are from a study led by NIA-funded Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital researchers.

Other Business Headlines of Interest, updated 1/11/24 per nasdaq.com

Speaking out: Hello and goodbyeThe Bismarck Tribune, by Amanda Godfread; 1/11/24As I said hello to 2024, though, I had the difficult honor of saying goodbye at two funerals. One for a dear friend’s father who passed away unexpectedly and another for my great aunt, who was 94 and in hospice when she died. Two very different lives that led to the same kind of commemoration by friends and family to remember, to say goodbye, and to figure out how to move forward.

A dying person is the last to lose this sense. The scientists' discovery may be surprising.247 News Agency; 1/10/24Researchers analyzed the brain activity of 30 people to check their reactions before death. As a result of the research, it turned out that the last sense that leaves the body of a dying person is hearing. 

PeaceHealth nurses mull a strike amid wage, workload pressuresHospice News, by Holly Vossel; 1/9/24Nurses at PeaceHealth’s Sacred Heart Home Care Services have voted to authorize a strike, citing low wages and staffing strains.PeaceHealth operates two hospice locations in Oregon, along with six others in Alaska and Washington state.

Lincoln County’s man and woman of the year namedLake Norman Media Group, by Michelle T. Bernard; 1/10/24... At one time, there were no hospice services in Lincoln County. [Normand] Lavasseur and a few other individuals got together and in 1987 got a license to operate Hospice and Palliative Care of Lincoln County. “I was on the board of directors and they said they needed a male nurse,” he said. “I told them I could do that and went to community college and got my CNA 1 and CNA 2. This was back when I was still working at Mohican Mill in Maiden. On my lunch hour I used to take off and go and give a bath or some other service to someone who needed it. I worked as a volunteer for hospice for 37 years.”