Literature Review

Hospice centers: Balancing comfort and controversy Crossroads Today, Victoria, TX; by Amaya Norman; 1/9/25 Hospice centers play a critical role in providing care for patients with terminal illnesses, focusing on comfort, dignity, and peace during life's most challenging moments. These centers are designed to support both patients and their families, but public opinions about their services often vary. ... While many see hospice centers as an essential support system offering much-needed relief and care, others express concerns about the quality of services or the emotional toll they can bring to families. These differing perspectives have sparked ongoing discussions about the role and perception of hospice care in society.

How to help people impacted by the California firesNBC News - Today Show; by Becca Wood; 1/8/24, updated 1/12/24

Healthcare Private Equity Outlook & Trends - January 2025JD Supra; by Emily Burrows, David Cox, Michael Dashefsky, Lara Flatau, Tabitha Green, Anna Grizzle, Angela Humphreys, Stewart Kameen, Travis Lloyd, Jennifer Michael, Lucas Ross Smith, Jonathan Stanley, Ryan Thomas, Nesrin Garan Tift, Shannon Wiley, Roy Wyman, Patrick Zinck; 1/10/25 As some packed the skis and headed to their favorite slopes this winter season, it is hard not to see the analogies to the healthcare private equity (PE) transaction market as we ring in the New Year. Much like the Northern Rockies, there should be plenty of dry powder to support a robust dealmaking environment in 2025. ... [From its attached PDF]

Largest health care strike in Oregon history begins as thousands picket Providence Hospitals FM News 101 KXL, Portland, OR; 1/10/25 Some 5,000 hospital health care workers walked off the job Friday as they picketed all eight Providence hospitals in Oregon, in what the state health workers union described as the largest health care strike in Oregon history — and the first to involve doctors. Most of those participating in the open-ended strike are nurses. But in a rare move, dozens of doctors at a Portland hospital and at six women’s health clinics are also partaking, making it the state’s first physicians strike, according to the Oregon Nurses Association union.

Daughter arrested for neglect after elderly mother found stuck to mattress The Augusta Press; by Greg Rickabaugh; 1/6/25 An elderly woman from Augusta was found in a state of severe neglect last week, prompting her daughter’s arrest. The 82-year-old was discovered incoherent and physically stuck to her mattress during a medical emergency on Dec. 30 at the home they shared on Rollingwood Drive, authorities said. When paramedics arrived at the family’s home, they found the woman non-responsive, with her skin literally adhered to the mattress due to untreated bedsores. She was rushed to Wellstar MCG Health, where she was stabilized. Authorities later arrested 54-year-old Tyrossale Peak, the woman’s daughter, charging her with neglect of a disabled or elderly adult. ... Investigators revealed that Peak had discontinued hospice care for her mother in June but failed to provide adequate care or maintain a safe living environment.

2025 begins with growth: NPHI adds Hospice of Hope and North Hawaii HospiceNational Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), Washington, DC; 1/7/25The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), the voice for nonprofit hospice and advanced illness care, is thrilled to commence 2025 by announcing the addition of two new outstanding members to our compassionate, mission-driven community: Hospice of Hope and North Hawaii Hospice.  ... Tom Koutsoumpas, NPHI CEO remarked: “We are thrilled to welcome Hospice of Hope and North Hawaii Hospice to our mission-driven, innovative community. Their commitment to delivering compassionate, high-quality, community-based care reflects the core values of NPHI, and we’re excited to join forces in advancing innovative care for patients and their families.” 

Re-imagining childhood grief: Children as active agents in a transactional processOmega-Journal of Death and Dying; Ceilidh Eaton Russell, Meg Chin, Georg Bollig, Cheryl-Anne Cait, Franco A. Carnevale, Jody Chrastek, Bianca Lavorgna, Catriona Macpherson, Stacy S. Remke, Lies Scaut, Jane Skeen, Regina Szylit, Camara van Breemen, Ronit Shalev; 12/24While undoubtedly, the death of a parent or sibling causes considerable distress for children, the transactional model argues that an individual’s ability to adapt to challenges and problems arises from the transactions - interactions - that occur between them and their environment (Sameroff, 2009). After a loss, it is critical to be aware of the fact that children do grieve, that they impact and are impacted by those around them, reflecting influences on their social environments at any and every age. Their impressions, the feedback they receive, the messages they interpret about what is and is not deemed acceptable by those around them, can have immediate and life-long influences on their thoughts, behaviours, emotional and physical wellbeing. We propose that rather than placing the burden solely on children to seek support, adults have responsibilities to engage in a collaborative process whereby children have opportunities to express their interests and needs.

Head and neck cancer mortality in the Appalachian regionJAMA Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery; Todd Burus, MAS; Pamela C. Hull, PhD; Krystle A. Lang Kuhs, PhD, MPH; 12/24In contrast to non-Appalachian US, where HNC [head and neck cancer] mortality rates declined considerably between 1999 and 2020, HNC mortality rates in the Appalachian region have remained stubbornly stable. Moreover, statistically significant increasing rates of HNC mortality in rural Appalachia provide evidence that the lack of rural HNC mortality improvements nationwide are associated with Appalachian disparities. While the exact factors driving these trends are unknown, the Appalachian region has an increased prevalence of multiple risk factors associated with cancer mortality, such as adverse social determinants of health, heightened alcohol and tobacco use, later stage at diagnosis, and limited access to care. Investments in the Appalachian region—such as through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law or by expanding coverage of the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program among Appalachian states—could help reduce the burden of HNC mortality by improving cancer surveillance and serving the unique needs and experiences of the Appalachian population. These investments could also aid efforts to improve other cancer sites with known disparities in Appalachia, such as lung and colorectal cancers. 

Winter snow storm slams into over a dozen states in the East, Midwest USA Today; by Julia Gomez; 1/6/25 The Central Plains and Midwest are getting slammed by a winter storm , according to officials, and it's leaving over a dozen inches of snow in some places. Here's a look at what the storm is leaving behind. Over 60 million people in the Central Plains, Midwest and along the East Coast are being bombarded by heavy snowfall because of the "disruptive" winter storm moving through the area, according to the National Weather Service. Some areas could see snowfall anywhere between 8 to 14 inches. The storm is also expected to impact travel in Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Cincinnati and bring the cities to a standstill.Editor's note: Are you ready for emergencies in your service areas? Click here for the CMS.gov Emergency Preparedness Rule. Click here for Wisconsin's CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule Toolkit: Hospices.

The Alliance celebrates the Dole Act becoming law, expanding access to care and benefits for veteransNational Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 1/7/25 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) issued the following statement in response to President Biden signing S. 141, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, into law on Thursday, January 2. This landmark legislation includes several key provisions to enhance care and benefits for Veterans and their families, including Section 301, Gerald’s Law. Gerald’s Law addresses a critical gap in benefits for Veterans by ensuring that families of terminally-ill Veterans receiving Veterans Affairs (VA)-furnished hospice care—whether at home, in a nursing home, or in another non-VA setting—retain access to their full VA burial allowance. ... “We are deeply grateful for the bipartisan support that made these critical reforms possible,” said Dr. Steve Landers, CEO for the Alliance. “This legislation ensures that Veterans and their families have greater flexibility and support when accessing the care they need, whether through hospice services, home care, or other settings. ...”

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Global healthspan-Lifespan gaps among 183 World Health Organization member statesJAMA Network Open; Armin Garmany, BS; Andre Terzic, MD, PhD; 12/24Gains in life expectancy across global populations are recognized as a societal achievement, ... but increased lifespan, ...  does not necessarily mean a longer healthy life. An estimate of healthspan is the health-adjusted life expectancy whereby years of life are weighted by health status. Notably, gains in life expectancy have not been matched by an equivalent rise in health-adjusted life expectancy. The resulting healthspan-lifespan gap reflects the extent of lifespan burdened by disease. Against the backdrop of the greatest noncommunicable disease burden, the US recorded the largest healthspan-lifespan gap ... , with a gap 24% larger than projected from the country’s life expectancy. Specifically, in the US the mean healthspan-lifespan gap increased from 10.9 to 12.4 years over the past 2 decades ... , resulting in a 29% higher gap than the global mean. Women exhibited a 2.6-year higher healthspan-lifespan gap than men, increasing from 12.2 to 13.7 years or 32% beyond the global mean for women.

A call to action for revisiting goals of care discussions with adolescents and young adults with cancerJAMA Network Open; Erica C. Kaye, MD, MPH; 12/24In “Evolution in Documented Goals of Care at End of Life for Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer,” Mastropolo et al addresses an important and understudied question regarding whether and how goals of care (GOC) change for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer as death approaches. Intuitively, the study findings showed that AYAs with cancer had increased documentation of palliative GOC as they approached end of life. More specifically, 1 in 5 AYAs had GOC documentation that transitioned from nonpalliative goals in the early or middle periods to palliative in the final 30 days before death. While perhaps unsurprising, the clinical relevance of this finding is significant: a sizeable minority of AYAs may change their GOC during the final weeks of life, underscoring the importance of revisiting GOC conversations as death approaches to align medical interventions with a patient’s wishes.