Literature Review

Why being trustworthy is a leadership hack that drives success Inc.; by Yufie Ren; 2/20/25 Leaders who cultivate trust can significantly reduce employee churn and improve organizational performance. ... In an era of rapid change, when teams look to leaders for stability and direction, trust is the invisible currency that fuels organizational success. ... Fortunately for managers – and workers – there’s a lot of research into how to be a more trustworthy leader. Here are a few insights:

Patients without family or health care proxies face overtreatment or limbo in hospitals WHYY - PBS; by Maiken Scott; 2/24/25 A program matches unrepresented patients with volunteers who can make care decisions for them during health care crises. ... [Intensive care physician David] Oxman says unrepresented patients are a small, but growing group. Some have outlived their family members, or are estranged from them. Maybe they’ve moved a lot, sometimes substance use or homelessness plays a role. The situation is especially complicated with patients who have dementia, or who can’t communicate their wishes for other reasons. ... Most states have provisions where medical guardians and medical decision makers can be appointed by a court, but that takes a long time. In the meantime, a search for relatives begins. David Sontag, director of ethics for Beth Israel Lahey Health in Massachusetts, ... created a matching program where health care professionals volunteer to represent patients, not within their own hospital systems because that could cross ethical boundaries, but at other hospitals. “This is an opportunity for us to help some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, those who have nobody to speak for them when they can no longer speak for themselves. And that allows us to respect their autonomy throughout their lives,” he said.

Study shows end-of-life cancer care lacking for Medicare patients Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) News; by Tom Wilemon; 2/21/25 The study involved patients of diverse ethnic backgrounds age 66 or older who died from breast, prostate, pancreatic or lung cancers. Many Medicare patients with advanced cancer receive potentially aggressive treatment at the expense of supportive care, according to a study that analyzed Medicare records. The study, published Feb. 21 in JAMA Health Forum, examined the quality of end-of-life care among 33,744 Medicare decedents. ... Overall, claims records showed that 45% of the patients experienced potentially aggressive care (such as multiple acute care visits within days of death), while there was a low receipt of supportive care, such as palliative, hospice and advanced care planning in the last six months of life. While hospice care spiked to more than 70% during the month that death occurred, over 16% of patients spent less than 3 days in hospices. Moreover, receipt of advanced care planning and palliative care remained below 25%. Editor's note: Click here for the research article, "Contemporary Patterns of End-of-Life Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries With Advanced Cancer." Though this research was published just this past Friday February 21, 2025, multiple newsletters are posting it, highlighting different elements. 

Pennsylvania lawmaker introduces ‘No Patient Left Behind Act’ WHTM - PA Homepage; by Brady Doran; 2/19/25 A Pennsylvania lawmaker introduced a bill that would ensure hospitals have visitation policies that balance patient needs with public health protocol. According to Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33), elderly patients left alone in hospitals experience faster physical and cognitive decline. The No Patient Left Behind Act, introduced by Mastriano, would ensure Pennsylvanians with medical treatment or end-of-life care have support by their sides. “Hospitals should be places of healing. However, for far too many, they have become places of loneliness, despair, and unnecessary suffering,” Mastriano said.

More than 900 Californians have died of the flu so far this season amid low vaccine rates, state saysLos Angeles Times, CA; by Lila Seidman; 2/22/25More than 900 Californians — including 15 children — have succumbed to the flu this season in what has turned out to be one of the worst surges of the respiratory illness in years, according to a report released Friday by the California Department of Public Health. Most of the influenza victims — 701 — were over 64 years old, which tracks with the conventional notion that the illness disproportionately affects older people. However, the number of children who have died has raised concerns. Four more kids died of the flu during the week ending Feb. 15, increasing the seasonal pediatric death toll by more than a third, according to the report.

[Argentina] Government dismantles National Cancer Institute’s Palliative Care Program Time.News; 2/24/25 As Javier Milei’s administration embarks on a controversial agenda aimed at reshaping Argentina’s public health system, a profound and alarming shift has taken place: the dismantling of the National Cancer Institute’s Palliative Care Program. This strategic move threatens the welfare of thousands of cancer patients and poses dire implications for the healthcare system at large.

‘End-of-Life Options Act’ moving forward The Famuan - Florida A& M University; by Myah Canidate; 2/22/25 In a world where medical advancements have extended life, the question of how we choose to end it has become increasingly pertinent. House Bill 471, commonly known as the Florida End-of-Life Options Act,  proposes a significant shift in how terminally ill patients can approach their final days. This legislation would allow qualified individuals the right to request medication to end their lives peacefully, igniting a complex debate around autonomy, ethics and healthcare practices. ... Supporters of HB 471 argue that it offers a compassionate choice for those enduring unbearable suffering. ... Critics argue that vulnerable patients may feel pressure to choose this option, particularly in situations involving financial strain or family dynamics. 

3 bold and disruptive strategies to retain top-performing leaders Forbes; by Dr. Cheryl Robinson; 2/19/25 ... The Global Leadership Forecast 2025 by DDI reveals a concerning trend: leaders are burning out at unprecedented rates. With 40% of leaders contemplating resignation due to burnout, top talent is either stepping down or disengaging, leaving organizations vulnerable to performance decline and talent gaps. The stakes are high. ...

Who cares for the caregivers? The push for laws to protect nurses’ mental health Medscape; by Jodi Helmer; 2/5/25 ... More than 67% of nurses reported feeling depressed or anxious, and two thirds said they were not receiving mental health support. Nurses cite lack of time and financial resources among the reasons for not seeking treatment, but fears about losing their jobs and the impact on their nursing licenses were also top issues. ... Registered nurses (RN) and advanced practice RN (APRNs) can be required to answer invasive questions about their mental health as part of their state licensure and advanced credentialing applications. The questions can be stigmatizing and could require nurses to submit letters from their healthcare providers addressing their mental health status. ... There is a movement to urge licensing and credentialing organizations to remove invasive and stigmatizing mental health questions from their applications. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing is working on national recommendations ...

[UK - St. Christopher's Hospice] Woman with rare brain disease dances with husband for first time in yearsReposted in Daily Journal from Talker News, Tupelo, MS; by Isobel Williams; 2/20/25 This is the touching moment an elderly woman living with a rare brain disease slow danced with her husband - for the first time in years. Constance Bartholomew, 69, has progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a neurological condition which has left her struggling to walk. The disorder - which is estimated to affect around 4,000 people in the UK - can cause problems with balance, movement, vision, speech and swallowing. Constance began physiotherapy at St. Christopher's Hospice in Sydenham, south-east London in September last year - at which point husband Dennis, 72, joked he would pay a million pounds to dance with her again. Upon hearing the remark, rehab assistant Ralitsa Angelova ... made it her mission to make it happen.  ... “She is unable to walk, to articulate, her eyesight has failed. It’s a terrible condition. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But she is fully aware. There is absolutely nothing wrong with her memory or comprehension. ..." The video has been released as hospices in London come together to change perceptions of hospice care and highlight the vital importance of gifts in wills to their holistic palliative care services for adults and children in their communities. The hospices are taking part in the This is Hospice Care campaign, a national collaboration of 143 hospices across England, Scotland and Wales, brought together by Hospice UK.Editor's note: St. Christopher's Hospice--founded by Dame Cicely Saunders--is the home for modern day hospice care.  Click here for a YouTube video of Constance and Dennis. Click here for the article we posted on 2/21 about the UK's "This Is Hospice Care" initiative.

Hospice workers in Tampa experience what it feels like to live with dementiaFox 13 Tampa Bay, FL; by Kailey Tracy; 2/19/25 Keosha Simmons says her father, who died in 2018, was a hard worker and an amazing man. ... "He did live with dementia. It was an early onset of dementia. He ended up with cancer, and it was a later stage when we found out about it, and that's when he came under the care of Empath Health Suncoast Hospice," Simmons said. Simmons is now the Director of Empath’s Community Engagement team. On Wednesday, Simmons and her team did a different kind of training. It was a hands-on simulation to experience what someone with dementia feels. [From this article's "The Brief" Summary.]

Saad Healthcare agrees to pay $3M to settle False Claims Act allegations that it billed Medicare for ineligible hospice patientsU.S. Department of Justice - Office of Public Affairs; Press Release; 2/21/25Saad Enterprises Inc., doing business as Saad Healthcare, has agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting false claims for the care of hospice patients in Alabama who were ineligible for the Medicare hospice benefit because they were not terminally ill. ... The settlement resolves allegations that between 2013 and 2020 Saad submitted, or caused the submission of, false claims to Medicare for 21 patients who did not meet the eligibility requirements for the Medicare hospice benefit as defined by statute and regulation, despite Saad knowing the patients were ineligible for the Medicare hospice benefit.