Literature Review

Bereavement service deserts: A 2024 statewide assessment of  bereavement services Death Studies, open access; by Christopher W. Giang, Luisa Kcomt, Joshua Truchan, Kara Dickinson, Rebecca J. Evans-Polce & Sean Esteban McCabe; 12/5/25 ... This paper introduces the term “bereavement service desert” to describe geographic areas with high mortality and little to no access to bereavement services. Bereavement services deserts are especially concerning where elevated death rates are met with an absence of formal grief supports, trained providers, or community-based resources. As these trends in death have continued to rise over the last decade, the social and economic costs of unresolved grief are becoming more apparent in families, schools, com munities, workplaces, and healthcare systems. ...Editor's Note: Though this research focuses on bereavement agencies across Michigan's 83 counties, its methodologies and outcomes provide data, references, and insights relevant to examining bereavement care in all U.S. states. What are the "bereavement service deserts" in the your state(s)? In the areas you serve?

House passes legislation that extends acute hospital care at home program through 2030 Health IT Answers | Industry News; 12/15/25 ATA Action, the advocacy arm of the American Telemedicine Association, comments on the U.S. House passing the U.S. House of the Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act (H.R. 4313) recently, which extends the Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCaH) program through 2030. This is an important step to avert another lapse of essential care for Medicare patients on January 30, 2026. ... “In a solid show of bipartisan support, the House passed legislation under suspension, to ensure that millions of Medicare beneficiaries will continue to have access ..."

Southern Care Collaborative a model for regional hospice collectives Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 12/12/25 As nonprofits seek to build scale in order to compete with larger competitors, some are banding together in regional collaboratives. In these efforts, the Southern Care Collaborative, founded in 2022, could serve as a model. The organization includes 11 hospice members operating in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The hospices are pooling resources and joining forces to build economies of scale and payer relationships without any change in ownership. 

[England] Hospice patient's hidden paintings on show BBC News, Bishop Auckland, England; by Gemma Sherlock and Stephanie Cleasby; 12/13/25 A hospice patient has had his wish come true as a set of his watercolours, previously hidden away in a cupboard, have gone on display. ... Now the 13 paintings are being viewed by the public for the very first time at Bishop Auckland's Artists' Hub. Mr. Scott, 86, who is receiving palliative care at St Oswald's Hospice in Gosforth, said: "All I've ever wanted is for people to see my paintings." ... It was not until a conversation between social worker Marisa Woodward and his sister Sue Coxon that Mr. Scott's paintings were discovered. Mrs. Woodward then contacted The Auckland Project ... for advice on how to display them.... Mr Scott's pieces will be on display for a month before they are donated to St Oswald's Hospice.

Palliative and hospice care in prostate cancer: A scoping review Urologic Oncology; by Andrew Glaza, Aidan Kennedy, Minhaj Jabeer, Siddharth Ramanathan, Agyeiwaa Obeng, Bernadette Zwaans, Jason Hafron; Jan 2026 Advanced prostate cancer presents therapeutic and prognostic challenges at the end of life. Palliative and hospice care improve quality of life, reduce hospitalizations, and enhance patient-centered decision-making. ...  On average, 40.4% of patients received palliative care, 14.74% hospice, and 1.3% received both. Early integration was associated with better quality of life, fewer hospital admissions, reduced aggressive interventions, and increased cost savings. Most referrals occurred late in the disease trajectory. ... Future research should focus on barriers to timely referral and evaluate their effects on clinical and economic outcomes in prostate cancer.

Hospice of Wichita Falls expands outreach with renovated facility CBS News-6, Wichita Falls, TX; by Rachel Gomez Ramirez; 12/12/25 Today [12/12/25], Hospice of Wichita Falls held an open house showcasing their newly renovated facility, built by and for the community. Isha Howerton, Director of Development for Hospice of Wichita Falls, explained that the Building on a Legacy of Care fundraiser campaign initially began in 2017 and is nearing completion. Through this campaign, the community raised $15 million to build a new inpatient care center and renovate the existing one. Today’s event marked the new facility’s final renovation phase. ... [Additionally, by] meeting their campaign goal of $340,000, the non-profit hospice can continue to support charity care for those who need end-of-life care.

My patient was gone. I had to help his family see it: The art of medicine means sitting with families’ grief and hope Stat10 - First Opinion; by Raya Elfadel Kheirbek; 12/15/25 Bullets tore through Michael Thompson’s car at a stop sign, ending the life of a 35-year-old father in an instant. Just minutes earlier, he had dropped his 8-year-old daughter, Emma, at dance class, her pink tutu bouncing as she waved goodbye. Now, in the ICU, his young body lay tethered to machines — ... a ventilator’s hiss forcing his chest to rise. ... His family’s grief filled the room, raw and heavy, as I prepared to document our meeting. On the screen, a pop-up appeared: “Patient is deceased; do you want to continue?” Its cold bluntness paled against their pain. Michael looked alive. His chest rose and fell with the ventilator. ... Medicine isn’t just tests or machines. It is presence — sitting with families in their grief, faith, and love. Our tools should support that presence, not interrupt it with cold prompts. ... Most U.S. hospitals lack clear guidelines for these situations, leaving families and clinicians alike in limbo. They also worried about organ donation — a decision fewer than 1% of families consent to after brain death, often because the body still looks alive.Editor's Note: We thank the palliative care physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains who provide sensitive presence with families in the unbearable spaces between hope and loss, especially when life support decisions arise. In this season, may we pause to honor those who carry this sacred work—and remember the families who have had to accept harsh truths while machines still “breathe.”

Long-term hospice stay: New edit to prevent overpayment CMS - MLN Matters - Medicare Learning Network; by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services; 12/5/25Related CR Release Date: December 5, 2025Effective Date: April 1, 2026Implementation Date: April 6, 2026Action Needed: Make sure your billing staff knows about a new edit that will help identify and prevent overpayments of long-term hospice care for claims submitted with matching “admission” and “from” dates.Key Updates: This new edit in the CWF will close the gap in the system that allows claims to pay at a higher rate when the “admission” and “from” dates match. MACs will reject hospice claims when the “admission” date doesn’t match the election period start date on the corresponding election period. ...

Palliative care interventions for caregivers of people with advanced dementia: A meta-analysis Sigma Global Nursing Excellence - Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing; by Ita Daryanti Saragih, Ira Suarilah, Hsun-Kuei Ko, Ice Septriani Saragih, Bih-O Lee; 12/11/25 Conclusion: Palliative care interventions were successful in reducing conflict in decision-making of caregivers of people with advanced dementia. ... Linking Evidence to Action: Future palliative care interventions for caregivers of advanced dementia patients should focus on developing the contents of palliative care materials based on evidence-based evaluations and explore strategies to improve engagement between patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.

Providence Care appoints Werner Freymann, Jr. as new Chief Executive Officer Morningstar; by Business Wire; 12/10/25 Providence Care, a leading hospice, palliative and primary care for seniors organization, today announced the appointment of Werner Freymann, Jr. as its new Chief Executive Officer. In the role of CEO, Werner will lead the company’s strategic direction and drive continued growth and innovation across its continuum of care for the elderly wherever they call home. Mr. Freymann brings more than 25 years of executive leadership experience, previously serving as SVP of Discovery at Home. 

FMOL Health doctor is spreading palliative care programming across system Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA); by Julie Minda; 12/9/25 Dr. Mark Kantrow still remembers when it clicked for him exactly how important palliative care is in medicine.It was around 2006, and he had just attended his first conference on palliative care, at a time when the concept was new to him and to many other clinicians. ... As system medical director for palliative care, he has been integrating palliative care programming into all nine of the health system's hospitals. This work has included educating staff and patients about the approach, assembling multidisciplinary teams to deliver this type of care and building patient and family awareness of what FMOLH Health hospitals offer.

'Get out of my house': 84-year-old man shoots son in the face for not visiting mother in hospice care, police say Law & Crime, Palm Bay, FL; by Conrad Hoyt; 12/12/25 An elderly man is accused of shooting his son in the face because he and his spouse did not visit the older man's wife over the weekend while she was in at-home hospice care. William Nowak, 84, has been charged with attempted murder, according to an arrest affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime. Nowak was at his home ... in Palm Bay, Florida, where he lived with his wife and their disabled daughter. His wife had recently been put on in-home hospice care, "and William has been taking care of both of them," ... The defendant's son and his wife came over to the house to visit, something she said they did "on a weekly basis." After they arrived around 6 p.m., "William began to express how he was upset they did not visit over the weekend." According to authorities, an argument between the father and son ensued.