Literature Review

Aging and end-of-life care planning among transgender and nonbinary individuals: A systematic reviewLGBT Health; by Ginger H Kwak, G Nic Rider, Emily A Paine, Walter O Bockting, Steven A John; 7/26The objective of this review was to identify perceptions of end-of-life (EOL) care needs among transgender and nonbinary (TNB) individuals. We identified five major themes during thematic analysis: fear of discrimination in long-term care facilities, fear of loss of independence, maintaining social circles with aging, obstacles to EOL logistics, and what defines successful aging. Additional subthemes included fear about loss of identity, preference for euthanasia versus loss of identity, participation in EOL planning, and advance care plan/will completion. Psychosocial aspects were the most substantial barriers to successful EOL planning.

"It felt like throwing in the towel": Family caregiver perspectives on end-of-life decision making in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseJournal of Palliative Medicine; by Natalia Smirnova, Tivona Batieste, Sarah H Cross, Samir Jamdar, Catherine S Peterson, Camille P Vaughan, Dio Kavalieratos; 7/26Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has an unpredictable trajectory and high symptom burden, complicating end-of-life (EOL) decisions around place of death and hospice use. We conducted semi-structured interviews with bereaved caregivers of people with COPD who received pulmonary care at a U.S. academic center and died within 12 months. Fifty-six percent of decedents received hospice; 33% died at home. Caregivers described five themes: missed prognostic cues and poor communication; hospice as both loss and relief; home as ideal but hospital as default; financial influences on decisions; and mismatch between hospice and COPD needs. Caregivers identified a readiness gap driven by prognostic uncertainty, communication challenges, and financial constraints.

[Greece] Patient-reported outcome measures in palliative care: A systematic review to inform health policy and health system performanceHealth Policy; by Maria Katharaki, Christos Triantafyllou, Julie Ling, Joao Breda; 7/26Health systems increasingly recognise palliative care as an essential component of universal health coverage. Assessing palliative care quality and value remains challenging, as key outcomes are often missed by routine indicators. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) can address this gap, but their use remains fragmented. Seventy studies were included. The most commonly used PROMs were the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale (IPOS), Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS), and the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL instrument. Implementation challenges included patient frailty, workload and time constraints, limited standardisation, and poor integration into clinical workflows and health information systems.

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”  ~Fred Rogers

Why you should care about the shakeup at NIH: Sean Morrison, Ken Covinsky, Stacy FischerGeriPal podcast; by Alex Smith, Eric Widera, Sean Morrison, Ken Covinsky, Stacy Fischer; 6/18/26Emergency Podcast! Our guests Sean Morrison, Ken Covinsky, and Stacy Fischer believe that you should care deeply about the proposed shakeup at the National Institutes of Health. Major proposed rules changes at the Office of Management and Budget, would affect a huge range of government grants, from Headstart to Transportation to the National Science Foundation, as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the subject of today’s podcast.

Executive Personnel Changes - 8/7/26

Social Media Watch 8/7/26

Elder mistreatment prevention and solutions: Carrie Rubenstein, Julia Hiner, & Tony RosenGeriPal podcast; by Alex Smith, Eric Widera, Carrie Rubenstein, Julia Hiner, Tony Rosen; 6/4/26Today we revisit a topic we last discussed in a 2020 podcast with Laura Mosqueda: elder mistreatment. Our guests today are geriatricians Carrie Rubenstein and Julia Hiner, and Tony Rosen, an emergency medicine doctor. They talk about where we are now, in 2026, with elder mistreatment...

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross at 100: a legacy that changed how the world faces deathe-hospice; by Ken Ross and Stephen Connor; 7/13/26 On July 8, the world marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the Swiss American psychiatrist whose work helped transform how clinicians, families, faith communities, and societies understand death, dying, grief, and compassionate care. Born in Zurich in 1926, Kübler-Ross entered medicine at a time when dying patients were often kept at the margins of care—physically present in hospitals, yet too often emotionally abandoned. She challenged that silence with a simple but radical act: she listened. Sitting at the bedside of people facing the end of life, she heard their fears, hopes, anger, questions, and need for honesty. In doing so, she insisted that dying people were not medical failures, but human beings with voices, wisdom, and dignity. Her landmark 1969 book, On Death and Dying, grew from interviews with seriously ill patients and introduced a language that reshaped modern conversations about loss. 

Chapters Health finalizes Housecall Providers affiliation Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 8/5/26Chapters Health System has recently completed its affiliation with Oregon-based Housecall Providers. The two organizations penned an agreement to affiliate in February. The move will allow Chapters to significantly expand geographically and grow its value-based services, the organization indicated. Housecall Providers offers hospice, advanced illness care and home-based primary care. ... Chapters Health System has recently completed its affiliation with Oregon-based Housecall Providers. The two organizations penned an agreement to affiliate in February. The move will allow Chapters to significantly expand geographically and grow its value-based services, the organization indicated. Housecall Providers offers hospice, advanced illness care and home-based primary care.

Embracing the four M's—a path to person-centered, reliable hospice and palliative care | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Margherita Labson and Kelly McCutcheon Adams; 8/5/26 What if the key to delivering more compassionate, reliable hospice care isn't another regulation—but a simpler way of thinking? In Part One of this compelling conversation, host Chris Comeaux welcomes Kelly McCutcheon Adams, Senior Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and Margherita Labson, President and CEO of MCLabson Consultation & Education Services, to explore the transformative power of the 4 M's Framework.  Originally developed through the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, the 4 M's—What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility—provide an evidence-based roadmap for delivering highly individualized, person-centered care while improving reliability across healthcare settings.