Literature Review

'Living well, leaving well': Yishun end-of-life art exhibition allows seniors to demystify death, document life Today, by Nikki Yeo; 3/18/24, updated 3/19/24 A senior-led exhibition [in Singapore], Tides, features a group of eight women and their reflections on end-of-life matters. ... The project engaged seniors in the Yishun community over nine months to form art works based on "living well" and "leaving well." ... The pictures [of family foods] are overlaid with handwritten messages exchanged between Madam Devi and her grandchildren. ... Her grandchildren calls her "atha", or grandmother, and have written, "I love you so much", "from young I’m eating your food", "I’m so grateful to you".

Health care utilization and opioid use in patients receiving an integrated palliative care intervention for treatment of head and neck cancer compared to a historical control Elsevier, International Journal of Radiation; by F. Rizwan. C. D'Avella, M. Albert, T. King, B. Egleston, T.J. Galloway, M. Chwistek, C. Fang, A. El-jawahri, J.R. Bauman; online access for 4/1/24 release Patients receiving chemoradiation therapy (CRT) for head and neck cancer (HNC) can develop significant symptomology (odynophagia, malnutrition) resulting in frequent hospitalizations and decreased quality of life (QOL) and continue to have chronic symptoms such as dysphagia and/or pain. The integration of a palliative care (PC) team during CRT has the potential to address the high symptom burden and improve QOL.

Where states stand on medical marijuana in the workplace JD Supra, by Madalyn Cohee; 3/18/24 A federal judge in Vermont last month ruled a plaintiff’s medical marijuana use was not protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. In Skoric v. Marble Valley Regional Transit District et al., the plaintiff was fired by his employer for failing a random drug test by testing positive for marijuana despite having a valid, state-issued medical marijuana card and being prescribed medical marijuana to treat his chronic pain and depression.

Improvements in Interdisciplinary Communication Following the implementation of a standardized Handoff Curriculum: SAFETIPS (Statistics, Assessment, Focused Plan, Pertinent Exam findings, to Dos, If/Thens, Pointers/Pitfalls, and Severity of Illness) Cureus, by Shaefali Shandilya and Justen M. Aprile; 3/18/24 Handoffs between medical providers serve a crucial patient safety function. While most published literature on the topic studies the handover process among physicians, robust literature is available on interdisciplinary medical communication. Little is known about the downstream effects of effective physician handover on subsequent physician and nursing interactions. ...Results: Statistical analysis revealed significant post-intervention mean score increases of one full point in four categories, namely organization and efficiency, communication, content, and clinical judgment.

For-profit nursing homes are cutting corners on safety and draining resources with financial shenanigans − especially at midsize chains that dodge public scrutinyThe Conversation, by Sean Campbell and Charlene Harrington; 3/14/24 ... Overall, private-equity investors wreak havoc on nursing homes, slashing registered nurse hours per resident day by 12%, outpacing other for-profit facilities. The aftermath is grim, with a daunting 14% surge in the deficiency score index, a standardized metric for determining issues with facilities, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report.The human toll comes in death and suffering. A study updated in 2023 by the National Bureau of Economic Research calculated that 22,500 additional deaths over a 12-year span were attributable to private-equity ownership, equating to about 172,400 lost life years. The calculations also showed that private-equity ownership was responsible for a 6.2% reduction in mobility, an 8.5% increase in ulcer development and a 10.5% uptick in pain intensity.

Lubbock author publishes "I'm on Hospice: A Children's Book for Processing & Coping With a Terminal Illness" CBS WDTV 5; book is by Sydney Crane (author) and Nina Broen (illustrator); tv interview 3/14/24While a child is in the care of a hospice team, they will likely hear words and phrases that they do not know or have questions they are unsure how to ask. Presenting information through Riley's story, I'm On Hospice encourages conversations and facilitates a space for questions, discussion, and understanding within any relationship dynamic surrounding a terminally ill child. Riley is a nine-year-old boy whose life purpose is all about baseball, and he shares how each of his hospice caretakers helps him be comfortable and safe.Editor's Note: This book is available on Amazon and Kindle. The description above is from Amazon, as the tv interview is video.

Art Ellison has one dying wish: Feed all New Hampshire students Concord Monitor, by Michaela Towfighi; 3/15/24 Art Ellison isn't one to mince words. With red blanket over his lap and a "support public education" t-shirt on, he has one final request as he rests at the Granite VNA hospice house. ...

The first blooms of spring always make my heart sing. - S. Brown

Accountable Care Organization leader perspectives on the Medicare shared savings program - A qualitative study

COLUMN: March is National Social Workers Month The Andalusia Star News; by Vicki C. Wacaster; 3/16/24 In recognition of National Social Workers Month in March 2024, we wish to honor and recognize the vital gifts of dedication, love, professionalism, time, talent, and care Hospice Social Workers provide. ... Hospice social workers often perform the following tasks:

When the American Dream becomes survival: Short doc chronicles rural healthcare crisis PBS - KET, by Nathan Duke; 3/17/24 Director Ramin Bahrani’s acclaimed films ... focus on people struggling to survive due to economic challenges or failing to achieve the mythologized American Dream. His latest, the short documentary If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis, is a startling look at the challenges facing rural communities in which hospitals are closing and leaving residents without options for care. The film incorporates themes from Bahrani’s previous work, but its subjects’ struggles are far from fictional. 

Palliative Care as ‘Personalized Medicine’Hospice News, by Jim Parker; 3/18/24The term “personalized medicine” is often used to describe health needs based on a patient’s genetics. However, more stakeholders are applying the term to palliative care. Personalized medicine is a step away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach to health care. The model uses information gathered from a patient’s genome to plan for care, treatment and services, and to some extent, predict a likely health trajectory, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

How a Florida woman’s NYC selfie led to her brain tumor diagnosis New York Post, by Chris Harris; 3/16/24 It was a life-changing selfie. ... “I looked at the picture, and my eyelid was drooping,” Troutwine recalled. “I thought it was odd, so when I returned home, I mentioned it to my neurologist.” The doctor ordered an MRI, and on her way home from the scan, she got a call: They had found a benign mass inside her brain that was growing at an aggressive rate.