Literature Review

Palliative care providers can enhance care coordination Hospice News, by Rachel Edwards; 1/2/24Fragmented health care has significant ties to adverse outcomes in patients with chronic or serious illnesses. Palliative care providers’ ability to navigate the health care system, coordinate the delivery of care, interact regularly with patients and facilitate communication between providers can reduce this fragmentation. This type of coordination can improve outcomes, decrease costs and offer patients a better quality of life.

The book "The In-Between: Unforgettable encounters during life's final momentsHSJ Online, by David Webster; 1/2/24Recently, I received a book from one of my daughters for my birthday, "The In-Between" by Hadley Vlahos, RN. While in Florida for a vacation, I made reading the best-selling book a priority and admittedly cried with each chapter as Hadley shares her personal life mixed in with being a Hospice nurse. Hadley made a statement ... that really struck me, ... “I have learned how important it is to be a human first and an employee second.”

Medscape: Long COVID has caused thousands of US deaths: New CDC dataMedscape Medical News, by Lisa Rapaport; 1/3/24While COVID has now claimed more than 1 million lives in the United States alone, these aren't the only fatalities caused at least in part by the virus. A small but growing number of Americans are surviving acute infections only to succumb months later to the lingering health problems caused by long COVID. ... At least 4600 Americans have died from long COVID since the start of the pandemic, according to new estimates from the CDC.

Education CalendarHospice & Palliative Care Today has begun a page dedicated to hospice and palliative care focused state and national conferences. Please click the link above to access the current calendar and let us know about your events!

Kingston man arrested for allegedly threatening bedridden fatherBNN, by Salman Akhtar; 1/2/2431-year-old Tyler Jason Vasquez, a resident of Kingston, was apprehended by the local law enforcement following a disturbing incident involving his ailing father. The event, captured by a Ring doorbell camera at their home on New Hurbane Street, had Vasquez allegedly threatening his bedridden father with a firearm. The security camera had been installed by Vasquez’s sister to keep an eye on their father, who is under home hospice care.

Pennant and John Muir Health enter into a home health joint venture in the Bay Area, CaliforniaGlobe Newswire; 1/2/24The Pennant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: PNTG), the parent company of the Pennant group of affiliated home health, hospice, home care and senior living companies, today announced that it has closed on a home health joint venture with John Muir Health, a leading nonprofit integrated health system that serves communities throughout San Francisco’s East Bay Region. ... "Muir Home Health will bring together the deep experience of one of the Bay Area’s premier health systems with Pennant’s deep experience in managing and supporting the delivery of life-changing home health services, ..." said Brent Guerisoli, Pennant's Chief Executive Officer.

How do you ethically integrate a GIP hospice service into the hospital?Hospitalist.org, by William Frederick, et.al.; 1/2/24[General inpatient (GIP) hospice] ... provides holistic end-of-life care and family support in acute-care hospitals. Patients who are appropriate for GIP hospice services often have a life expectancy of hours to days, require care that cannot be delivered at home, and have symptoms that are difficult to control in any other settingEditor's Note: Examine this article for (1) a flow chart of the "GIP Hospice Process at UCSD Health System" and (2) Indications for GIP Hospice Care Indications for GIP Hospice Care."

Should patients be allowed to die from anorexia?DNYUZ; 1/3/24The doctors told Naomi that she could not leave the hospital. She was lying in a narrow bed at Denver Health Medical Center. Someone said something about a judge and a court order. Someone used the phrase “gravely disabled.” Naomi did not think she was gravely disabled. Still, she decided not to fight it. She could deny that she was mentally incompetent — but this would probably just be taken as proof of her mental incompetence. Of her lack of insight. She would, instead, “succumb to it.” [Read more of Naomi's story, followed by this examination of palliative care.]The field of palliative care was developed in the 1960s and ’70s, as a way to minister to dying cancer patients. Palliative care offered “comfort measures,” like symptom management and spiritual guidance, as opposed to curative treatment, for people who were in pain and would never get better. Later, the field expanded beyond oncology and end-of-life care — to reach patients with serious medical illnesses like heart disease, H.I.V. and AIDS, kidney failure, A.L.S. and dementia. Some people who receive palliative care are still fighting their diseases; in these cases, the treatment works to mitigate their suffering. [Read more of this discussion of emerging issue.]

New Year: a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately we write it. The choice is ours.  Alex Morritt 

Seniors are embracing marijuana, which offers relief — and riskThe Washington Post, by Fenit Nirappil; 1/2/24

‘Profound’ financial, workforce challenges persist for senior living providers as 2024 beginsMcKnights Senior Living, by Lois Bowers; 1/2/24Senior living operators will continue to face inflationary pressures and capital market challenges in 2024, but some effects may lessen before the year is out, according to industry experts.

A medication mistake cost a Lockport woman her life. A new grant aims to help others avoid same fateThe Buffalo News, by Scott Scanlon; 1/2/24 In a perfect health care system, patients who ended up in the hospital would start to feel better soon and go home with a recovery plan, along with any medications designed to help in that process. ... “All medications have side effects, and some are especially harmful in older adults,” UB officials said in announcing a four-year, $1.95 million grant focused on improving medication prescribing.

Corporations award $20K in grants to make hospice care accessible in Texarkana areaTexarkana Gazette; 1/1/24A local nonprofit has received $20,000 in grants to make end-of-life care accessible. Tyson Foods, Weyerhaeuser and Union Pacific recently awarded the funding to Hospice of Texarkana's Diversity & Inclusive Care Project. The project is a comprehensive educational and awareness program to address demographic disparities in hospice and palliative care in Northeast Texas and Southwest Arkansas. It includes staffing, training, and community outreach.