Literature Review

Palliative and end of life care: CEJA reports American Medical Association (AMA); updated 12/15/25 Reports by the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) interpret the AMA Principles of Medical Ethics to provide practical ethics guidance on timely topics. When the AMA House of Delegates adopts the recommendations of a CEJA report they become Opinions in the Code of Medical Ethics. The body of the report, which sets out CEJA’s ethics analysis, is archived and remains available as a resource to help users apply guidance. [Go to the original AMA source to access its CEJA reports:]

Center for Hospice Care's lifePACT program promotes inclusive opportunity for managing emotions and palliative care in the community GreatNewsLife.com, Valparaiso, IN; by Garrett Spoor; 12/16/25 ... [The] lifePACT program is a unique opportunity open those who aren’t patients at Center for Hospice Care. Laura Baker, lifePACT coordinator and mental health counselor, encourages community members who are dealing with overwhelming emotions to enroll. “lifePACT is a series of psychoeducational courses that teach coping skills in the face of overwhelming emotions – such as anxiety and depression,” Baker said. “In the course of a normal life, we all struggle, even suffer, with heavy and difficult emotions. The lifePACT courses teach skills and frameworks to manage these difficulties. Instead of reacting to each difficulty, we teach how to choose responses that most align with the value system of each individual.”

The hard questions behind medically assisted suicide PJ Media; by David Manney; 12/13/25 Before we start, I need you to know that I'm not advocating for medically assisted suicide (MAS). I do believe that I grasp why some people, in rare and specific circumstances, view it as a deeply personal choice. That belief comes not from emotion, but from watching the hardest years of suffering and listening to families stare at a future without mercy. As more states pass laws, including Illinois, which recently became the twelfth state to legalize medical aid in dying for terminally ill patients with strict criteria, the debate has grown far beyond politics, and into the core of how we treat the most vulnerable among us. ...Editor's Note: In the enacted Illinois statute known as “Deb’s Law,” the formal statutory term is neither “medical aid in dying” nor “medically assisted suicide,” but “aid‑in‑dying medication,” within the “End‑of‑Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act.” 

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?

Chapters Health System announces national rebranding of grief support camps for children PR Newswire, Temple Terrace, FL; by Chapters Health System; 12/12/25 Chapters Health System, the nation's leading chronic illness innovator and largest nonprofit hospice provider, proudly announced a unified grief support camp name, Camp Brave Heart, and logo for programs across the country starting in 2026. Each camp program will remain tailored to the needs of the local community and the longstanding tradition of providing a supportive place for children to process and share.

Technology Documentation Automation a Priority in Hospice AI Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 12/15/25 Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly proliferating throughout health care and beyond. Among its many applications, streamlining documentation is among the most prevalent for hospices. Hospices leverage documentation software for a wide array of functions, including visit scheduling, care plan updates, interdisciplinary team notes, medication management and bereavement services, as well as billing, compliance tracking and family communication, among other functions.

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. 

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 ..."

[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.

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.”

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.

A flight to the North Pole Fairfax County Times, Reston, VA; by Kristin Johnson; 12/12/25 Last Saturday morning [12/6], Gate D15 at Dulles Airport was filled with families wearing Christmas sweaters and pajamas. They were waiting for a 10 a.m. departure to the North Pole. The Fantasy Flight is a 30-minute plane ride that takes off annually on the first weekend in December. The event is for the families of children currently in hospice or long-term care. ... The mood at the gate is festive, but a little chaotic. The busyness helps to dull Tabitha Johnson’s grief. Her son died in hospice three weeks ago. She decided the family should still come. 

Illinois is newest state to allow medical assistance in dying after Pritzker signs bill CBS News, Chicago; by Sara Tenenbaum and Charlie De Mar; 12/12/25, 11:02 am CST Gov. JB Pritzker signed a new law Friday making Illinois the newest state allowing medically assisted dying in terminally ill residents. Known as "Deb's Lawn," allows eligible terminally ill adults with a prognosis to live six months or less to request a prescription from their doctor that would allow them to die on their own terms. The legislation was narrowly approve by the Illinois Senate in October after the Illinois House passed it in May. People on both sides of the debate over the controversial legislation lobbied the governor up until the last minute. Medical aid in dying, also called assisted suicide or dying with dignity, is already legal in 12 states. Eight more are considering similar legislation. Pritzker's signature makes Illinois the first state in the Midwest to allow medically assisted death.