Literature Review

[UK] Hospice to run Christmas tree removal fundraiser BBC News, United Kingdom; by Jacob Panons; 1/1/25 A hospice in Kent is once again offering Christmas tree removals to help raise funds. In 2023, Heart of Kent Hospice raised more than £9,000 by receiving donations to recycle Christmas trees. Between 3-5 January, the Aylesford-based charity will run the service for the third time, collecting in and around Chatham, Maidstone, Staplehurst, Paddock Wood, Borough Green and the surrounding areas. A donation of £15 for each tree is suggested and people are urged to book a slot online before the new year. 

CDC weekly US map: Influenza summary update U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - HHS.gov; retrieved from the internet 1/2/25, with most current data from 12/21/24 A Weekly Influenza Surveillance Report Prepared by the Influenza Division: Outpatient Respiratory Illness Activity Map Determined by Data Reported to ILINet. This system monitors visits for respiratory illness that includes fever plus a cough or sore throat, also referred to as ILI, not laboratory confirmed influenza and may capture patient visits due to other respiratory pathogens that cause similar symptoms. Editor's note: Click here for the map and bookmark it to regularly monitor your service areas through this flu season.

The next health system C-suite obsessionBecker's Hospital Review; by Laura Dyrda; 12/30/24 Health system executives spent the last few years building financial stability after the pandemic and adjusting to workforce shifts. Those areas will remain important in 2025, but a new obsession for C-suite executives is emerging. Or, more accurately, re-emerging. Solving capacity issues and becoming more efficient with patient throughput is a top priority for next year, several CEOs and top health system executives recently told Becker's. Many are operating at or near capacity, especially with workforce challenges persisting, and leadership teams are looking for immediate solutions. ... A recent survey from Vizient shows 52.8% of hospital and health system leaders see patient access, throughput and capacity as top focus areas for 2025. Volumes are still elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to Kaufman Hall's "National Hospital Flash Report," and while growth has slowed this year, leaders are still contending with big capacity issues.

[Hospice] Volunteer coordinator whose husband unexpectedly died gets touching surprise from a Secret SantaEast Idaho News; by Nate Eaton; 12/31/24A local Secret Santa is giving [money] to deserving people in eastern Idaho this holiday season and the East Idaho News elves are helping out. Every day since Nov. 1, we’ve posted a Secret Santa surprise, and today have our last video with a wonderful woman named Gwen. Gwen currently works as the volunteer coordinator for a home health and hospice agency in Rexburg. Having her own mother on hospice, Gwen understands the grief and hardship people experience with anticipating death. Gwen is passionate about service, and cares very deeply about every resident that she sees. 

Nearly 5,000 Providence Oregon workers issue strike notice Becker's Hospital Review; by Kristin Kuchno; 12/30/24 Nearly 5,000 front-line healthcare workers from Providence Oregon hospitals plan to begin an open-ended strike Jan. 10. The Oregon Nurses Association issued a 10-day notice following intensive bargaining, according to a Dec. 30 news release from the union. The striking workers include physicians, nurses and other healthcare staff from all eight Providence Oregon hospitals and six clinics. The union is urging Providence to invest in patient safety and provide competitive wages and benefits to support recruitment and retention efforts. ... Providence Oregon has secured replacement workers and identified other strategies to maintain patient care, Chief Executive Jennifer Burrows, RN, said in a message to caregivers shared with Becker's. She said the system has communicated to union leaders that bargaining stops during a work stoppage to prioritize patient care.

Johns Hopkins Medicine CEO: 'Bring the joy back to medicine'Becker's Hospital Review; by Kristin Kuchno; 12/19/24 One year after Theodore DeWeese, MD, assumed permanent leadership of Johns Hopkins Medicine, he remains focused on enhancing patient care and bringing care closer to home. ... Dr. DeWeese shared his strategies for 2025 with Becker's, in areas such as employee retention, capital investments and community partnerships. ... Dr. Theodore DeWeese: Health systems across the country are facing a workforce shortage that will likely get worse over the next decade. ... Given the shortage, part of our approach to retention is focusing on the culture of our organization and investing in the well-being of our employees and career development of the provider workforce. We are working to bring the joy back to medicine by creating a culture where everyone can thrive, whether it's by easing the administrative burden that clinicians face or offering greater flexibility for front-line workers. ...

Executive Personnel Changes - 1/3/25

[TCN] Year in Review for 2024 and One Word Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast by Chris Comeaux; 1/1/25 In this podcast episode, host Chris Comeaux does a recap of the top podcasts of 2024.  First for TCNtalks with amazing guests like New York Times best-selling author John Burke, Peter Benjamin, Dr. Ira Byock, and Judi Lund Person. Chris then does a recap from our first year of our new podcast, Anatomy of Leadership, with great guests such as Quint Studer, Meridith Elliott Powell, John Locke, and Brian Jaudon. Additionally, Chris introduces the intriguing concept of the "One Word," which serves as a thematic or guiding principle for the upcoming year. This is a great piece of wisdom Teleios and many of its members practice every year. 

Jimmy Carter delivered a positive message about hospice care Atlanta Journal and Constitution; by Shelia Poole and Ariel Hart; 1/1/25Hospice advocates said the end-of-life journey of former President Jimmy Carter was a “powerful” message to terminally ill patients and their families about the benefits of hospice care. Carter, the nation’s 39th president, died Sunday at his home in Plains after being in home hospice care for 22 months. “It’s pretty remarkable that he got to celebrate his 100th birthday, he got to vote and, as I understand, it was important to him that he was able to do these things with the support of hospice,” said Dr. Vicki Jackson, president of the board of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. “It was powerful.”A day after Carter’s death was announced, Jackson said it was helpful to have someone as notable as a former president to be open about his hospice care during the later stages of his life. During his almost two years of home hospice care, Carter helped raise awareness about the service, which focuses on comfort of the patient and support for both the patient and the family.Notable mentions: Dr. Vicki Jackson, president of the board of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; Jacqueline Lopez-Devine, Gentiva’s chief clinical officer; Megan Friedman, Gentiva spokesperson; Rev. Tony Lowden, Carter’s personal pastor; Amy Tucci, president of the Hospice Foundation of America; Dr. Tammie E. Quest, director for Emory University’s Palliative Care Center and a professor at Emory University’s School of Medicine; Dr. Folashade Omole, the chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the Morehouse School of Medicine; Ben Marcantonio, the National Alliance for Care at Home.

Human composting is rising in popularity as an earth-friendly life after death CNN; by Ella Nilsen; 12/29/24 The first time Laura Muckenhoupt felt a glimmer of hope after the death of her 22-year-old son Miles was the drive home from the Washington state facility that had turned his body into hundreds of pounds of soil. There was an empty seat in the family pickup truck where Miles should have been sitting. But riding with her husband and daughter on the 12-hour drive home, Laura felt her son’s presence clearly. ... Human composting turns bodies into soil by speeding up “what happens on the forest floor,” according to Tom Harries, CEO of Earth Funeral, the human composting company the Muckenhoupt family worked with. “What we’re doing is accelerating a completely natural process,” Harris told CNN. Human composting is emerging as an end-of-life alternative that is friendlier to the climate and the Earth — it is far less carbon-intensive than cremation and doesn’t use chemicals involved to preserve bodies in traditional burials.

[Wales] Inside a children's hospice, a life-affirming and laughter-filled place that offers so much WalesOnline; by Taite Johnson; 12/29/24 When most people think of a children's hospice they often expect it to be a sombre place filled with sadness. But after spending some time at Ty Hafan I found it's actually quite the opposite. Laughter fills the halls as families make everlasting memories for themselves – and potentially the last for their child. Ty Hafan's hospice, overlooking the serene view of the sea in Sully in the Vale of Glamorgan, has been providing essential end-of-life care for children in a safe space in Wales for 25 years. It is often described at a place you wish you didn't need but you are glad to have.

Preliminary research suggests that grief after the death of a public figure looks very similar to grief over our personal relationships and can have comparable levels of intensity News Wise; by Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center; 12/29/24 Many people are surprised by the intensity of their response when a well-known person dies, and their feelings of sadness may last longer than they expect. In fact, that sadness and grief can be intense, and preliminary research suggests that grief after the death of a public figure looks very similar to grief over our personal relationships and can have comparable levels of intensity. Wendy Lichtenthal, Ph.D., a bereavement science researcher and founding director of the Center for the Advancement of Bereavement Care at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, is available to discuss “parasocial grief” – that which occurs when a celebrity, political figure or other highly recognized person dies.