Literature Review

Most Americans prefer to die at home, but the US healthcare system often prevents it ArcaMax; by Karen Lutfey Spencer; 7/14/26 Ask people what they want at the end of their lives, and overwhelmingly the answers will revolve around comfort, dignity and time at home with loved ones. Yet the U.S. healthcare system often thwarts these wishes. Most Americans say they want to die at home, but only one-third do. What could be an intentional last chapter may instead become a roller coaster of hospitalizations and decisions made with incomplete information. News headlines reflect the challenges of facing the end of life in crisis mode. ... Unfortunately, these crisis scenarios are happening to millions of families each year.

Relationships between advance care planning engagement, patients’ religious practices, and spirituality American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Robyn M. Axel-Adams, MS, MDiv, BCC, HEC-C, Emily Fox Ludden, MDiv, MGS, and Alexia M. Torke, MD; 7/2/26Background: Research has shown that people who consider themselves religious have a lower advance directive (AD) completion rate. However, advance care planning (ACP) includes a broader range of activities that are important in determining medical treatments. ... Conclusions: In contrast to prior findings of lower AD completion in more religious individuals, this study found that higher religiosity and spirituality are associated with higher ACP engagement. These results suggest ACP opportunities offered for religious congregations or spirituality focused communities may be especially successful.

Hospice should offer dignity, not deception | Your turn VC Star, Ventura County, CA; by Molly Corbett; 7/11/26 Not long ago, a Ventura County family called Livingston for help. Their loved one was enrolled with another hospice but had not received a visit from one of its nurses in more than three weeks. Consider what those weeks must have felt like. The family had made one of the most difficult decisions it would ever face. Instead of focusing on their loved one, they were left wondering when help would come and whether anyone was paying attention. That’s the human cost of hospice fraud and neglect. It’s not only money improperly billed to Medicare. It’s pain that may go unmanaged, calls that go unanswered and precious time consumed by fear and frustration.

Outcomes for hospitalized patients with comfort measures only ordersJournal of Palliative Medicine; by Gina Piscitello, Donna Durant, Tami Minnier, Marika Haranis, Robert M Arnold, Jane Schell; 6/26Clinicians place comfort measures only (CMO) orders for hospitalized patients at the end-of-life when a decision has been made to focus on patient comfort and allow the natural dying process to occur. Our primary aim was to assess the associations of specialty palliative consults (SPC) or documented goals of care conversations (GOCC) with in-hospital mortality among patients with CMO orders. Of 6,789 hospitalized patients with CMO orders ... seventy-three percent died in-hospital, and 22% were discharged with hospice. SPC placed anytime during hospital admission were associated with lower in-hospital mortality ... and higher discharge with hospice ... In contrast, documented GOCC anytime during admission were associated with higher in-hospital mortality ...  and lower discharge with hospice ...

Big Bend Health announced as parent company of Big Bend Hospice, reflecting expanded continuum of care across North Florida Big Bend Health; Press Release; 7/9/26 Big Bend Hospice, North Florida’s trusted nonprofit leader in end-of-life care for more than 40 years, today announced the formal introduction of Big Bend Health as its parent company; a strategic brand evolution that reflects the organization’s growing continuum of care while reinforcing Big Bend Hospice as its primary and most recognized service. Big Bend Health, formerly known as Seven Oaks Health, unifies Big Bend Hospice and its related healthcare services under one cohesive continuum of care. While the parent name will be used primarily for formal and legal purposes, the community will continue to see Big Bend Hospice as the forward-facing brand and the cornerstone of compassionate end-of-life care.

2025 Pediatric Facts and Figures Report now available National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 7/8/26 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) published the 2025 Pediatric Facts and Figures, a report that provides an overview of pediatric palliative care and hospice in the United States and presents the results of a national survey of providers. The survey that informed the report had a response rate of 56% and yielded 295 entries representing distinct pediatric programs. Responses represent all 50 states and Washington, DC, and the survey was active from May through August of 2024. The report takes a close look at topics like pediatric patient characteristics, location and access to care, reimbursement for care, provider characteristics, barriers and facilitators to care, and concurrent care.  [Download]

Dignity shouldn’t depend on having an address: Holly Klein The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH; by guest columnist Holly Klein; 7/5/26 As a hospice nurse for more than 25 years, I’ve cared for people surrounded by family -- and I’ve cared for people who had no one. Today, as executive director and co-founder of Grace House Akron, I care for people who are experiencing homelessness, abandonment or extreme social isolation at the end of life. We provide a home and hospice care at no cost because we believe one simple truth: No one should die alone. I've cared for people living in motels, sleeping in shelters, staying in abandoned buildings or moving from one temporary place to another while facing a terminal illness. ... Hospice is not a place -- it's a model of care. But our healthcare system assumes everyone has somewhere safe to receive it. Many people don't.

Civility requires the willingness to engage - a dispute with a neighbor revealed how much motivation matter The Conversation; by Deborah Mower; 7/2/26 ... I’m an ethicist and moral psychologist who researches moral conviction and civility, which I treat as a respectful approach toward conflict resolution. I’ve spent my career studying misunderstandings and disagreements. I teach students ways to better navigate differing interpretations, complex conversations, moral dilemmas and bitter disputes. Civility research matters for ethics education across every discipline, especially fields such as law or medicine where contentious political and moral disagreements are likely to arise. Consider, for instance, the tense conversations between healthcare professionals who disagree about whether the best course of treatment for a patient is to turn to hospice services.

Indiana's Saint Anne eldercare campus opens hospice suites to provide holistic end-of-life care Catholic Health World; by Julie Minda; 6/30/16 Saint Anne Communities, an eldercare campus in northeast Indiana, has opened a five-suite wing that offers people at the end of life holistic care and services. In the Saint Joseph Hospice Suites, staff provide medical, spiritual and emotional care to residents as well as support to their loved ones. Facility leaders said Saint Anne designed the suites to have a homelike feel. They said a key priority is to surround the residents and their loved ones with prayer, comfort and dignity.

Carolina Caring Community Counseling Program expands services to anyone who has experienced loss Carolina Caring, Newton, NC; Press Release; 7/1/26 For many individuals, addressing the mental health concerns tied to grief and loss can feel overwhelming, complicated, or out of reach. Recognizing the profound impact that loss can have on one’s wellbeing, Carolina Caring has expanded a Community Counseling Program to support individuals who have experienced a major loss of any kind. ... Traditionally, organizations like Carolina Caring provide bereavement services to families of hospice patients for up to 13 months. But the Community Counseling Program is different from this traditional model. Through the expansion, the Community Counseling Program redefines what it means to provide compassionate care to the whole person, both physically and emotionally.

My parents moved in with us before my dad got sick. It made all the difference when he passed. Business Insider; by Justin Murphy; 6/27/26

Solace Hospice suspends opening amid Medicare moratorium Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 6/25/26 The launch of Solace Hospice of Southwest Virginia has paused due to a nationwide temporary moratoria on hospice and home health Medicare enrollment. The hospice’s operations will be suspended for an indeterminate time. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) six-month moratoria took effect on May 13, a move to halt new providers amid fraudulent activity in the hospice space. The program’s cessation is a direct result of the moratorium, said Shanna Western, founder and executive director of Solace Hospice of Southwest Virginia.