Literature Review

Impact of patient and caregiver beliefs on utilization of hospice and palliative care in diverse patients with advanced lung cancerAmerican Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care; Melanie Besculides, Melissa B Mazor, Carolina Moreno Alvarado, Mayuri Jain, Lihua Li, Jose Morillo, Juan P Wisnivesky, Cardinale B Smith; 2/25A prospective cohort study of newly diagnosed patients ≥18 years old with advanced lung cancer and their caregivers was conducted. Participants completed validated surveys at multiple points and electronic health records were reviewed to evaluate utilization. Minoritized lung cancer patients held more negative beliefs about HC/PC [hospice care/palliative care] yet were more likely to receive HC/PC. Further work is needed to understand factors that impact utilization among diverse patients with advanced cancer.

Part payer, part provider: VNS Health embraces the futureHome Health Care News; by Joyce Famakinwa; 2/18/25As one of the biggest home-based care organizations in New York, VNS Health is leaning into its size and capabilities. ... “Our real challenge is, how do we leverage the large number of programs and services we already offer to ensure a seamless journey through the most difficult times in a person’s life,” VNS Health CEO and President Dan Savitt told Home Health Care News. ... "Being both a payer and provider allows us an opportunity to work with people in our community throughout their health care journey." ... "We use analytics to identify home care patients with late stage conditions who can benefit from enrollment in our advanced illness management program. Then we use analytics to determine when it may be appropriate to consider moving this patient population into hospice care." 

Addressing overtreatment in end-of-life cancer care Medscape; by David J. Kerr, CBE, MD, DSc; 2/19/25 ... What do we mean by overtreatment? This means that many patients who are approaching the end of life receive treatments, like directed anticancer therapies, that are unlikely to provide clinically meaningful benefits and may do more harm than good. This is an expression that I use often in the clinic when I'm explaining to patients that we have reached the end of the road in active interventions, such as chemotherapeutic drugs, that will do more harm than good. It doesn't stop us from doing our very best to look after patients. We focus on improving the quality of life and maintaining that for as long as we can, while continuing to care and look after the patients. ... Overtreatment may even, one would argue, accelerate death when you consider those 1% or 2% mortality rates that can be associated with some treatments that we offer. ...

YoloCares: Breaking barriers in medicine, advancing DEI The Davis Enterprise; by Craig Dresang, Special to The Enterprise; 2/15/25 She is unassuming. She is a powerhouse. Her broad blissful smile can be disarming, but make no mistake, Jackie Clark RN, MBA, is a force of nature who knows how to get things done and how to lift people up in the process. The woman who California appointed as its first CEO for Correctional Healthcare Services, and now serves as the Board Chair for YoloCares, has some insight about the emerging challenges facing both healthcare and the country. Before her recent retirement, Clark oversaw the care of approximately 5,000 incarcerated patients annually, including one of the only hospice facilities in the country for incarcerated individuals. Clark expanded hospice care and developed a program for patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Recognizing the emotional impacts that an inmate’s death can have in the prison community, she also expanded an existing peer support training program to include preparing volunteers to aid hospice patients. ... Over time, Clark completely transformed the quality and delivery of healthcare in all of California’s 34 correctional facilities. ...

Americans who’ve become caregivers rose by a third in 10 years The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, CO; 2/14/25 A growing numbers of family members now provide care for older adults who live at home or in residential care settings, a new study shows. Their ranks increased 32%, from 18.2 million to 24.1 million, between 2011 and 2022, according to new research in the journal Health Affairs. The number of hours that these folks spent caring for older adults with dementia jumped by nearly 50%, from an average 21.4 hours per week in 2011 to 31 hours in 2022. Exactly what is driving the increase in family or unpaid caregiving is not fully understood, but researchers speculate that it may be due to a rise in the number of people who live with the folks who they assist. For the study, researchers culled data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) in 2011 and 2022.  

Advanced cardiac care boosts symptom management, quality of life Carolina Caring, Newton, NC; by Cassidy Collins; 2/12/25 For those living with advanced heart disease or heart failure diagnoses, access to the right medical care can greatly improve their quality of life. This Heart Month, Carolina Caring is spotlighting the Advanced Cardiac Care Program, which provides treatment and clinical support to help patients with heart failure manage their symptoms from wherever they call home. It is the first program of its kind in North Carolina and one of the first established in the nation. It also recognized as a Certified Care program in Palliative/Hospice Heart Failure from the American Heart Association (AHA). Since this certification, Carolina Caring saw a drop to zero readmissions for primary congestive heart failure Hospice patients by the end of 2024. The benefits of this comprehensive, home-based cardiac care program are best illustrated through individuals such as Shirley, a hospice patient who began her journey with Carolina Caring last spring.

St. Croix Hospice opens new location in La Crosse News 8 Now, La Crosse, WI; by Corey Peters; 2/12/25 St. Croix Hospice held a ribbon cutting for their new location in La Crosse on Wednesday. St. Croix Hospice originated back in 2009 in Oakdale, Minnesota, and have now expanded to 18 locations around Wisconsin. St. Croix Hospice held a ribbon cutting for their new location in La Crosse on Wednesday. St. Croix Hospice originated back in 2009 in Oakdale, Minnesota, and have now expanded to 18 locations around Wisconsin.

UC professor seeks to make death care more inclusive: Equal Deathcare offers resources for the LGBTQIA+ community University of Cincinnati News (UC News); by Kyle Shaner; 2/12/25Jennifer Wright-Berryman, PhD, an associate professor of social work in UC’s College of Allied Health Sciences, is one of the founders of Equal Deathcare, a web-based resource where LGBTQIA+ individuals can find inclusive and affirming end-of-life and death care (funerals, memorials and pre-planning). “Groups that are at risk or marginalized, such as sexual and gender minorities — groups that I’m particularly interested in outcomes for — those voices weren’t included in these conversations around death care, especially when we talk about transgender individuals whose bodies and identities are often maligned in society,” Wright-Berryman said. ...

Bringing children home: Kentucky Children’s Hospital’s approach to pediatric end-of-life care American Hospital Association; 2/8/25 When parents have a child with a serious illness, all they want is for their child to get well. If that no longer becomes a possibility, often all they want is to bring their child home. Most — around 70% — of pediatric deaths related to illness occur in the hospital, but the Kentucky Children’s Health Pediatric Advanced Care Team offers some families the chance to transport their child home using life-sustaining technology. That’s not an easy feat; these patients are medically fragile, and the outcome can be unpredictable. A team made up of hospital administrators, hospice providers, coroner and the transportation team comes up with a plan. The child’s parents complete an informed consent procedure, recognizing that their child may not survive the journey home. The transportation team tries to ensure that the journey is as comfortable as possible, as well as planning what to do if the child’s condition deteriorates on the journey. If that happens, he or she will be supported as they pass without resuscitation efforts.

'We’re seeing these struggles.' Rainbow works to support end-of-life caregivers Daily Jefferson County Union, Jefferson, WI; by Hannah Brock; 2/10/25 Rainbow Community Care is facing a growing need in Dodge and Jefferson counties: the overwhelming burden placed on caregivers, both family members and healthcare workers, as they navigate end-of-life care. “There’s this need in the community to support caregivers, where whoever they are,” said Carol Brown, president and CEO of Rainbow Community Care. The backbone of the healthcare system isn’t just hospitals or insurance plans—it’s the unpaid, often invisible labor of family caregivers. ... The newest initiative, the respite care program, is being designed to give caregivers much-needed breaks. Many family caregivers go months—or even years—without a full night’s rest, a doctor’s visit for themselves, or even an afternoon off, according to Rainbow Community Care. To help address this, Rainbow Community Care secured the necessary funding for the program. 

A broader end-of-life-view: The need for hospice and palliative care extends beyond the elderly, as the patient population at Transitions LifeCare suggestsTriangle Business Journal, Raleigh, NC; by Connie Gentry; 2/7/25 Although the likelihood of developing cancer is highest for anyone over age 65, the American Cancer Society’s annual report on cancer statistics, released last month, noted increasing incidents of many cancer types among younger adults and women. ... But positive outcomes were also reported: The cancer mortality rate in the U.S. declined by 34 percent from 1991 to 2022 and, since 1970, cancer mortality in children 14 years and younger has declined by 70 percent and among adolescents ages 15 to 19 years it has dropped by 63 percent. ... Although the majority of their hospice patients are over the age of 75, Transitions LifeCare is seeing an increase in younger patients. Last year, roughly 9 percent of their hospice patients were under age 65, almost evenly divided between women and men.

Central Coast VNA & Hospice expands hospice and support programs in the Central Coast region Chicago News; Press Release, media contact Jane Russo; 2/5/25 Central Coast VNA & Hospice, a trusted leader in home health and hospice care for over 70 years, is proud to announce the expansion of its comprehensive hospice and support programs throughout the Central Coast. ... With an increased focus on hospice care, education, and support, Central Coast VNA & Hospice is reaching more communities, including Monterey, Salinas, Hollister, and Santa Cruz. The organization’s enhanced programs include:

Heart to Heart Hospice expands service in Texas with site in West Columbia Cision, Plano, TX; by PR Newswire; 2/4/25 Heart to Heart Hospice, one of the country's largest private providers of hospice care, is expanding its service in Texas with a new site in West Columbia. The new location, known as Heart to Heart Hospice of the Riverbend, is now open to serve more patients and families in the southeast Texas area. The West Columbia branch will serve the counties of Brazoria, Fort Bend, Matagorda, and Wharton.