Literature Review

[UK] Parental experiences of perinatal loss, with a focus on hospice provision: A thematic analysisPalliative & Supportive Care; Rhiannon Latham, Katrina Williams, Keeley Guest, Fauzia Paize, Robyn Lotto; 1/26Perinatal palliative care (PPC) offers holistic support to families of babies with life-limiting conditions, addressing emotional, psychological, and practical needs alongside ensuring dignity for the baby. Five key themes were identified [in this study]: the significance of language used by healthcare professionals when discussing the baby's condition; the importance of timely introduction to hospice care; recognition that grief is a personal and evolving process; the role of shared experiences in building relationships; and the importance of creating lasting memories. Findings highlight the importance of improving healthcare professionals' communication skills and integrating multidisciplinary palliative care services early in the care pathway. Parents expressed gratitude for the hospice support, particularly the opportunity to spend quality time with their baby and make lasting memories.

Why Alivia Care is getting invested in ACO models Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 2/19/26 The senior care provider Alivia Care is going all in on high-needs Accountable Care Organization models in 2026. This includes participation in the final year of the Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access and Community Health (ACO REACH) model that the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) is currently testing. Following that, the hospice, home health, PACE and palliative care provider plans to engage in the center’s new Long-term Enhanced ACO Design (LEAD) model. ... [Descriptions by Alivia Care CEO Susan Ponder Stansel ...]

‘It’s a collaborative effort’: Northern Light Medical Transport paramedics providing hospice supportWABI-5, Bangor, ME; by Alyssa Thurlow; 2/19/26 ... Paramedics can help patients across Maine with a variety of needs, but some are embracing a slower-paced role, focused on assisting those who are at the end of life. “Patients have access to care 24/7, and part of that coverage for after-hours is now coming through the community paramedicine program,” said hospice educator Allie Rohrer, RN. ... “It’s not with lights and sirens. It’s very low key. It’s driving there in a car, and then it’s talking through the issues,” said paramedic Ed Moreshead. ... Northern Light’s community paramedics are contracted with Northern Light Home Care & Hospice. Families in need of assistance call the triage number, and a hospice nurse and on-call physician can respond if needed.

New ‘care home’ for seniors aims to bring alternative to home health care WCAX-3 CBS, East Middlebury, VT; by Laura Ullman; 2/18/26 Vermont has a housing crisis for seniors trying to age in place. A nonprofit in Addison County is hoping to pioneer a new model to meet the needs of Vermont’s aging demographic. “Addison County Home Health looked for about a year and a half to find a space, ...” said Deb Wesley, the CEO of Addison County Home Health & Hospice. ... “Our goal is to provide a home for eight individuals who really are medically frail, are really unable to live at home alone, or require some increased assistance for their care,” Wesley said. ... Addison County Home Health & Hospice is hoping to open this care home in late spring.

Sage Park Austin establishes community partnerships to offer inpatient hospice services to residents LongTermCareProvider.com, Vero Beach, FL; Press Release; 2/3/26 Sage Park Austin Senior Living Community is honored to announce the establishment of multiple community partnerships to offer General Inpatient (GIP) hospice services within their community. Sage Park Austin has partnered with Tree Oaks Hospice and Summit Home Health and Hospice offering varying levels of hospice care for appropriate patients. Services include, but are not limited to, extended nursing support, pain and symptom management, and interdisciplinary hospice support in a residential setting. 

Prison teaches Rock Island man how to care for others wn.com, The Daily Nonpariel; by Tom Loewy; 2/15/26 Finis Leonard has helped 13 men die. That's not why the 48-year-old Rock Island native has been in Illinois prisons since 2007. Handed concurrent sentences of 30 years for being an armed habitual criminal and 10 years for the unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, Leonard made a decision in 2016 that he says changed his life. He decided to study palliative care and started a hospice care program at Danville Correctional Center. Leonard said working with dying men and helping others learn palliative care has made him a better person. He has petitioned Rock Island County State's Attorney Dora Villarreal for early release from his prison sentence, which is expected to last another six years. [Full article is behind a paywall.]

[England] Almost one in three people in England die without the basic care they need Medical Xpress; by King's College London, edited by Lisa Lock; 2/16/26 About 170,000 people in England every year spend their final days in pain, distress or without vital support that should be available to everyone at the end of life. These are the findings of the first major study in more than a decade to estimate unmet palliative care needs among people at the end of life. The paper was led by researchers at King's College London and Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, with contributions from the University of Edinburgh and was published in the Journal of Health Services Research & Policy.

Geographic and sociodemographic disparities in access to hospice in Pennsylvania American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Jacob Whitman, PhD, Dylan Nagy, MS, Harsheni Sudakar, BSPH, Coleman Drake, PhD, Lindsay Sabik, PhD, and Yael Schenker; 2/14/26 online ahead of print Results: In total, 2.3 million Pennsylvanians, or 17% of the state population, reside in census tracts classified as cold spots. Cold spots were concentrated in rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged regions. Compared with other tracts, cold spot tracts were lower income, less educated, older, more reliant on public insurance, and less racially diverse. Patterns were consistent when restricting to high quality hospice and nonprofit hospices. Conclusion: Geographic disparities in hospice access compound existing sociodemographic inequities. Addressing these inequities will require efforts to expand high-quality hospice availability in underserved communities.

[Republic of Korea] P-1080. Multidrug-resistant organism status and its association with hospice use and end-of-life care patterns in patients with advanced cancer referred palliative careOpen Forum Infectious Diseases; by Jeong-Han Kim, Jiwon Yu, Ye Sul Jeung, Shin Hye Yoo, Jin-ah Sim, Bhumsuk Keam; 1/26Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) are increasingly prevalent and may contribute to more aggressive healthcare utilization near the end-of-life, particularly among patients with advanced cancer receiving palliative care (PC). MDRO status was associated with significantly lower use of community-based hospice care, including inpatient hospice ... and home hospice ... It was also linked to more frequent deaths in tertiary hospitals ... and higher intensive care unit admissions ... and renal replacement therapy ... Medical costs were consistently higher in the MDRO group across all end-of-life trajectory before death.

Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service closing its doors but other options are available to those in need Los Alamos Daily Post, Los Alamos, NM; by Kirsten Laskey; 2/12/26 The closure of Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service (LAVNS) on Feb. 20 after more than 50 years of service marks the end of a significant chapter in Los Alamos. However, it is not the end of the story; there are still options available to those who utilized LAVNS’ services. LAVNS Clinical Manager Susan Edwards noted that there are several home health care and hospice options available.Home Health Agencies: La Vida Bella Home Health & Hospice. Presbyterian Home Health. Hospice: Ambercare. Red Willow. Roadrunner Hospice. Del Corazon Hospice.

CommonSpirit Health at Home’s ‘aggressive’ hospice growth strategy for 2026 and beyond Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 2/10/26 Continuing its de novo- and joint venture-based blueprint for growth, home health and hospice provider CommonSpirit Health at Home is also setting plans in motion to engage patients further upstream for earlier hospice enrollment, when appropriate. CommonSpirit Health at Home is the home-based care arm of the nonprofit health system CommonSpirit Health, which operates more than 2,200 care sites across 24 states. Hospice News caught up with CommonSpirit Health at Home CEO Trisha Crissman at the Home Care 100 conference in Scottsdale, Arizona to discuss CommonSpirit Health at Home’s strategic plans for 2026, as well as the top trends and market forces shaping the hospice community.

Hospice doctor shares what happens in the moments immediately after death Good; by Adam Albright Hanna; 2/3/26 Throughout human history, one question has bewildered every civilization, society, and individual. What happens after we die? For some people, it is a question for science. For others, it is a question of faith. But for Dr. B.J. Miller, it is a question that he is totally fine not knowing the answer to. Miller is a hospice and palliative care physician at the University of California, San Francisco. He is one of the world's leading voices on dignified death, and for him, the end of life is actually about the living. ... "I’ve been around people who are just about to die," Miller said. "Bodies that have just died. And there is this lingering sense, it’s true. There’s a feeling. It’s a palpable... yeah, there’s a lingering." ... "I didn’t need to have control over everything, I didn’t need to know the answers anymore. I mean, I love not knowing. The answer’s unimportant. It’s just a sacred and gorgeous moment."Editor's Note: Having served in direct hospice patient care from 1993–2002, I was present with many persons during their active dying and in the moments just after death, including attending deaths as a chaplain. Over time—and especially through the intimate experience of my parents’ deaths—that sense of sacredness Dr. Miller describes remains real for me. So I find myself wondering and asking non-clinical leaders: when you look at Average Daily Census (ADC), Length of Stay (LOS), and other familiar metrics, what do you see? Numbers on a spreadsheet? Or living measures of something immeasurably human—something that truly matters?