Literature Review

Valley Health and Blue Ridge Hospice collaborate to offer hospice in the hospital program at Shenandoah Memorial Hospital in Woodstock, VA Valley Health Press Release; 4/15/24 Valley Health and Blue Ridge Hospice have expanded their collaborative Hospice in the Hospital program to Shenandoah Memorial Hospital in Woodstock, VA. On April 1, the two signed an agreement for Blue Ridge Hospice to work alongside the hospital’s care team to provide supplemental comfort care services to ensure eligible patients and families receive the most complete and comprehensive care during and after their stay at the hospital.

New hospice care facility set to open its doors in Virginia Beach13NewsNow, Virginia Beach; 4/16/24, updated 4/17/24 ... The growing need for hospice care was addressed in Old Dominion University's "The State of the Region" report, which noted that Hampton Roads needs 45 beds to care for thousands of residents with life-limiting illnesses every year. ... Dozoretz [Hospice House of Hampton Roads] will provide 12 beds, as well as a bereavement center and grief support groups for families. ... The City of Virginia Beach donated 2.5 acres of land on Upton Drive for the $10,930,000 project. ... Construction on the facility began in March 2023. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for next week. ... The senior living community Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay is partnering with Beth Sholom Village to operate and manage the hospice house.

After death of nurses, CT lawmakers look for solutions: 'We just cannot ignore that risk' CT Insider, by Ken Dixon, 3/19/24 Home health agencies would have to find out more background information about their patients, and would be reimbursed for providing visiting nurses with escorts to certain homes and neighborhoods under legislation pushed Monday by Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney. ... It was inspired in part by the murder last year of Joyce Grayson of Brooklyn, Connecticut who was killed in a halfway house for sex offenders in Willimantic, as well as the January death of Ototegile Morulane, a live-in caregiver and citizen of the Republican of Botswana who died in an East Lyme house fire. Editor's Note: Though this article was appeared in the CT Insider 3/19/24, we are posting it today for context of our next article, "CT Hospice says it can't provide home care under bill to protect healthcare workers," published 4/16/24.

Medi Home Health and Hospice comes to CulpeperCulpeper Star-Exponent, by Richard Horner; 4/13/24Medi Home Health and Hospice held a grand opening celebration for its new Culpeper (VA) location on Tuesday. Sponsored by the Culpeper County Chamber of Commerce, Medi is an arm of Medical Services of America, which offers home health and hospice care. It had several locations throughout the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, including Virginia. According to Ashley McDonald, director of marketing for Medi, the business offers in-home care, including various forms of therapy and nursing care. Medi also offers hospice and palliative care.

Hospices face ‘devastating’ financial crisis as staff costs rises, charity warns Shropshire Star, United Kingdom; 4/15/24 Hospices are facing a “devastating” financial crisis because of rising staff costs which are putting services at risk, a charity has warned. The chief executive of Hospice UK, Toby Porter, said the last year had seen the “worst financial results for the hospice sector in around 20 years.”

‘Are nursing homes our only option?’ These centers offer older adults an alternative. Rhode Island Current, by Anna Claire Vollers; 4/12/24PACE centers attract bipartisan interest and, in some states, scrutiny. ... PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) centers provide government-funded medical care and social services to people older than 55 whose complex medical needs qualify them for nursing home care, but who can live at home with the right sort of help. ... Nationally, PACE centers are owned by a variety of health care organizations, including nonprofits, for-profit companies, large health care systems and religious organizations. ... [The] explosive growth has come with challenges ...

Expanding perinatal palliative care, hospice Hospice News, by Holly Vossel, 4/10/24A lack of trained staff and evolving health laws are among the leading barriers to expanding perinatal palliative and hospice care among underserved populations. ... Mistrust and fear of discrimination are among the common barriers, along with social determinants of health such as insurance coverage, socioeconomic status and transportation, according to recent analysis from researchers at the Morehouse School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

HopeHealth’s expanding scope of pediatric hospice, palliative services Hospice News, by Holly Vossel; 4/8/24 HopeHealth has been growing its pediatric hospice and supportive care service lines in recent years to address a range of unmet needs among seriously ill children and their families. The nonprofit health system serves Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. ... Hospice News recently sat down with pediatrician Dr. Rebecca MacDonell-Yilmaz, medical director of HopeHealth’s pediatric supportive services. 

The HAP Foundation conducts research study on Black Americans’ experience with serious illness care in ChicagoThe HAP Foundation, by Rachel French; 4/9/24 The HAP Foundation and NORC at the University of Chicago have completed a joint research project to understand the knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of Black Americans around serious illness care in Chicago. Through a community-based participatory research design, narratives from Black individuals living in Chicago were captured by focus groups and in-depth interviews. “Community-Based Study: Prioritizing Dignity and Respect in End-of-Life Care for Black Chicagoans” is being distributed widely to health care providers and the community to encourage conversations and create change in behavioral patterns during end-of-life care.Editor's Note: Click here for this downloadable, 17 page booklet.

Angela Hospice opening a hospice residence at Lourdes Senior Community in Waterford Detroit Regional Chamber, by Angela Hospice; 4/10/24 Angela Hospice will expand its caring services to the Waterford community and beyond, when it begins operating a 15-bed hospice residence at Lourdes Senior Community this summer and providing additional home hospice services in the area. The non-profit will extend its geographic reach further into north Oakland County, offering additional outreach to benefit all in the community, not just those on hospice care, through transformational grief support groups, educational outreach, and their Good Samaritan program, which serves those who are without insurance or the ability to pay for hospice.

Anti-DEI initiatives in medicine harm us all MedPage Today - Perspectives; by Aderonke Pederson, MD; 4/9/24I entered into medical school as a top student at the University of Chicago with a high GPA ... and a stellar CV exhibiting strong leadership qualities. I had beaten all odds, despite being a Black orphan migrant with no financial means. Medical school was a grueling process ... I would likely have felt even more socially isolated at my predominantly white institution if not for three essential factors. First, I was welcomed by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) administrators and participants ... Second, I had a dean of DEI who... said, "You can do this, Ronke." Finally, without my deep faith, ... I would not be where I am today. My experience is not unique from other underrepresented physicians of color. Despite this, DEI programs across the country are under attack.

The Sunday Read: 'What deathbed visions teach us about living' New York Times Podcasts, 4/7/24 Chris Kerr was 12 when he first observed a deathbed vision. His memory of that summer in 1974 is blurred, but not the sense of mystery he felt at the bedside of his dying father. ... Kerr now calls what he witnessed an end-of-life vision. His father wasn’t delusional, he believes. ... Kerr followed his father into medicine, and in the last 10 years he has hired a permanent research team that expanded studies on deathbed visions to include interviews with patients receiving hospice care at home and with their families, deepening researchers’ understanding of the variety and profundity of these visions.

Dane County Board approves funding for hospice care program for homeless individualsABC TV 27 WKOW, Madison, WI; by Chloe Morrissey; 4/6/24Multiple organizations aiming to combat homelessness received approval for funding after Thursday night's Dane County Board meeting. One organization, Solace Friends, will be receiving $100,000 for the creation of Solace Home. It's a hospice program for housing insecure individuals given less than 6 months to live. The home can serve up to four people at one time who are currently living on the street, in a shelter or an unstable housing situation.