Literature Review

Google AI overviews put people at risk of harm with misleading health advice The Guardian; by Andrew Gregory; 1/2/26 People are being put at risk of harm by false and misleading health information in Google’s artificial intelligence summaries, a Guardian investigation has found. The company has said its AI Overviews, which use generative AI to provide snapshots of essential information about a topic or question, are “helpful” and “reliable”. But some of the summaries, which appear at the top of search results, served up inaccurate health information and put people at risk of harm. ...

'It’s comfort, dignity and time': Agrace receives CuddleCot donation from JackPack GazetteXtra, Janesville, WI; by Kylie Balk-Yaatenen; 1/4/26 For nearly a decade, a Janesville family has worked to ensure that parents facing the loss of a baby are given something they themselves never had: Time. Through The Jack Pack, a local nonprofit founded after the stillbirth of their son, Jack, in 2015, Jackie Harwick and her husband, Garrick, have donated 14 CuddleCots to hospitals and hospice providers across southern Wisconsin. Their most recent donation went to ... Agrace’s pediatric hospice program. A CuddleCot is a temperature-controlled bassinet insert that slows natural changes after death, allowing families to spend extended time with their baby; ... That time can allow parents to hold their child, invite loved ones to meet the baby, create memories and begin grieving in a more supported way.

Hospice of the Valley GUIDE program supports caregivers The Arizona Republic - AZBigMedia.com; by Lin Sue Flood; 12/10/25 James, a lifelong athlete with 82 marathons under his belt, is facing his toughest challenge now: a type of dementia called primary progressive aphasia. But he’s not alone. He has his wife of 34 years, Reesa, by his side, and the support of a Hospice of the Valley dementia educator, who helps the couple navigate challenges like communication as the disease progresses. ...

Belleville home is full of holiday decor, with a twist The Pantagraph, Bloomington, IL; by Pat Eby If ever a house could come straight out of a Hallmark holiday movie, the Kalish home in Belleville just might be that cozy home where romance flourishes and holiday spirit reigns. And the holiday wouldn't need to be limited to Christmas New Years, Valentine's Day, St. Pat's, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah there isn't a holiday in the books Stacey and Brian Kalish don't celebrate with themed decorations at their home, inside and out. ... Stacey is especially big on decorating for Christmas. They have a big tree, but she also puts up one small Christmas tree she got for her dad when he was in hospice and decorated it with angel ornaments. She was just 21 when he died. She adds a new angel ornament to the tree each year in his memory. Editor's Note: Stacey's annual ritual of adding the "small Christmas tree she got for her dad when he was in hospice" and adding a new ornament "each year in his memory" is a beautiful, simple, ongoing way to honor his memory visibly, to "continue bonds" (an important, intercultural grief concept) for herself, family, and generations ahead. Consider adding something like this to your holiday care for next year; what community donors might support this?

Flossmoor foundation funds last wishes for hospice patients, boost for nursing students Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL; by Janice Neumann; 12/24/25 A foundation that was created to help hospice patients and their loved ones handle medical costs is also providing comfort when families need it most. Often, that comes in the form of resources to make the most of their remaining time. ... Formed in 2021, the Oasis Foundation raises money for education, well being, community events, funerals and transportation, officials said. It also funds a program called Hearts Desires, which endeavors to provide for patients’ last wishes requests. 

Refuge: How people experiencing homelessness spend their final days NBC News, KUSA-9, Denver, CO; by Chris Vanderveen and Chris Hansen; 12/21/25 If few cities and states know how to effectively deal with their unhoused populations, far fewer know what to do when the unhoused enter the final days, weeks, and months of their lives. The 9NEWS documentary “Refuge” represents a deeply personal examination of one of the more invisible crises of American life today: hospice care for the unhoused. “People like to think somehow, some way it’s being taken care of, but it’s not,” said James “JP” Hall, founder of Denver’s Rocky Mountain Refuge, one of a handful of places around the country that offers custodial end-of-life care for people experiencing homelessness.

End-of-life care needs cultural humility and social justice BMJ; by Jamilla Akhter Hussain, Rekha Vijayshankar, and Mary Hodgson; 12/18/25 Death, dying, and grief are not medical events—they are profoundly social, relational, and shaped by the histories people carry into their final days. ... [A] key question is: how can end-of-life care services become more trustworthy? Too often, institutions respond with so-called cultural competency initiatives. ... What is needed is cultural humility and social justice. Cultural humility involves ongoing self-reflection and acknowledgement of bias at individual, organisational, and system levels. Palliative care must prioritise cultural humility and social justice: trust grows not through outreach alone but through shared creation of knowledge, meaning, and care—and at the end of life ...

Is moral adequacy possible in the face of structural disadvantage? The experiences of health and social care staff in supporting homeless people using substances at the end of life Palliative Care and Social Practice; by Gary Witham https, Gemma Anne Yarwood, Sarah Galvani, Lucy Webb, and Sam Wright; 11/26/25 Background: Homeless people using substances at the end-of-life face many challenges in accessing and receiving good care. These can relate to poor interdisciplinary working by health and social care practitioners, stigma and structural disadvantage. Results: The data analysis resulted in three key discourse positions relating to how practitioners position themselves in relation to the practice challenges of supporting homeless people using AODs and approaching end of life. These were as follows: (i) what constitutes a good death and where, (ii) the limitations of professional boundaries and (iii) maintaining moral adequacy in the face of traumatic death.

My patient was gone. I had to help his family see it: The art of medicine means sitting with families’ grief and hope Stat10 - First Opinion; by Raya Elfadel Kheirbek; 12/15/25 Bullets tore through Michael Thompson’s car at a stop sign, ending the life of a 35-year-old father in an instant. Just minutes earlier, he had dropped his 8-year-old daughter, Emma, at dance class, her pink tutu bouncing as she waved goodbye. Now, in the ICU, his young body lay tethered to machines — ... a ventilator’s hiss forcing his chest to rise. ... His family’s grief filled the room, raw and heavy, as I prepared to document our meeting. On the screen, a pop-up appeared: “Patient is deceased; do you want to continue?” Its cold bluntness paled against their pain. Michael looked alive. His chest rose and fell with the ventilator. ... Medicine isn’t just tests or machines. It is presence — sitting with families in their grief, faith, and love. Our tools should support that presence, not interrupt it with cold prompts. ... Most U.S. hospitals lack clear guidelines for these situations, leaving families and clinicians alike in limbo. They also worried about organ donation — a decision fewer than 1% of families consent to after brain death, often because the body still looks alive.Editor's Note: We thank the palliative care physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains who provide sensitive presence with families in the unbearable spaces between hope and loss, especially when life support decisions arise. In this season, may we pause to honor those who carry this sacred work—and remember the families who have had to accept harsh truths while machines still “breathe.”

Award-winning documentary chronicles hospice nurse’s final 39 days Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) and TGBeyond, Washington, DC; Press Release; 12/1/25Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) and TGBeyond today announced the release of A Butterfly Has Been Released, an award-winning short documentary, alongside a new professional continuing education program, From Caregiver to Patient: Hospice Nurse Allyson’s Final 39 Days. Pre-purchase is available now, with formal release in January 2026. The 36-minute film follows Allyson, a hospice nurse with more than 20 years of experience guiding patients and families through death and grief, as she navigates her own final 39 days after a life-limiting diagnosis. Through candid kitchen-table conversations, a 150-person living funeral, and a natural green burial, Allyson demonstrates what she spent decades teaching others: live with purpose, presence, and connection until the very last day.Editor's Note: Is the concept of a "living funeral" new to you? I've seen this moving film several times, with a group discussion among healthcare professionals led by its producers Jason Zamer and Barry Koch. Click here for its 2-minute trailer.

Rediscovering purpose in the hardest moments of cancer care Medscape; by Mark A. Lewis, MD; 11/7/25 ... I'm a GI oncologist, and about a quarter of my patients have metastatic pancreatic cancer. Treat that awful disease often enough and, believe me, you start to doubt your own abilities as a supposed healer. I mean, talk about overpromising and underdelivering. ... When you judge your worth by your outcomes, especially longevity, imposter syndrome sets in like dry rot, and feelings of ineffectiveness lead to therapeutic nihilism in the very caregiver that patients look to for hope. It turns out, though, the best antidote to self-pity is right in front of me every day: my patients. ...

Geisinger medical students accompany Scranton, Wilkes-Barre Allied hospice patients with No One Dies Alone program WWIA/PBS/NPR; by Lydia McFarlane; 11/23/25 Tommy Ahlin was very close with his grandfather. He looked up to the man he called “Pap-Pap” for his military service, wisdom and family values. He spent the last few months of his life in a nursing home under hospice care, where he died at age 97. “Unfortunately, on the day he passed, he did pass by himself and was alone for a couple of hours before anyone got to him," Ahlin said. ... Ahlin, a second-year student at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, or GCSOM, is now a representative for the No One Dies Alone program, which partners the medical school with Allied Services Hospice. Program volunteers vigil sit, which means to provide company to hospice patients whose loved ones can't be with them.

How one Lafayette man's offer to cook for families in need turned into a mission The Acadiana Advocate; by Adam Daigle; 11/17/25 Kent Zerangue planned to open a catering business when he retired in 2017, but one experience overshadowed any need to make money. ... He began cooking for families in need and launched Food With Love, “a heart centered ministry of Hospice of Acadiana.” ... He had 10 families in six months.  ... Today, Food With Love serves about 135 families and prepares about 800 meals a week.