Literature Review

Cambia Health Foundation announces 10th cohort of the Sojourns Scholar Leadership ProgramCambia health foundation; 1/18/24Each Sojourns Scholar receives $180,000 in funding ($90,000 per year over a two-year grant) to carry out an innovative and impactful project in the field of palliative care and execute a leadership development plan designed to support the individual's growth as a national leader in the field. ... Each grantee is a member of an interdisciplinary palliative care team or is otherwise working to advance the field.Click on the link above for descriptions, and then on "Meet Our Cohorts"

Man with cancer once wanted assisted suicide, but was glad he chose natural death insteadLive Action, by Cassy Fiano-Chesser; 1/15/24“In our last moments, when he was awake, I sat on his bed and sang to him — Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now. He had watched her sing it at the Isle of Wight pop festival and it was a magical memory he had relived with us.

Finding a voice for the terminally illHealth Affairs, by Richey Piiparinen, 1/9/24A patient with terminal illness reflects on the reluctance in health care to discuss death. Access to the full-text article requires either an online subscription or purchase of 24-hour access to this article.

I Promised My Sister I Would Write About How She Chose to DieBy Steven Petrow, Guest ColumnistNew York TimesDecember 28, 2023On the day before my sister Julie died, I lay down on her bed and held her gingerly in my arms, afraid that any pressure would hurt her. She had lost so much weight that she looked like a stick figure I might have drawn when we were kids. 

The Hospice Action Network Presents 2023 Angel Awards HonoreesNews ReleaseDecember 19, 2023Alexandria, VA—The Hospice Action Network (HAN), the advocacy affiliate group of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), is pleased to announce its 2023 Hospice Action Network Angel Award Honorees. ... New this year is the addition of the first-ever “Courageous Conversations Award” to be presented, when merited, to a standout individual who has inspired and educated the public on the value of hospice. At 99, former President Jimmy Carter is the longest living U.S. President and the first known President to utilize the Medicare Hospice Benefit. This year’s HAN award recipients are as follows:

Dying without needless pain is a human right—just not in VirginiaBy Ryan GarnowskiRichmond Times-DispatchDecember 19, 2023As I sat beside my mother in hospice for 11 somber days, I couldn’t help but wonder if this supposed pinnacle of “comfort care” was truly the humane end many insisted it to be. ...There’s plenty of speculation one could make as to why MAID isn’t more widespread. ... Regardless of the reason, the fact remains: States without MAID policies are condemning the terminally ill to unnecessary anguish. ... Still, it’s precisely because our medical community can’t predict the time, manner or conditions of one’s death that MAID should be a no-brainer. Nearly all end-of-life reform advocacy groups make clear that a self-managed death isn’t the same as suicide or euthanasia, and is instead a peaceful, humane and seemingly preferable alternative to the horrible conditions some in their final days endure.

How one woman is honoring her late husband’s memory with a grief program at SargentoSheboygan (WI) PressDecember 17, 2023Plymouth, WI—Shirley Krause and her husband Randy Susen were inseparable for 30 years. ... Susen passed away July 4, 2020, at age 64, nearly a year after going to the ICU for the brain injury. ... Krause, a supply chain technology principal at Sargento, launched a life planning series in July focused on a grief and end-of-life planning for employees, one of several efforts she’s pursuing to honor her husband’s memory, along with hosting a widows’ support group, advocating for nursing home residents’ rights and supporting other families with traumatic brain injury survivors. 

Maine university adds unique course to help with end-of-life careWMTW-TVDecember 14, 2023Biddeford, ME—The University of New England Online is adding several new programs, including one designed to help improve end-of-life care in Maine. The End of Life Doula program is an eight-week, fully online course designed to provide students with the skills needed to provide compassionate, informed and supportive care for people and their families dealing with terminal illnesses or are nearing the end of their life. 

New documentary revisits Terri Schiavo caseAxiosDecember 13, 2023A new documentary revisits the decades-old legal fight concerning Terri Schiavo—a Tampa Bay woman who remained in a persistent vegetative state for over ten years before she died in 2005. “Between Life & Death: Terri Schiavo’s Story” explores how the pro-life movement used Schiavo to further their aims and examines how her right-to-die case laid “the groundwork for a post-Roe America.” 

Rosalynn Carter advocated for caregivers before the term was widely used. I’m so grateful.By Mitul DesaiUSA TodayDecember 6, 2023It started with a story. When asked about her lifelong commitment to improving mental health services and support for caregivers, former first lady Rosalynn Carter would share her experience on the campaign trail: Exhausted caregivers urgently reaching to grab her hand. Families pleading for resources. Americans bravely sharing their stories of hurdles and heartache. From these anecdotes emerge a legacy marked by courage and compassion. A woman ahead of her time, fighting for caregivers before the term was even widely used. ... I fiscovered the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers as a vibrant resource in an otherwise desolate landscape of caregiver support. I participated in a series of workshops that RCI facilitated aimed at helping streamline the diverse experiences of caregiving into nine distinct stages. Our hope is that this new approach—which moves beyond diagnosis-driven categorization to focus instead on the types of support needed at each phase of the experience—will inform policy and practice for health practitioners, employers, policymakers and organizations serving caregiver needs.