Literature Review

Outpatient curricular content for hospice and palliative medicine trainees: A national survey Journal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Harry J Han, Angelika Golebiowska, Emily N Hansen, Michelle Park, Victoria I Sweetnam, Christian T Sinclair, Jonathan C Yeh, Mary K Buss; 3/2/26, online ahead of print Context: More health systems are establishing outpatient palliative care (PC) programs, increasing demand for ambulatory PC clinicians. ... Little is known about the outpatient-specific knowledge and skills PC trainees should acquire for competent outpatient practice. Conclusion: This national survey identified foundational outpatient-focused educational topics for hospice and pallitive medical (HPM) learners and suggests that outpatient curricula prioritize deliberate education on the unique application of core PC skills in outpatient settings. This prioritized list provides education leaders a roadmap to enhance existing curricula and informs the development of outpatient educational resources that can be shared across institutions.

James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane, and when celebrity deaths trigger health anxiety USA Today; by Rachel Hale; 2/23/26 Many TV fans are reeling from the shock of two celebrity deaths back to back. Within days, fans said goodbye to "Dawson's Creek" star James Van Der Beek and Eric Dane, of "Grey's Anatomy.” What's more, both stars died before ever seeing the age of 55 and after battling devastating illnesses. ... Celebrity deaths can feel personal, even if you never met the person. And while grief is different for everyone, experts say collective grief can intensify when a public figure is mourned widely. When a death is tied to a serious illness, there’s also often another layer: heightened health anxiety. Watching a beloved public figure decline slowly can magnify existing worries about one’s own health.

Co-designing a framework to communicate patient-centred outcomes in palliative care: involving patients and the public to reframe understanding Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes; by Mevhibe B Hocaoglu, Adejoke Oluyase, Deb Smith, Rashmi Kumar, Sarah Perman, Matthew Maddocks, Sian Best, Chloe Nast, Sabrina Bajwah, Katherine E Sleeman, Irene J Higginson; 2/21/26 online ahead of print Conclusions: This study found that communication of patient-centred outcomes and Patient-Reported outcome (PRO) evidence can be strengthened through meaningful patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE). This approach helps to reframe public understanding of palliative care, highlighting its broader relevance beyond end-of-life settings. While developed in the context of palliative care, the framework offers transferable strategies for communicating complex outcomes in other often misunderstood or stigmatised areas, such as mental health and dementia care.

‘Important medicine’: Colorado Springs students share Valentine’s love with hospice patients The Gazette, Colorado Springs, CO; by Debbie Kelley; 2/12/26 The kindergarten classroom of Lisa Henson and Serena Odierno was like a bouncy house of red and pink Wednesday, as third graders paired up with their kindergarten “reading buddies” at The Colorado Springs School and poured their young healthy hearts into creating valentines for sick patients of Abode Hospice of Colorado. The first-time project became a meeting of young and old souls, both of whom benefited from a dose of kindness that turned strangers into friends.

Crossroads House to launch 'talking about death over dinner' program The Batavian; by Howard B. Owens; 2/2/26  Crossroads House will launch a community conversation program this fall designed to help people discuss end-of-life wishes before a crisis makes those conversations impossible. The program, called "Talking About Death Over Dinner. Won't Kill You," will bring small groups together over meals to break the ice on what founder Kathy Panepento calls "one of life's most profound topics." ... The dinner discussions will be facilitated gatherings for friends, book clubs, church groups, neighbors or co-workers. A trained facilitator will guide conversations through thoughtful questions about quality of life, personal values and end-of-life care preferences.

Grant will support memory care training North Central News; by Staff; 1/22/26 In late 2025, Molina Healthcare of Arizona granted $10,000 to Hospice of the Valley to support its Memory Care Training program. The grant will help Hospice of the Valley continue its program to train more than 4,000 memory care staff throughout the state – teaching effective communication techniques and strategies for managing challenging behaviors in people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The Memory Care Training program is offered at no charge to the community and shares best practices in dementia care through engaging role-playing videos that depict real-life challenges.

Ready or not: Rapp at Home program is changing aging’s last chapter Rappahannock News, Washington, VA; by Daphne Hutchinson; 1/4/26 Huntly resident Gwen Bates is good at getting people together. So when Rapp at Home (RaH), the county’s “senior village,” learned of a new program designed to help older adults navigate and plan for later life, Bates volunteered to organize the multi-faceted effort in Rappahannock.  “She took the ball and ran with it,” RaH president Joyce Wenger says. Called Ready or Not (RON), the program was developed by Queen Anne’s at Home (QAH), a senior village located in Queen Anne’s County, Md. on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

Tiny tree reappears along Lititz Pike to brighten the holiday season Lancaster Online, Lancaster, PA; by Claudia Esbenshade; 12/23/25 ... Anderson, a social Worker with Hospice & Community Care, took the initiative that year to give "Charlie," which is what Anderson called her tree, some love and adorned it with a little blue blanket and one red ornament. She named the tree in honor of the beloved tree from "A Charlie Brown Christmas." ... "Charlie had become more than a weed in a crack. He was a symbol. A pause. A quiet reminder that resilience exists even when conditions are ugly, and hope can show up where you least expect it," she wrote in her post. "My work centers around people who are often really fragile and facing limited life expectancy," Anderson said in an email. "So sometimes the smallest, most overlooked things end up meaning the most, especially to people who are tired, grieving, or just trying to get through the day. That little tree’s resilience has always been really special to me."

The hidden influence of social narratives on end-of-life decisionsJournal of Applied Social Science; by Stephanie Smith; 11/25Widespread exposure to idealized and distorted portrayals of death across news media, entertainment, and advertising has reshaped societal understandings of mortality. Often depicted as rare, swift, conquerable, or emotionally distant, death is stripped of realistic representation, obscuring the complexities of the dying process. Drawing on social cognitive theory, this interdisciplinary conceptual analysis examines how such portrayals function as behavioral models—shaping individual attitudes toward mortality, influencing end-of-life care decisions, and informing public health policy and resource allocation. Addressing these distortions requires a cross‑disciplinary shift in cultural attitudes, bringing together storytellers, clinicians, educators, and policymakers to integrate authentic portrayals of dying into public discourse, reframe aging as a valued stage of life, and expand access to death education. Such efforts can dismantle harmful myths, support informed decision-making, and guide healthcare systems toward practices that balance medical possibility with human dignity. In doing so, society may cultivate a more honest, empathetic, and developmentally appropriate relationship with mortality.

Terminally ill Stanford professor teaches class about dying from cancerCBS News, Bay Area, CA; by Elizabeth Cook; 3/13/25 A Stanford University professor's new curriculum explores the multiple aspects and phases of a person dying of cancer, and it comes from a person with first-hand knowledge. Dr. Bryant Lin has been a professor for almost two decades. He's used to being the teacher, not the subject of his classes. But that all changed in 2024 when he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. ... The diagnosis was a dose of cruel irony. Lin co-founded the Center for Asian Health Research and Education. One of the priorities for the foundation is researching non-small cell adenocarcinoma, also known as "never-smoker lung cancer," the same cancer diagnosis that Lin received. ... The class is called "From diagnosis to dialogue: A doctor's real-time battle with cancer." Within minutes of being posted, the class and the waitlist were full. ... The 10-week course covers the entire spectrum of cancer as seen through the eyes of someone who is living it. ... Stanford University recorded every session of the class so that they could live on for future physicians. If you would like to watch them, they can be found on YouTube. 

[Europe] Muslims often don’t trust palliative care. A new charity aims to change that  Hyphen; by Weronika Stryzyzynska; 12/15/25 Al-Amal, founded by a doctor and a chaplain, is informed by the Muslim view of a good death — something they say is lacking in mainstream care. A new charity to support Muslims navigating palliative care is preparing to launch after Ramadan. As well as providing an emotional support telephone line, Al-Amal will also offer practical advice on accessing culturally and religiously appropriate care.  The Muslim view of what a good death looks like is informed by values beyond the medical. … This can affect the way Muslim patients include their families in the decision-making process or their approach to pain management.

GUIDE and beyond: Strategies for comprehensive dementia care integrationJournal of the American Geriatrics Society; by Kristin Lees Haggerty, David B Reuben, Rebecca Stoeckle, David Bass, Malaz Boustani, Carolyn Clevenger, Ian Kremer, David R Lee, Madelyn Johnson, Morgan J Minyo, Katherine L Possin, Quincy M Samus, Lynn Spragens, Lee A Jennings, Gary Epstein-Lubow; 10/25The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model represents a landmark opportunity to improve outcomes for persons with dementia and their caregivers and scale comprehensive dementia care through a structured service delivery and alternative payment approach.  Drawing from the experiences of six previously tested programs ... we describe a four-step approach to enable successful adoption and implementation: identifying key leaders and partners, preparing a tailored value proposition, initiating program start-up, and ensuring sustainable implementation. We highlight practical tools and resources to address operational challenges, including electronic health record integration, reimbursement strategies, and staff training. By focusing on evidence-based models, health systems and other providers can accelerate implementation, reduce costly emergency and institutional care, and deliver high-quality, person-centered support. This approach can help to empower GUIDE participants and others to build effective, durable, scalable comprehensive dementia care systems, ultimately advancing the goal of establishing such care as a permanent Medicare benefit.

Kirk Greene: Why every family needs an estate planning ‘lifeboat drill’ Noozhawk, Santa Barbara County, CA; by Kirk Greene; 11/21/25 Over many years, my financial services firm conducted “lifeboat drills” with our clients. Some of the drills were focused on trying to help clients understand how much market volatility they could really handle. But we also ran “lifeboat drills” about estate planning. We would typically meet with a married couple and pretend that one of the spouses (often the husband) had just died or become incapacitated. The unfortunate spouse was encouraged to just listen as we worked through what his or her spouse would have to deal with.