Literature Review

Terror and LGBTQIA+ identity: Thoughts on Dr. Candrian’s Newsweek reflection Anschutz Medical School (Univ of Colorado); by Melissa C Palmer, JD LCSW ACHP-SW APHSW-C; 4/23/24 ... When reflecting on the intersection of LGBTQIA+ culture, being a woman, and the medical community, I have experienced gaslighting and marginalization because of my own identity. Things have changed a little in the past years, particularly in younger generations where sexuality and gender identity are more fluid and accepted. But in healthcare, unconscious bias due to the indoctrination by our elders can cause patients identifying as LGBTQIA+ to receive disparate care. ... Editor's Note: 

Eagle Telemedicine announces solution to counter lack of palliative careCision, PRNewswire-PRWeb; by Eagle Telemedicine; 4/25/24 Eagle Telemedicine adds new specialty to increase access to life-saving palliative care in underserved communities. ... Only 71% of U.S. hospitals provide palliative care and metropolitan hospitals are 15% more likely to offer palliative care than rural hospitals (National Institute of Health). Through Eagle's Tele-Palliative Care, hospitals everywhere can offer this next level of care, any day of the year.

End-of-life care facility for people experiencing homelessness opens on Monona Drive [Wisconsin] Isthmus, Madison, WI, by Linda Falkenstein; 4/23/24It started as an idea from palliative care physician Dr. Ann Catlett. Catlett had experienced having to discharge terminally ill patients who had no housing onto the streets. And she had seen a model home where patients without a home could live out their days in peace, receive hospice services and other daily palliative care. ... Thus was born Solace Friends, a Madison-area nonprofit with the goal of opening a care facility for people with terminal illnesses who are unhoused or experiencing housing insecurity. ... The opening of the adult family home was celebrated Tuesday with a press conference and tour of the facility.

30 systems sign on to new effort to advance age-friendly care Becker's Clinical Leadership, by Erica Carbajal; 4/17/24Thirty health systems are participating in a new collaborative through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement that aims to accelerate the adoption of age-friendly care for older adults. The Age-Friendly System-Wide Spread Collaborative is billed as a learning and action community through which systems will focus on embedding four evidence-based elements of high-quality care for older adults: what matters, medication, mentation and mobility, known as the 4Ms. Participants — which include Los Angeles-based Cedars Sinai, New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System and Atlanta-based Grady Health — will share data and collaborate to advance their own improvements in scaling age-friendly care across their sites of care. Participants also have the opportunity to be among the first to achieve a new IHI recognition for systemwide adoption of the 4Ms. 

Health disparities across states: 6 new findings Becker's Clinical Leadership, by Kelly Gooch; 4/18/24 The Commonwealth Fund released a new report April 18 examining racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare access, quality and outcomes across the U.S. The report, titled "Advancing Racial Equity in U.S. Health Care: The Commonwealth Fund 2024 State Health Disparities Report," examined state health system performance for five racial and ethnic groups — (non-Hispanic) Black; white; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander; and Hispanic (any race). [Click on the title's link for (1) Six summary findings, and (2) To download the report. 

Change in long-term care: Nursing homes across U.S. closing limaohio.com, by Precious Grundy; 4/19/24... According to the American Health Care Association website, more than 1,000 nursing homes have closed in the United States since 2015. ... According to the Population Reference Bureau website, in 2050 the population older than 65 will increase from 58 million (in 2022) to 82 million in just a few decades. The topic of long-term care will remain in questions. The American Health Care Association also said nursing homes across the United States have closed due to staffing shortages. ... Older adults now have the option of a home health aide, assisted living facilities and family caregivers.Editor's Note: How is this trend playing out in your service area? How do these closures impact your referral sources? Your hospice patients in skilled nursing facilities and memory care units? Accuity of patient care needs in the home, assisted living?  Hospital-in-the-home? The palliative care services you provide?

Primary and specialty palliative care utilization at a regional Burn center Oxford Academic / Journal of Burn Care & Research; by Zoe Tao, MD, Alexandra Hoffman, BS, Anna Stecher, MD, Niknam Eshraghi, MD, FACS; 4/20/24There is little research informing appropriate specialty palliative care consultation over primary palliative care practice, or the ability of the burn surgeon to perform skills such as effective goals of care discussions. ... There is bias in diverting both primary and specialty palliative care resources toward acutely ill patients and those with less immediate projected mortality may need additional attention.

961 nurses get training on palliative careThe Daily Star - Healthcare; 4/19/24[India:] Palliative Care Society of Bangladesh (PCSB), in collaboration with Kumudini Welfare Trust of Bengal Limited, provided training to the nurses in two phases held on April 2-4 and April 18-19. ... At present, approximately 800,000 people across Bangladesh, including more than 70,000 children, are in need of palliative care.

States with the best health outcomes still have deep racial disparities STAT, by Usha Lee McFarling; 4/18/24 A new analysis of health inequities in the United States shows that every state has deep racial and ethnic disparities in the performance of their health care systems. The report released Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund analyzed 25 indicators that track health outcomes, health care access, and quality of care provided for five racial and ethnic groups. It found dramatic disparities for Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous Americans, even in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Hampshire, and New York — the states considered to have the best overall health care performance. In all states, White and Asian residents had the best health outcomes. 

Global assessment of palliative care need: Serious health-related suffering measurement methodologyJournal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Xiaoxiao J Kwete, Afsan Bhadelia, Héctor Arreola-Ornelas, Oscar Mendez, William E Rosa, Stephen Connor, Julia Downing, Dean Jamison, David Watkins, Renzo Calderon, Jim Cleary, Joe Friedman, Liliana De Lima, Christian Ntizimira, Tania Pastrana, Pedro E Pérez-Cruz, Dingle Spence, M R Rajagopal, Valentina Vargas Enciso, Eric L Krakauer, Lukas Radbruch, Felicia Marie Knaul; 4/16/24Inequities and gaps in palliative care access are a serious impediment to health systems especially low- and middle-income countries and the accurate measurement of need across health conditions is a critical step to understanding and addressing the issue. Serious Health-related Suffering (SHS) is a novel methodology to measure the palliative care need and was originally developed by The Lancet Commission on Global Access to Palliative Care and Pain Relief. ... The discussion encompasses opportunities for applying SHS to future policy making assessment of future research priorities particularly in light of the dearth of data from low- and middle-income countries, and sharing of directions for future work to develop SHS 3.0.

Stillwater Hospice earns SAGECare credential for LGBTQ+ care 89.1 WBOI News - Fresh Air; by Ella Abbott; 4/18/24 Stillwater Hospice received a platinum level SAGECare credential this week, making it the only hospice agency in Indiana to have received the training-based credential. A SAGECare credential shows that the hospice team has been trained on LGBTQ+ aging cultural competency. Stillwater CEO Leslie Friedel said an advocate from the community reached out to them, recommending they work to get the training in order to create safe, local healthcare. “We started to look into it and it aligned so closely with our values," she said. "One of our core values at Stillwater is inclusivity and we felt like this was a way to really live in our values.” Friedel said it’s important for hospice staff to understand issues specific to that community because by 2030, experts expect around 7 million LGBTQ+ people 65 or older nationally.

Mississippi Capitol sees second day of hundreds rallying for ‘full Medicaid expansion now’Mississippi Today - Legislature; by Bobby Harrison and Geoff Pender; 4/17/24Hundreds of people rallied at the Mississippi Capitol for a second day Wednesday, urging lawmakers to expand Medicaid to provide health coverage for an estimated 200,000 Mississippians. ... Speakers recounted their struggles with access to affordable health care in Mississippi and chanted for the Legislature to, “Close the coverage gap now,” and for “Full Medicaid expansion now.” ... [Dr. Randy] Easterling recounted a story of two of his friends diagnosed with similar cancers. One was uninsured and self-employed, and did not get early diagnosis or treatment. He’s now in hospice and on death’s door. The other friend, with insurance, received an early diagnosis and treatment and is now cancer free.

AACN spotlights innovative tool for palliative care consultations