Literature Review

'Rehabbed to death’: Bringing more palliative, hospice care to SNFs Hospice News; by Kristin Easterling; 11/26/25 Patients in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) can become trapped in a “rehabbed to death” cycle that could be prevented with better access to palliative care and hospice. The Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) used by SNFs could be harnessed to enable more palliative care and earlier admission to hospice, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.Editor's Note: Click below for the study and related articles we've posted.

UConn Health’s palliative care growth continues: Expanding staff and services in both hospital and outpatient settings UConn; by Chris DeFrancesco; 12/1/25 Health’s expanded palliative care services continue to grow, spanning hospital patients to ambulatory patients, with or without cancer. Palliative care referrals in the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center are up 31% from last year, and 600% since inception in 2017. Referrals for inpatient palliative care consultations, which started two years ago, are up 35% from last year. A year ago, Dr. Mary Buss and Dr. Germaine Soliman established an outpatient palliative care clinic for patients dealing with conditions other than cancer. Since opening, it has seen more than 130 patients over nearly 450 visits.

S41 Delayed palliative care consultation among veterans with pancreatic cancer: An analysis of patterns and outcomesThe American Journal of Gastroenterology; by Adla, Akhil; Walker, Hayes; Whitwell, Samantha; Yn, Louis; Tombazzi, Claudio; 10/25Pancreatic cancer is characterized by a rapid disease progression, and poor overall prognosis, necessitating a comprehensive approach to care. The American Society of Clinical Oncology strongly recommends early palliative care consultation for all advanced pancreatic cancer patients, at the time of diagnosis or within the 8-12 weeks of diagnosis. Timely palliative care involvement has been shown to improve symptom management, mood, and improved survival. Despite these benefits, palliative care referrals are often delayed, limiting the potential impact on patient outcomes. This study reveals a dramatic percentage of patients who did not have palliative care consultations in a timely fashion as recommended by American Society of Clinical Oncology. 

[Canada] Examining compassion satisfaction and work-related stress within a hospice for the homeless (H4H) organization: Results from a multi-method surveyAmerican Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care; by Celina Carter, Mary Anne Olalia, Justine Giosa; 10/25Communities in Canada have created targeted hospice palliative care strategies such as facility-based hospices for the homeless (H4H) to promote equitable access to care. We developed and administered an anonymous 26-item survey to 104 providers including both staff (eg, nurses, administrators) and volunteers at a facility-based H4H in Ontario. Requests for additional resources to foster workplace wellbeing included educational, process-related, spiritual/psychological, and social supports. Respondents storied that positive workplace wellbeing includes being able to provide quality care, and having supportive relationships, personal fulfillment, and a respectful culture within the workplace. Provider participants were satisfied with their ability to be effective carers, yet chronic multi-level work-related stressors can erode a sense of meaning in H4H work.

Enhancing palliative care integration in the Cardiac Surgical Intensive Care Unit: A multidisciplinary quality improvement projectAmerican Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Crystal Hope Bennett Schiano; 10/25The rate of unmet palliative care (PC) needs is high in critical care areas, especially in the surgical patient population, where PC involvement is notoriously late in the patient’s clinical progression. This quality improvement project aimed to evaluate the ability of education, workflow delineation, and an evidence-based assessment tool to improve the integration of PC in a cardiac surgical intensive care unit (TICU). The intervention included education, workflow delineation, and an evidence-based frailty assessment (FA) implementation. The outcomes of this project were similar to those of the existing literature, further revealing that ICUs are challenging care settings in which to connect patients with PC for the first time. Future studies on the effects of FA in the cardiac surgical patient population are warranted to find the most appropriate settings for assessment and associated interventions based on identifying a patient’s frailty.

Grateful patient finds strength and support through UConn Health’s ALS Program UConn Today; by Jennifer Walker; 11/17/25 ... ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord responsible for muscle movement. ... Originally conceptualized by Dr. Amanda Hernandez, division chief of Neuromuscular Medicine, the UConn Health ALS and MD Program provides a “one-stop shop” for patients with progressive neuromuscular diseases that often require coordination across multiple specialties. ... “Our social worker meets every patient,” said Viguera Altolaguirre. “We address caregiver stress, financial barriers, and emotional coping. Palliative care helps patients navigate difficult decisions about feeding tubes, ventilation, and future planning—always at their own pace and comfort level.” 

Providing specialised palliative care to families with ethnic minority background: Perspectives, experiences, and approaches Omega (Westport); by Josefine Maria Bruun, Mikkel Rytter, Jahan Shabnam, Morten Sodemann, Mogens Grønvold, Merete Paludan, Mathilde Adsersen, Jesper Grau Eriksen, Mette Asbjoern Neergaard; 11/17/25 online ahead of print ... While some participants employed informal strategies of cross-cultural palliative care, these were rarely grounded in formal training or guidelines. We therefore recommend the integration of ongoing cultural humility training into the education of palliative care professionals to better support equitable and responsive care in diverse clinical settings.

Telehealth survives again: What the most recent flexibility extension means for providers JD Supra; by Conor Duffy and Danielle Tangorre; 11/17/25 On November 12, 2025, President Trump signed H.R. 5371 the “Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs and Extensions Act, 2026” (the Act). The Act ended the federal government shutdown by providing necessary funding; it also extends key Medicare telehealth flexibilities to January 30, 2026. ... This represents another short-term extension of Medicare telehealth flexibilities that will again need to be revisited in January 2026. ... Medicare Telehealth Flexibilities Extended by the Act [include]:

Balancing caregiving and personal well-being: The role of palliative care WISHTV.com-8, Indianapolis, IN; by Alfonso Ruvalcaba Trujillo; 11/17/25 Nearly 60 million Americans are providing unpaid care for loved ones facing serious illness, often without the necessary support, according to recent reports. ... Dr. Michael Gabriel, National Medical Director for Carelon Palliative Care, explains that palliative care offers an extra layer of support alongside regular medical treatment, focusing on improving quality of life by addressing physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

VITAS Healthcare expands hospice care in Florida, now serving Pinellas County PR Newswire, St. Petersburg, FL; by VITAS Healthcare; 11/17/25 ... On Nov. 14, VITAS began accepting hospice-eligible patient referrals in Pinellas County, ensuring that residents in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs and surrounding communities have access to expert care close to home. ... The company also began serving Marion County in May 2025.

VITAS Healthcare hosts free CME/CE webinar for healthcare professionals during National Care at Home Month PR Newswire, Miramar, FL; by VITAS Healthcare; 11/12/25 In honor of National Care at Home Month, VITAS Healthcare, the nation's leading provider of end-of-life care, invites healthcare professionals to a free, accredited webinar titled, "From Cure to Comfort: The Hospice Journey to What Matters Most." The virtual event will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, from 1–2:30 p.m. ET / 10–11:30 a.m. PT. 

Trends of palliative care utilization for nontraumatic intracerebral hemorrhage: Analysis of the national inpatient sampleJournal of Clinical Neuroscience; by Andrea Loggini, Victor J Del Brutto, Faddi G Saleh Velez, Jonatan Hornik, Denise Battaglini, Shawn S Wallery, Amber Schwertman, Alejandro Hornik, Christos Lazaridis, Adnan I Qureshi; 10/25We investigated the trends and hospital outcome measures associated with the utilization of consultative palliative care (PC) services among patients with nontraumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Of 452,250 ICH cases during the study period, 69,360 (15.3 %) received PC. ... ICH patients receiving PC were older, ...more frequently women, ... White, ... and more likely to be in the highest income quartile ... Conclusions: The use of PC in ICH patients has increased over the past two decades. PC is associated with more efficient healthcare resource utilization and higher odds of discharge to hospice/in-hospital mortality. Disparities in PC utilization persist among underprivileged groups and racial minorities.

Home-based psilocybin-assisted therapy for a patient with advanced cancer: A case reportPalliative & Supportive Care; by Houman Farzin, Benjamin Koren, Héléna Ferrier, Justin J Sanders, Nicolas Garel; 10/25 Psychospiritual distress affects many patients with cancer, contributing to diminished quality of life, decreased survival and a desire for hastened death. The current standard of care, which primarily consists of antidepressants and psychotherapy, has demonstrated only modest benefits. Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) has shown evidence of rapid, durable, and significant effects on measures of both depression and anxiety in this patient population. A 51-year-old man diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer, referred to palliative care (PC) with a prognosis of less than 6 months, experienced depression and anxiety in the context of demoralization and existential distress. PAT was well tolerated, with significant decreases in both anxiety and depression [and] the patient subjectively reported a sustained reduction in suffering and improved well-being at 2 months post-intervention.