Literature Review

Poverty level affects end-of-life care in adolescent and young adult cancer patients  Cancer Therapy Advisor; by Liam Andrew DAvenport, MA; 7/24/26 Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients from high-poverty neighborhoods face disparities in end-of-life (EoL) care, according to research published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. AYA patients from high-poverty neighborhoods have more emergency department visits and hospitalizations, and less hospice use, than their low-poverty counterparts, study researchers reported. ... Eligible patients had been diagnosed with cancer and died between 12 and 39 years of age, and were enrolled in one of the participant health systems for more than 90 days prior to their death. 

The effect of palliative care involvement in vascular patients at the end-of-lifeJournal of Vascular Surgery; by Angela McCarthy, Kristy Wrana, Emma Triantafyllou, Ya-Huei Li, Carol Strycharz, Lindsay Lynch, Edward D Gifford; 6/26Vascular surgeons frequently manage critically ill patients and support complex end-of-life decision-making. Despite well-documented benefits of palliative care in serious illness, prior studies report that only 25% of vascular patients near the end of life received such support. Those without a palliative consult were more likely to undergo a code (18.0% vs. 6.6% ... ). After palliative consultation, the proportion of patients with a code status of do-not-resuscitate increased from 50.0% to 77.4%, and the proportion with a full code designation decreased from 50% to 22.6%  ... Patients with the goal of care to allow natural death increased to more than half of the patients from 18.4% after the palliative consultation ... These findings highlight an opportunity for vascular surgeons to proactively integrate palliative care, improving alignment between clinical interventions and patient preferences.

[Italy] Fever in a palliative care setting: Clinical insights and implications from a prospective observational cohort studyPalliative Medicine; by Stefania Cheli, Elena Angeli, Oscar Corli, Sofia Dinegro, Agostino Zambelli, Tania Carta, Romina Shazivari, Michaela Smolikova, Paolo Franceschi, Francesco Molà, Yara Silva Cruzeiro, Emilio Clementi, Andrea Gori; 5/26Fever is a frequent but complex symptom in adults with a limited prognosis, arising from multifactorial causes beyond infection. The study was conducted in an inpatient hospice palliative care unit within the Luigi Sacco Hospital in Milan, Italy (January and December 2024). Fever occurred in 40% of patients, with a median onset of 5.5 days after admission. In 39.7% of cases, fever was attributed to infections, mainly catheter-associated urinary tract infection. Its strong association with medical devices highlights the need for proportional, personalised interventions that primarily consider prognosis, symptom relief, and quality of life.

700 rural hospitals at risk of closing, by state Becker's Hospital Review; by Madeline Scheetz; 7/22/26 Seven hundred rural hospitals across the U.S., or about one-third of all rural facilities in the country, are at risk of closing due to severe financial challenges, according to a July 21 Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform analysis. The analysis comprises 264 hospitals that are at immediate risk of closure, according to the report. In almost every state, rural hospitals are at risk of closure. In most states, more than 25% of rural hospitals are at risk and in 11 states, 50% or more are at risk. ... More than 100 rural U.S. hospitals have closed in the past decade, with 110 closing since 2015, according to the report. Fifty-three hospitals have ended inpatient services since the beginning of 2023 to qualify for federal grants only available to rural emergency hospitals.

Palliative Care team manifests dreams of butterbeer and Harry Potter Vanderbilt Health News, Nashville, TN; by Jill Clendening; 7/20/26 After Mike Guth and his family learned that his pancreatic cancer had advanced beyond treatment, the Vanderbilt Health Palliative Care team worked magic to make a dream trip possible. ... Mike, 53, a beloved high school social studies teacher in southern Indiana and father of four, was diagnosed with Stage 2 pancreatic cancer in early 2025. ... Mike has always loved the magical lore of Harry Potter, excitedly consuming the books and movies with their children (now adults). Mike perhaps seized inspiration from the plot twists of the fantasy series to say he still longed to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida. With careful planning to manage symptoms and stay on top of hydration, the Vanderbilt Health Palliative Care team surprised the Guths and said his dream was doable. ... Palliative care physician Zack Watson, MD described, "for him to have that time with his kids and his wife. Hopefully, this gave them an anchor of joy in the midst of this really tough time." On July 14, Mike died peacefully at home, surrounded by his loved ones.

The impact of environment on palliative care practices and needs Europe Says | Environment; 7/19/26 Climate change is now recognised as one of the greatest public health threats globally. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, floods, droughts, air pollution affect people living with chronic, serious, and life-limiting illnesses. Patients requiring palliative care are among the most vulnerable during environmental crises. Many depend on:

An updated analysis of serious health-related suffering from 2021 to 2023 Journal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Afsan Bhadelia, Xiaoxiao Jiang Kwete, Tania Pastrana, Héctor Arreola-Ornelas, Jinfeng Ding, Oscar Méndez-Carniado, Lukas Radbruch, William E Rosa, Hongliang Tao, Valentina Vargas Enciso, Felicia Marie Knaul; 7/15/26 Results: Between 2021 and 2023, global serious health-related suffering (SHS) grew by 3.9% - outpacing population growth (1.8%) - driven by sharp increases in upper-middle-income countries (UMICs) (5.5%) and high-income countries (HICs) (5.2%) and notable condition-specific increases in SHS associated with lung disease (18.2%), inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (11.4%), and dementia (7.9%). Moreover, increases in SHS due to cancer were particularly stark in LICs (17.8%), while injuries markedly rose in HICs (15.9%).

Reach of palliative care in Parkinson disease-Progress and gaps after a national team-based implementation projectNeurology in Clinical Practice; by Sandhya Seshadri, Umer Akbar, Peggy Auinger, Nicole Andrea Lessard, Megan Dini, Sally A. Norton, Hillary D. Lum, Jodi Summers Holtrop, Janis M. Miyasaki, Christina L. Vaughan, Benzi M. Kluger; 6/26While clinical trials demonstrate PC [palliative care] improves quality of life for PWP  [people with Parkinson disease] and carepartners, little is known about the impact of PC on their experiences of receiving care in real-world settings. At COEs [Parkinson's Foundation US-based Centers of Excellence], [surveyed] PWP reported significant increases in non-motor symptom (NMS) assessment ... and pain management ...  Emotional and spiritual needs were addressed more frequently ... Advance care planning (ACP) discussions [and documentation] rose ... Communication ratings and knowledge of PC were high (>85%) and stable across surveys.

Serious illness and health care threats to personal legacy goalsThe Permanente Journal; by Marlaine Figueroa Gray, Matthew P Banegas, Nora B Henrikson; 6/26High-quality care for people with serious illness requires understanding what matters most. Although goals-of-care conversations may emphasize values and treatment preferences, patients hold goals related to identity, relationships, and legacy; how they wish to be remembered and what they hope to leave behind. Five themes emerged [from the participant interviews]: 1) participants actively planned for legacy, with legacy goals often clarified by serious illness; 2) illness and its care introduced threats to legacy goals; 3) financial strain and insurance coverage were major threats; 4) participants believed their care would differ if teams understood their legacy goals; and 5) participants wanted to communicate their legacy goals to their care teams. Integrating legacy-related conversations into palliative care may enhance person-centered care by addressing identity, relationships, and meaning alongside medical preferences.Assistant Editor's note: This article summary describes a very important aspect of end-of-life planning. Exploring with patients their legacy goals is as important as discussing their preferences surrounding their care. Including legacy goals as an integral component of goals of care and advance care planning discussions would yield a greater understanding of what kind of care would most honor the patient.

VITAS medical director: improve hospice referrals for cancer patients Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 7/16/26 Hospice utilization among some cancer patients is leveling off and slowing growth, but healthcare providers and medical educators can adopt certain strategies to move the needle. This is according to Dr. Ileana Leyva, regional medical director for VITAS Healthcare. ... Neuro-degenerative, lung and cardiac diseases are gaining more prominence among hospice diagnoses. In 2024, senile degeneration of the brain was the most common terminal diagnosis among Medicare decedents at 9%, followed by Alzheimer’s at 6%, according to the National Alliance for Care at Home. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease rounded out the top three at 4.2%. Lung cancer was the 11th most common diagnosis that year, at 2.1%, the highest rate for any form of cancer. Hospice News spoke with Leyva about the barriers that prevent cancer patients from accessing hospice sooner and what stakeholders can do to drive improvement.

Japan pushes to expand children’s hospices through new consultation service Europe Says, Osaka, Japan; Press Release; 7/15/26 For children with life-limiting illnesses or severe disabilities, even simple experiences such as playing freely or having friends stay overnight can be difficult. Children’s hospices aim to make such experiences possible while also providing support for their families, and efforts are underway to expand the number of these facilities in Japan. Tsurumi Children’s Hospice in Osaka, which opened in 2016, launched a consultation service in April to help people establish similar facilities across the country.