Literature Review

When it’s time to die: the need for palliative care training Psychology Today; by Shannon F.R. Small, MD; 6/1/26 It's important to know how to discuss death in surgical care. Have you ever had to tell someone that they are dying? ... In my field of trauma and surgical critical care, and in many other surgical specialties, such as surgical oncology, transplant surgery, or cardiothoracic surgery, the word death must not be seen as taboo. Helping patients and their families cope with the possibility of dying is increasingly recognized as crucial to surgical training, as evidenced by one study, which had greater than 90% of the faculty reporting that the graduating chief residents needed more training in conducting goals of care and end of life conversations.

Pastor-endorsed hospice education increases willingness to accept hospice among African American congregants in rural North Carolina American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Tiffany D. Morris, DNP, MS, Ed, MSN, CNE; 5/28/26 ... This preliminary quality improvement project evaluated a culturally tailored, pastor-endorsed hospice education intervention in two African American Baptist churches (n = 49). Guided by humanistic nursing theory, pastors used the African American Outreach Guide for End-of-Life Care to dispel myths and explain hospice services. Willingness to accept hospice (AARP End of Life Survey) increased from 60.4% to 93.6% (51.7% relative increase), and uncertainty decreased from 39.6% to 6.4% (84.2% reduction).

Central Coast VNA & Hospice expands focus on aging-in-place support as regional demand grows K99.1 XLG, Monterey, CA; by Presswire.com; 6/5/26 Central Coast VNA & Hospice, a nonprofit home healthcare organization serving Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and South Santa Clara counties, is expanding its community education and outreach efforts around aging-in-place care services. The initiative responds to a growing number of families in the region seeking structured, professional support to help older adults live safely and independently at home, a trend observed broadly across California and the nation as the senior population continues to grow.

Hospice enrollments from the Emergency Department feature short admissions and high-acuity hospice care Health Affairs; by Helen P. Knight, Kourosh Ravvaz, Alexander Fiksdal, Lin Shen, Isaac S. Chua, Claire K. Ankuda, Haiden A. Huskamp, Hojjat Salmasian, Joan M. Teno, and David W. Bates; 6/1/26 ... The 10 percent of hospice agencies with the highest proportion of ED-to-hospice enrollments were less often for-profit than agencies ranked below the fiftieth percentile in respect to proportion of ED-to-hospice enrollments. Further research is needed to increase understanding of how much patients benefit from ED-to-hospice transfers when their hospice stays before death are very short, and what drivers lead to these ED-to-hospice transfers.

‘Life-changing’: Florida’s first pediatric hospice and palliative care center to open in Jacksonville News4JAX, Jacksonville, FL; by Tiffany Salameh; 6/2/26 A new center opening in Jacksonville aims to provide children with serious illnesses and their families something many say is hard to find: a place designed specifically for them. The Dorion Family Pediatric Center, set to officially open June 11 inside the Earl B. Hadlow Center for Caring on Sunbeam Road, is being described as Florida’s first dedicated pediatric hospice and palliative care center and one of only a few such facilities in the nation. The center will become the new home of Community PēdsCare, a program that currently serves more than 300 children across Northeast Florida living with serious and complex medical conditions.

Why pre-admission is hospice’s next operational advantage Hospice News; by Jack Silverstein; 5/29/26 When Dr. Darius Joshi named his San Jose, California-based hospice Redwood Hospice, the name had more significance than simply proximity to Redwood National and State Parks. [Rich metaphor of redwood trees for quality hospice care as related to referrals and admissions ...] ... Inside the rise of the pre-admission platform: three areas of improvement:

First do no harm: communication surrounding non-beneficial treatments American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Cassie Stanzler, MD, Adam Marks, MD, MPH, and Laura Taylor, MD, MSc; 5/21/26 Despite a consensus in the medical community that clinicians should not offer non-beneficial treatments (NBTs) to their patients, little guidance exists on the particular communication needs around this fraught topic. While intended in the spirit of non-maleficence, setting limits around NBTs can be seen by patients and families as abandonment, resulting in conflict. In this paper, we propose a framework to guide Palliative Care clinicians in communicating about these complex issues with patients and families. ... Our framework emphasizes proactive relationship building with patients and families, close attention to their values, and compassionate limit-setting when medically appropriate. 

Signs it’s time for in-home healthcare: 11 warning signs U.S. News & World Report News; by Barbara Sadick; 5/27/26 

Nurse and provider perceptions of palliative care Nursing Management; by Eydie Tipton, Tracy Viers, and Chelsea Wilson; 5/1/26 Conclusions: Findings suggest that knowledge gaps may not be the primary barrier to palliative care (PC) utilization. Instead, systemic and cultural factors likely contribute to under-referral. Leadership-driven strategies, including standardized referral processes, enhanced interprofessional education, and supportive clinical environments, may help translate knowledge into consistent practice.Editor's Note: Yes, real persons are behind each research article we post. Read this community's pride in the palliative care nurses of Quincy, IL behind this study. Eydie, Tracy and Chelsea saw a need, developed a research project, and saw it through to publication: National journal publishes palliative care research by area nurses.

Geographic distance between perinatal and pediatric palliative care services and implications for practice standards American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Radion Svynarenko, PhD, Meaghann S. Weaver, MD, PhD, MPH, HEC-C, Ambria Williams, BA,Ashley Kiefer Autrey, MD, DonnaMaria E. Cortezzo, MD, Abigail B. Wilpers, PhD, Abagail D. Cohen, MA, HEC-C,  Lisa C. Lindley, PhD, RN, FPCN, FAAN; 5/14/26 Background: Practice standards recommend early integration of perinatal and pediatric palliative care (PC) with seamless transitions across settings. Little is known about the proximity between these services nationally. Results: 418 pediatric PC physicians and 296 perinatal PC programs were included. Five states (CA, TX, NY, FL, OH) had the highest concentrations of pediatric PC physicians. ... Median drive times to the nearest pediatric PC physician for programs lacking on-site expertise reached approximately 5 hours in NM and SD; 3 hours in ND and MT; and 2 hours in AL, CO, WV, and TN.

Dying for a change: understanding compassionate release policies in the United States ehospice; by Shivani Kaushki, PhD, MSSW; 5/25/26 As the United States prison population continues to age, the question of how society supports incarcerated individuals at the end of life has become increasingly urgent. ... Conducting a systematic review utilizing rigorous PRISMA guidelines, this study analyzed decades of research examining U.S. compassionate release policies, programs intended to allow terminally ill or severely debilitated individuals to spend their final days in the community instead of a correctional facility.

Palliative care research project: the NIH-backed initiative in care across the lifespan will be co-led by Boston College School of Social Work Ahearn Endowed Professor Karen Bullock Boston College News, Boston, MA; by Sean Smith; May 2026 The NIH awarded a $64 million grant to establish the Advancing the Science of Palliative Care Research across the Lifespan (ASCENT) consortium, for which Bullock, the Louise McMahon Ahearn Endowed Professor at BCSSW, will serve as a co-investigator. ... These scientists will develop a national scientific infrastructure and community to advance palliative care research; create new research knowledge and research methodologies; foster career development and impact of the palliative care workforce; and disseminate palliative care research findings and facilitate their implementation.