Literature Review

East End Hospice building Saved in LI fires: 'Angels watching over us' Patch, Westhampton-Hampton Bays, NY; by Lisa Finn; 3/10/25 From the ashes of the raging brush fires in the Westhampton area this weekend, a miracle emerged: Despite just being located feet from the spot where charred trees bear testament to the blaze, a structure still stands — the East End Hospice building survived the fire. "Here is our headquarters," East End Hospice President and CEO Mary Crosby wrote on social media. "... inside this building we coordinate the care of hundreds of patients each day. We answer more than 1,000 phone calls a week from families, hospitals, physicians and field staff. Without the dedicated people who work here, there would be no East End Hospice." On Sunday [3/9], she wrote: "Just 24 hours ago, flames roared around this building, damaging our storage structure and spilling into the parking lot. People have said it’s a miracle the building didn’t burn. We know the truth. It was the dedication and skill of our local fire departments that kept our headquarters standing. In the early hours of the fire. We received very little information until a text came through from a firefighter on the ground: 'We saved Hospice.'"

Lifelong ISU fan receiving hospice care attends Cyclone basketball game CBS KCCI News-8 YouTube channel, Des Moines, IO; 3/24/25 A care home in Boone worked to get a lifelong Iowa State fan to what might be her final men's basketball game tonight. Beverly Adrian is receiving hospice care. She is 79, but turns 80 at the end of the month. Her last wish was to attend an Iowa State event, and since she is such a huge sports fan, the workers at the home she lives in thought this game would be perfect. And as you can see, it was an emotional night for her. "Oh, awesome!" "Very good!" "I've been crying since I walked in." ...

[Scotland, UK] ‘There’s still hope and joy to be had’: Art adds colour to end-of-life hospice care The Sunday Post; by Paul English; 3/2/25 For Alison Couston, hope is as simple as a brush stroke. ... Alison might have been forgiven for abandoning her creative energies following a devastating diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) last year. ... Alison’s speech, mobility, balance and co-ordination have been affected in the period since her diagnosis. But rather than giving up, the Glasgow theatre producer is still pushing creative boundaries. ... Now Alison is herself receiving the benefit of artistic practice at a challenging time as a weekly visitor to the art room at the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park. ... “Because of her diagnosis, she has certain limitations now and we had to work together to overcome those. She has been painting with her non-dominant hand and has embraced a more abstract expressive approach.” ... Alison’s paintings are now being gathered together for a book ... Alison said: “The book was my idea first of all as a way to raise money for the hospice. I thought if I sold my paintings in book form it would encourage more donations. 

Bride rushes wedding so dying dad can walk her down aisle Doniphan Herald, Doniphan, NE; by TImogen Howse; 3/4/25  A bride planned her wedding in less than 24 hours - so her dying dad could walk her down the aisle. Maurice Haynes, 69, is currently being cared for at St. Giles Hospice in Whittington, Staffs. [UK], ... His daughter Hannah Haynes, 29, was desperate for him to be present at her upcoming wedding - and knew Maurice had always wanted to walk her down the aisle. So she made sure her dad's dream came true. With the help of the hospice staff, Hannah and her partner, Josh, also 29, organized their special day in less than 24 hours. Carers transformed the hospice's chapel into a beautiful venue - complete with bunting and candles - and Hannah managed to secure a wedding dress on the morning of the ceremony. Just hours later, on February 18, Maurice, from Cannock, Staffs. [UK], walked Hannah down the aisle ... Hannah said: "What St Giles have done for my dad is unbelievable.

My mother and brother have terminal cancer. I'm worried I won't feel anything when they die. Business Insider; essay by Kimanzi Constable; 3/1/25 ... My brother was diagnosed with Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) three years ago, and my mother found out she had stage four lung cancer a year ago. I got a call earlier this year that the cancer was spreading, and I flew to spend time with them. I knew it would be hard seeing them battling late-stage cancer, but what I walked into was my brother in the Advanced Cancer Care Center, unable to move, and my mother wanting to hold an "end of life" planning meeting. It was worse than I anticipated. It was hard to see him not moving and the nurses having to help him do everything. My mother looked like she weighed 50 pounds ... I'm worried I won't feel anything when they pass away. ... I think it might be just another day when they pass away. I've been thinking — what does that say about me? Am I a bad person for not falling on the ground and losing it for over half of my family dying? Or is this nothingness an OK feeling due to the complicated relationship we've had most of my life? ... Editor's note: Leaders, welcome to the daily world of your clinicians, especially your social workers, chaplains, and grief counselors. Read this with openness to the normalcy of this author's conflicted relationships, emotions, thoughts, and empowered actions toward "not wanting to regret how I handled this opportunity to say goodbye more healthily."

Aging With Adventure: The challenge of caring Daily Hampshire Gazette, Northampton, MA; by Eric Weld; 2/28/25 I made a mistake. I took a hiatus from writing in this space about aging with adventure because I thought I was taking a hiatus from adventure. Boy, was I wrong. I errantly thought that spending more than a year caring for my elderly mother in her final time on earth was taking me away from adventure. I am honored to have enabled my mother’s final days spent at home — not her home, but my sister’s private home — instead of in a public or private nursing facility. ... I assumed, in taking on the role of her co-caretaker, I would temporarily preempt my semi-retirement modus operandi of striking out on great adventures. To the contrary, what I learned from spending nearly two years co-caring for my aging mother is that end-of-life care is, indeed, every bit an adventure on many levels. And of course, it’s certainly about aging. [Click on the title's link to continue reading this inspirational caregiver story.]

These Portland-area hospice patients need goods. Do you know how to knit or sew? Portland Tribune, West Linn, OR; by Hannah Seibold; 2/26/25 Dust off those sewing machines or grab a knitting needle because Positive Charge! PDX is inviting Portland-area folks to help those in hospice. The Stitches for Hospice project calls on Portland metro-area crafters — from beginner to expert — to sew or knit adult clothing protectors (bibs) and catheter bag covers for terminally ill neighbors and folks being served by hospice programs. “As a retired hospice social worker, I’ve seen firsthand over many years how fragile dignity can be in the final months and weeks of a person’s life. I wanted to do something that would enhance that dignity and brought the idea to Positive Charge! PDX. With a history of amplifying kindness with ‘crafting for causes’ projects—they ran with it,” said Maggie Alberton, a donor to the program.

North Texas doctor helps parents facing infant loss deal with the unimaginableCBS News - Texas; by Andrea Lucia, Lexi Salazar, Katie Standing; 2/25/25[Background story for parents Yvette and Thoms Ngo upon dealing with the news that their in-utero baby girl Zoe was diagnosed with Trisomy 13, would likely miscarry, or die soon after birth. Dr. Terri Weinman, their neonatologist offered rich palliative care interventions and support.] "When we met Dr. Weinman and her team the first time, she would say things like, 'So, what are we going to do when Zoey is here,' which changed my mindset completely," Yvette Ngo said. ... For the first time, the Ngos began to consider what Zoey's life, short as it might be, could look like. "It made us more comfortable with the situation, I mean as comfortable as you can be," Thomas Ngo said. "She just gave us hope." Zoey was born on April 18, 2024. She met her parents, her siblings and her grandparents. She was baptized. "They made us little crafts and mementos for us to take home, like footprints, really ways to help cherish Zoey's life," Yvette Ngo said. "They took her heartbeat and recorded it for us. Little things that we wouldn't necessarily think of." Zoey even had a chance to go home. But after 36 hours of life, Zoey passed away in her father's arms. The perinatal palliative care Zoey received remains rare. But for families like the Ngos, it provides a small sense of control when it's needed most. "Being able to plan so much in advance and think about all the different scenarios and how we wanted it," Yvette Ngo said. " I think, looking back on our time with Zoey..." "We wouldn't have done anything differently," Thomas Ngo said. Editor's note: Pair this with "Improving knowledge, confidence, and skills in perinatal bereavement care through simulation in baccalaureate nursing students," posted 2/24/25.

[UK - St. Christopher's Hospice] Woman with rare brain disease dances with husband for first time in yearsReposted in Daily Journal from Talker News, Tupelo, MS; by Isobel Williams; 2/20/25 This is the touching moment an elderly woman living with a rare brain disease slow danced with her husband - for the first time in years. Constance Bartholomew, 69, has progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a neurological condition which has left her struggling to walk. The disorder - which is estimated to affect around 4,000 people in the UK - can cause problems with balance, movement, vision, speech and swallowing. Constance began physiotherapy at St. Christopher's Hospice in Sydenham, south-east London in September last year - at which point husband Dennis, 72, joked he would pay a million pounds to dance with her again. Upon hearing the remark, rehab assistant Ralitsa Angelova ... made it her mission to make it happen.  ... “She is unable to walk, to articulate, her eyesight has failed. It’s a terrible condition. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But she is fully aware. There is absolutely nothing wrong with her memory or comprehension. ..." The video has been released as hospices in London come together to change perceptions of hospice care and highlight the vital importance of gifts in wills to their holistic palliative care services for adults and children in their communities. The hospices are taking part in the This is Hospice Care campaign, a national collaboration of 143 hospices across England, Scotland and Wales, brought together by Hospice UK.Editor's note: St. Christopher's Hospice--founded by Dame Cicely Saunders--is the home for modern day hospice care.  Click here for a YouTube video of Constance and Dennis. Click here for the article we posted on 2/21 about the UK's "This Is Hospice Care" initiative.

Hospice finance 101 and the gift of mortalityPost Independent; by Peter Schoomaker, Homecare & Hospice of the Valley CFO; 2/19/25... [Practical information about hospice expenses, like labor and mileage reimbursement with. "For our agency, we estimate our clinicians will drive more than 250,000 miles in 2025, slightly more than the distance from the Earth to the Moon."] And now a more personal note … I am grateful for the last seven years of my career working in hospice care. Most importantly, I am grateful for the opportunity to integrate into the clinical experience of hospice. When I shadow an admission visit or attend the hospice interdisciplinary meeting, I am reminded that hospice is a world of YET (You’re Eligible Too). The only thing that separates me, and our hospice patients, is time. My relative physical strength will eventually shrink. My mental faculties will fade. And there is a large possibility, at some point in my life, that I will depend almost entirely on others to help with most activities of daily living. This is true for all of us. ... ... Recognizing this truth opens a path to humility. A path to step away from the ego, even for a moment, and really let go. ... When I reflect on this, I realize what a gift our mortality is. To know that our choices matter because we never know much time we have left. A sincere thank you to all our hospice, homecare and private duty clinicians — and our administrative teams that support them. It is genuinely noble work.Editor's note: "A sincere thank you" to Peter Schoomaker, Homecare & Hospice of the Valley CFO

Harley Owners Group & Community make splash for JRMC Hospice NewsDakota.com, Jamestown, ND; by Steve Urness; 2/18/25 The spirit of generosity and adventure was alive and well at the 19th annual Polar Pig Walk the Plank & Chili Cook-off, held Feb. 1 at Stutsman Harley-Davidson. ... This year, Polar Pig reached an incredible milestone—surpassing $300,000 raised for JRMC Hospice since its inception. ... This year alone, $19,405 was raised, directly benefiting the care provided by the JRMC Hospice team. Braving the winter air, dozens of participants in a wide variety of costumes took the plunge, leaping into the water in the name of hospice care. Spectators cheered as JRMC team members, community members and families joined in the fun, embracing the cold for a cause. The event also featured a chili cook-off and silent auction.Editor's note: We don't know the temperature for this North Dakota polar plunge on Feb 1. However, the weather on Thu 2/20 in Jamestown, ND is -8°.  Bravo to these brave souls!

Still Waters Hospice hosts "Sweet Treats Celebration" for Valentine’s Day ABC KLAX 31, Alexandria, LA; by Sarah Drell; 2/17/25Still Waters Hospice in Alexandria, Louisiana, hosted a "Sweet Treats Celebration" on Valentine’s Day, bringing joy to patients and their families. ... Sarah Zito, Owner, Nurse Practitioner, and Administrator of Still Waters explained why they hosted this lovely event. “We wanted to put this on today because not everyone's Valentine's Day looks the same. And we have a lot of people in our community that are celebrating their first Valentine's Day without their loved ones. And we have a roomful of people and that situation. And so we wanted to take this opportunity and show them that they are still love and we value them and we grieve with them.” ... The "Sweet Treats Celebration" was more than just an event; it served as a testament to the hospice’s dedication to holistic care. 

 St. Francis Hospice hosts Sweetheart Lunch for those grieving lost partners Fox 23 News, Tulsa, OK; 2/14/25 St. Francis Hospice in partnership with Moore Fitzgerald Funeral Service hosted their Sweetheart Lunch to help those grieving a lost partner or spouse on Valentine's Day. "We're having a Valentine's Day party—we call it Sweetheart Lunch—for people that have lost a loved one during the past year, most often a spouse," explained Joseph Moore, the owner of Moore Fitzgerald Funeral Service. "Valentine's Day is such a difficult time for people that have recently lost a spouse. There are so many memories associated with Valentine's Day and so forth. We just want to provide a place where they'll feel loved and not alone today." Charlie Dodd, a bereavement coordinator with St. Francis Hospice, said events like this give people a sense of community during a difficult time.