Literature Review

Hospice of Southern Illinois marks 45 years of care The Southern Illinoisan, Marion, IL; by Paul Wilcoxen; 7/30/26 Hospice of Southern Illinois has spent the past 45 years helping patients and families navigate the end of life. The Marion Chamber of Commerce recognized the anniversary Thursday. Hospice of Southern Illinois CEO Amy Richter said the milestone belongs as much to the people behind the organization as it does to the organization itself. “When I first came to the company 17 years ago, the census down in Marion, the number of patients that we served back then was half of what it is now, so it’s grown that much,” Richter said. “Again, it’s due to the staff and all of our volunteers, and the community and all of our community partners.”

Hospice launches new website The Martha's Vineyard Time, Martha's Vineyard, MA; Press Release; 7/29/26 Hospice and Palliative Care of Martha’s Vineyard (HPCMV) announces the launch of its newly redesigned website and new educational video. The new website offers visitors a more user-friendly experience, making it easier to find information about hospice, palliative care, grief support services, volunteer opportunities, upcoming events, and ways to support the organization. Designed with patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and community members in mind, the site serves as a comprehensive resource for information about HPCMV.

'Jeopardy!' champion Courtney Shah dead at 52 after brain cancer battle US Weekly; by Danielle Campoamaor; 7/26/26 Beloved seven-time Jeopardy! champion Dr. Courtney Shah has died. She was 52. "My mom died today, at 4:57am on July 22, 2026, in the comfort of her home," Shah's daughter, Maya Shah, wrote via CaringBridge, announcing her mother's death after battling brain cancer. "I don't know what you believe about death, but I like to think that she's at peace now. We loved her in this world, and we loved her out of this world, and we'll go on loving her." ... In her final [Caring Bridge] update prior to announcing her mother's death, Maya described what her new reality was like as she watched her mother receive hospice care.

Grief support matters beyond the hospice journey | opinion The Star | USA Today Network via Reuters Connect; by Miral Ackman; 7/26/26August is National Grief Awareness Month, a time to recognize that while grief is universal, every person's journey through loss is unique. I've learned that one of the greatest acts of integrity is continuing to support families long after a loved one's hospice journey has ended. When families invite us into their homes during one of life's most difficult seasons, they place extraordinary trust in us. ... Grief doesn't follow a timeline. It can resurface during holidays, milestones or ordinary moments, and no one should feel they have to face it alone. This National Grief Awareness Month, I encourage our community to make space for conversations about grief. A simple phone call, a listening ear or a kind gesture can remind someone they're seen, supported and not alone in their healing.   

Life’s Treasures Thrift Store plans Dade City locatioThe Laker Lutz News, Dade City, FL; Press Release; 7/26/26Chapters Health System, a nonprofit hospice organization, has leased a 10,000-square-foot retail space at 12709 U.S. 301 in Dade City to serve as a new Life’s Treasures Thrift Store location. The thrift store is moving from Zephyrhills to provide a more modernized shopping experience. The relocation is part of a strategic update of the health system’s thrift stores that benefit the charity grief and hospice services of HPH Hospice and LifePath Hospice, affiliates of Chapters Health System. The organization also recently leased a 10,000-square-foot thrift store location planned for The Villages.

What Cleveland can teach us about aging with dignity: Robert Phillips-Plona Cleveland.com, Cleveland, OH; by guest columnist Robert Phillips-Plona, director of facilities for Reserve Care; 7/26/26 During my career, I have had the privilege of working in -- as well as participating in creating --hospice care environments in Northeast Ohio. ... These spaces evolved over time as the needs of patients, families and staff changed. Each space and project looked different. The integration of technology that supported, but did not distract from, the human experience of patients, their loved ones and caregivers offered new challenges. Community needs changed. But one thing remained constant: People deserve dignity, comfort and compassion during life's most difficult moments. As Cleveland's population continues to age, conversations around health care often focus on hospital capacity, staffing shortages and rising medical costs. Those challenges matter, but we also need to ask a different question: How do we create environments where people can age and die with dignity?

Wabash Valley Sewing Connection donates quilts to veterans in hospice care WTWO/WAWV Terre Haute, Terre Haute, IN; by Noah Gastineau; 7/20/26 Veterans can sometimes feel left out or forgotten, especially those in Hospice care, but one group is thanking local veterans for their service one quilt at a time. The Wabash Valley Sewing Connection is donating 44 quilts to the VNA and Hospice of the Wabash Valley to be given to veterans at the facility. The group has been doing this for years, but this year is extra special as it coincides with America's 250th birthday. ... It took approximately 1,100 hours to quilt all 44 quilts together before they were donated to the VNA and Hospice of the Wabash Valley. 

[United Kingdom] Hospice marks 35th anniversary with exhibition BBC News, Channel Islands and Guernsey, United Kingdom; 7/18/26 A charity is marking 35 years of providing specialist hospice care for people with life-limiting illnesses, through an art installation. Les Bourgs Hospice was founded in 1991 and the photographic exhibition in the Brian White Gallery at Guernsey Museum, Candie, celebrates the people and community behind it. The States of Guernsey said the gallery consisted of a series of about 70 portraits which captured "the people whose dedication, compassion and commitment" helped shape what the hospice is about. 

New easy-to-navigate web edition: A history of care - 250 years of American need, service and hope Composing Life Out of Loss, partnered with Hospice & Palliative Care Today; by Joy S. Berger; 7/20/26 Growing out of your overwhelming response to our July 4th, 2026 commemoration, we’re now releasing a new web edition of A History of Care: 250 Years of American Need, Service and Hope to carry this work forward. We invite you to use this living history—in your own setting and across our field—as we write the next chapters of care together.

Empath Health Mobile Simulation RV gives summer camp students hands-on look at healthcare careers Pasco Hernando State College (PHSC); Press Release; 7/16/26 Today, Empath Health Clinical Specialist, MJ Schwartz, Workforce Innovation & Academic Partnerships brought their Mobile Simulation Unit to Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch Health Care Discovery Summer Camp on Thursday, July 16, giving middle and high school students a hands-on introduction to health  care careers through interactive clinical simulations and team-based problem solving. The 31-foot Mobile Simulation RV hosted 28 campers, ages 11 to 18, who rotated through the unit in small groups. Students explored health care training equipment, learned basic patient care concepts and participated in a medical “escape room”-style activity designed to build critical thinking and collaboration skills while introducing real-world healthcare scenarios.

Meet the pair traveling Route 66 to encourage blood donation amid shortage The Oklahoman; by Carla Hinton; 7/14/26 As part of their 'Miles For Kindness' movement, two women are traveling Route 66 to encourage people to donate blood. Two women whose lives have been affected by blood donation are traveling miles from home in a colorful decommissioned ambulance to raise awareness about the nation's blood supply shortage. Marie Forrestal and Lori Talbot left their homes in Cranford, New Jersey, about a week ago to travel Route 66 to share their "Miles of Kindness" message. The pair stopped in Oklahoma City on Monday to host a blood drive at the Drybar salon at Classen Curve, in partnership with Our Blood Institute. The two sat in lawn chairs near their ambulance while visiting with customers and others who dropped by. 

Everyday ethics: Leave a legacy beyond material things Daily Times; by John C. Morgan; 7/15/26 Buildings and other structures don't last forever, but there are things we can do that will endure. Everyone wants to leave a legacy, something that outlasts themselves, whether a cause, offspring or project that embodies their future hopes. One of the more famous sentences left behind was graffiti from World War II, a doodle of a bald-headed man peering over a wall accompanied by the phrase “Kilroy Was Here.” It showed that American troops had been there. ... I’ve always found it hopeful, not morbid, to take walks through cemeteries to read the life stories of others. The few words inscribed on headstones represent the essentials, sometimes with an accompanying message the departed wants to leave others to remember. ...

Hospice of Midland expands adult care programs and adds children's grief support Midland Reporter-Telegram; by Kessly Salinas; 7/13/26 Hospice of Midland announced it will expand its services this summer by growing two adult programs and introducing a program for children. “In response to community needs, we are enlarging two adult programs and introducing one for children,” said Deborah Goodman, CEO of Hospice of Midland. “The Pathways Palliative Care program, which supports patients with advanced illnesses, will be expanded,” Goodman said. ... The new program will be the Children’s Grief Center’s Holding Hope program. “Rays of Hope Children’s Grief Center has been here in Midland, serving the Permian Basin for 22 years,” Goodman said. “We’ve noticed, especially since COVID, a pretty substantial increase in deaths by suicide in younger individuals, especially the teen and young adult ages.” The Holding Hope program was designed for children and families affected by death by suicide.