Literature Review

Improving timeliness of palliative care referrals within the ICU: A quality improvement project Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing (DCCN); by Stephanie Fiore, Simone O'Donovan, Kerry A Milner; 1/23/26 ... Using the Model for Improvement, this quality improvement project was conducted over 7 months, including a 4-month baseline phase and a 3-month implementation phase. ICU nurses used a PC screening tool to evaluate patients within 48 hours of admission. The project aimed to increase PC screenings to 75% and ensure PC referrals within 48 hours. ...  The implementation phase saw a significant increase in PC screenings, with compliance reaching 90.9% after process adjustments. 

"The lack of preparation compounds provider grief": Results from a needs assessment on grief training delivered to pediatric residentsClinical Pediatrics; by Erin Hickey, Erica L Jamro; 12/25Educational interventions to prepare pediatric residents to care for grieving people are rare.  Pediatric residents completed a survey conducted from March to April 2022 that assessed their experience, attitudes, skills, and knowledge of organizational support related to caring for grieving patients and families.  Despite improvements in competence with delivering difficult news with years in residency ... , only 35.7% felt competent by PGY3/4 [post-graduate year 3]. Only 19.5% of residents overall believe adequate grief support exists within their training program. Opportunities for residents to receive formal grief training are inadequate.

[Italy] End of life with psylocibin: Research, data and experienceEmerging Trends in Drugs, Addictions, and Health; by T. Re, A. Metastasio; 12/25Throughout history, mushrooms have served as a bridge for ancient populations, guiding human beings from earthly life to the "Beyond" and allowing them to "taste" this passage during their lifetime, thereby alleviating the fear of death. Recent scientific research has revealed that these ancient practices are supported by research done by leading world universities showing the effectiveness of psilocybin mushrooms in addressing fear of death, anxiety, and existential stress. The experience of guiding a person across the bridge between life and death raises intriguing questions about the nature of consciousness, the potential for communication in "non-ordinary states of consciousness" between different realms of nature, and the possibility of transcending space and time, thereby creating a new experience and continuity between life and death. Although we advocate for a wider and more accessible of use of psylocibin in the end of life we believe that more studies are necessary to identify the subjects that would benefit the most from this practice.

Integrating compassion and policy: Highlights from IAHPC Advocacy, 2025Palliative Medicine in Practice: by Katherine Irene PettusIn 2025, the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) advanced advocacy for palliative care as an ethical, clinical, and human rights imperative. As a non-state actor in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO), the association worked across policy, faith, and professional domains to integrate palliative care into universal health coverage frameworks. This report summarizes IAHPC’s global activities from February to November 2025, including engagement at the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA), collaboration with WHO and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the launch of the Leadership and Advocacy Development (LEAD2) program, and new interfaith and educational initiatives.Assistant Editor's note: As I peruse peer reviewed journals to bring you relevant and current summaries of research, I am amazed at the large number of articles published now about palliative care. It wasn't this way just a few years ago. As a long-time hospice and palliative care nurse, I am delighted to see the ground swell of interest in the principles, the need, the value, and the effectiveness of palliative care. I feel like 'We Have Arrived' (finally!). Kudos to all of you who have worked tirelessly over many years to educate professionals and the public at large, about palliative care and its virtues. I know we are not done; there is more to do. But we've come a long way baby!

Video conversation aids to assist in goals-of-care discussions with older adults in a medical setting: A systematic reviewAmerican Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care; Ashna S Karpe, Mokunfayo O Fajemisin, Stephanie Martinez Ugarte, Lara Ouellette, Martin L Blakely, Gina H Khraish, Shreyans V Sanghvi, Min J Kwak, Jessica L Lee, Lillian S Kao, Thaddeus J Puzio; 12/25Goals-of-care (GOC) discussions align medical treatment with older adults' preferences, yet are hindered by communication barriers, provider discomfort, and misinformation. Video-based decision aids improve understanding and reduce decision conflict, though data on their use in older populations remain limited. Video variability and differences in measured outcomes limited comparisons and generalizability. Video-based decision aids show promise for improving knowledge and aligning treatment preferences. Further studies are needed to investigate the impact of video-based decision aids on GOC conversations in older adults in acute care settings.

Patients' perceptions of autonomy in palliative care: Two patient interview exemplars Palliative Care and Social Practice; by Kristen Tulloch, Julia Acordi Steffen, John P Rosenberg; 1/19/26 Results: Four themes were identified: (a) my involvement in healthcare decisions, (b) change to my autonomy during illness progression, (c) self-assessing my abilities to exercise autonomy and (d) my coping mechanisms for loss of autonomy. Palliative care patients perceived and managed their autonomy amidst their illnesses, revealing a sense of loss of autonomy extending beyond healthcare into many daily activities. Participants wished to exercise autonomy in nuanced ways, varying in intensity across many aspects of their lives, underscoring the importance of recognising and respecting individuals' wishes for autonomy.Editor's Note: The authors’ focus on coping with loss of autonomy is essential. As illness progresses, autonomy can erode not only in medical decisions but across daily life, identity, and meaning—losses that are too often overlooked in clinical care. The frequently misapplied “Five Stages of Grief” can further blur this reality, reducing complex, personal experiences to linear expectations not supported by contemporary grief research. Understanding how patients adapt to loss of autonomy is foundational to truly person-centered palliative care.

Trends in pediatric palliative care - A newsletter Trends; by the Siden Research Team; 1/20/26 In 2024 TRENDS published it’s 100th issue and enrolled its 1000th newsletter subscriber, the newsletters growth shows no signs of stopping. The Siden Research Team continues to center ways to foster the pediatric palliative care community and ultimately improve care for our patients. ... ith no journal dedicated to pediatric palliative care, finding relevant articles required scouring pediatric journals for palliative literature and palliative journals for paediatric literature – clearly there was a gap in effective dissemination of relevant articles. ... The Siden Research Team took initiative to bridge this gap. In June 2016 the first search and resulting citation list was compiled.

Existential communication with patients and families: A qualitative exploration of multidisciplinary oncology clinicians’ experiencesAmerican Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine; by Megan Miller, William E. Rosa, Haley Buller, Meghan McDarby, Alix Youngblood, Betty R. Ferrell; 12/25Existential concerns are inherent in serious illness and at the end of life, yet communication to address such concerns can be challenging. Themes across clinicians’ experiences of existential communication with patients and families included existential questions, guilt/regret, fears about the future, grief, preparing for death, values and goals of care, spiritual concerns, and letting go. Meaningful experiences included bearing witness; providing emotional support and information; easing suffering; learning and growing; and the honor of accompanying patients and families through the end of life. Challenges included discomfort when talking about death; facing denial; being unable to “fix it”; resistance to palliative care among oncology team members, patients, and families; fear of saying the wrong thing; navigating conflicting values; responding to spiritual concerns; barriers to inclusive, high-quality care; and struggling with emotions.

All hands on deck: A case report of an interdisciplinary team preventing elder financial abuse at a skilled nursing facilityCureus; by Grace Yi, Nicholas S. Cho, Karen Galvez-Maquindang, Christine Sun, Navid Darouian; 12/25Elder financial abuse (EFA) is a common but under-reported form of maltreatment among elderly individuals. This case describes an 84-year-old woman with cognitive deficits residing in a skilled nursing facility (SNF), who was exploited by a purported friend who took funds, important documents, and attempted to designate herself as the patient’s power of attorney. The situation was quickly identified by the multidisciplinary care team at the SNF and mitigated through early action and collaboration. The case emphasizes the importance of multidisciplinary efforts to identify at-risk patients and the establishment of protocols surrounding abuse identification and reporting to protect elderly patients from financialexploitation and preserve their autonomy, dignity, and quality of life.