Literature Review

Comment on the 2025 Global Map of Palliative Care: Data clarity and consistencyJournal of Pain & Symptom Management; by Guangwei Ji, Jin Ke, Fei Sun; 12/25We read with great interest the findings from the "First-Ever Global Ranking of Palliative Care: 2025 World Map Under the New WHO Framework" published in November 2025. As the first comprehensive review post the COVID-19 pandemic, this article provides an updated mapping of palliative care development worldwide. The use of a new WHO framework in 201 countries and territories, offers an invaluable overview on the global state of palliative care, particularly inspirational for countries that are launching palliative care policies or programs.

Concurrent care and equity: Addressing palliative care gaps for African American men in rural communities with a serious respiratory illnessAmerican Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine; by Cathy L. Campbell; 12/25Hospice and palliative care are often hard to access for African Americans (AA) living in rural areas with serious respiratory illnesses. Under the Medicare Hospice Benefit, patients must stop curative or life-sustaining treatments for their terminal illness, which limits options for concurrent care. This is a major challenge for AA men, whose average life expectancy is 67.8 years—about 10 years shorter than the national average. They also experience more care transitions in the last 6 months of life compared to White and Hispanic patients. These frequent transitions show how fragmented the health system is and how it often fails AA families. Using intersectionality and a vignette, this paper explores how overlapping factors—lived experience as AA man, rural location, and serious illness—affect access to palliative care.

A qualitative study of chaplains spiritual care for persons with dementia in long-term careJournal of Applied Gerontology; by Meganne K. Masko, Sarah McEvoy, Jung Kwak, Kathryn Lyndes, Alexia M. Torke, Shelley Varner Perez, George Fitchett; 12/25This study explored how chaplains provide spiritual care for residents with dementia in long-term care, which is not well understood. We conducted six separate semi-structured focus groups with a total of 16 chaplains who provide care for people with dementia in long-term care facilities across the U.S. Two main themes emerged: the broad and multifaceted role of chaplains in long-term care, including responsibilities to residents, staff, and family, and dementia-specific spiritual care adaptations and delivery practices, including learning through experience, using multisensory tools, relying on presence, music, and emotional resonance. Chaplains’ adaptive, person-centered spiritual care for residents with dementia highlights the need for dementia-informed chaplaincy training and greater integration of chaplaincy into interdisciplinary care planning in long-term care settings.

[Australia] Cancer and dementia incidence are strongly correlated worldwide: Evidence from cross-national regression analysesFuture Science OA; by Wenpeng You, Brendon J Coventry, Maciej Henneberg; 12/25Cancer and dementia are two major health problems affecting millions of people around the world. Countries with higher cancer rates almost always have higher dementia rates. Even after we accounted for income, life expectancy, and other social factors, cancer remained one of the strongest predictors of dementia. These findings suggest that cancer and dementia share many of the same underlying causes, such as aging, chronic inflammation, lifestyle habits, and changes that come with economic development. Understanding these shared patterns can help countries plan for future healthcare needs.

[Sweden] Palliative medicine physicians' experiences using the Numeric Rating Scale for pain assessment in patients with advanced cancer: a qualitative study BMJ Open; by Lisa Martinsson, Margareta Brännström, Per Fransson, Sofia Andersson; 1/6/26 This study aimed to describe palliative medicine physicians' experiences performing pain assessment using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS)-one of the most widely used pain assessment tools-for patients with cancer receiving specialised palliative care. ... The tool may seem simplistic, but, ... the physicians found interpreting the assessments challenging for the whole team. This complexity should be incorporated into future healthcare education and training within the palliative care area, where patients often have chronic pain conditions in combination with cognitive impairment. Future research needs to focus on developing reliable pain assessment methods for patients who are cognitively impaired because of the cancer.

[Netherlands] Pediatric advance care planning: a mixed-methods evaluation of documentation and sharing in current practice BMC Palliative Care; by Sophie Tooten, Rosella P.M.G. Hermens, Manel Verhoeven, Ellen M. Vierhoven, Fatima Boulakhrif, Jana M. Reintjes, Michel A.A.P. Willemsen, Judith L. Aris-Meijer, Jurrianne C. Fahner, Marijanne Engel, Marijke C. Kars, Inge M.L. Ahout & Esther Deuning-Smit; 1/29/26 Pediatric advance care planning (pACP) aims to align future care and treatment of children with life-limiting conditions (LLCs) with children’s and their families’ values, goals and preferences. Documenting and sharing pACP elements with healthcare professionals (HCPs) is essential for goal-concordant care. This study evaluates how pACP elements are documented in electronic health records of children with LLCs and shared with other HCPs.

"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.

Palliative care in pediatric phase I oncology trials: A scoping reviewPediatric Blood & Cancer; by Andrea Cuviello, Harisankeerth Mummareddy, Alanis N. Gomez Martinez, Holly Spraker-Perlman, Allison Uber, Jordan Wrigley, Erica C. Kaye; 12/25Clinical trials, particularly Phase I trials that test drug safety and feasibility, are imperative to advance outcomes for children with cancer. These trials, however, pose risks for increased symptom burden and suffering. Early integration of palliative care (PC) during Phase I trial enrollment offers a potential reduction in suffering and improvement in quality of life.  PC integration was associated with earlier hospice enrollment, increased home and hospice deaths, decreased hospitalizations and intensive care unit utilization, improved care coordination, and better symptom management. 

Palliative care staff attitudes toward music therapy for hospitalized adult patientsAmerican Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine; by Katherine A. Carney, Rachel M. Wiste, Susanne M. Cutshall, Christina Wood, Rachel C. Gentes, Brianna E. Larsen, Nana A. Tiwaa, Amelia E. Tetlie, Regina M. Mackey; 12/25There is emerging evidence that music therapy (MT) is an effective tool within palliative care to manage patients’ complex needs. This performance improvement project aimed to assess palliative care staff members’ attitudes toward the current utilization of MT within the institution’s hospital-based interdisciplinary practices. Top reasons for MT referral were psychosocial support, pain and symptom management, and coping. The most common symptom-focused indications were anxiety, mood, and existential distress. In this single-institution performance improvement project, staff attitudes were highly favorable toward MT for palliative care patients. MT is utilized for a variety of reasons, can be highly effective for improving patients’ quality of life, and may also be of direct benefit to staff.

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!