Literature Review

This American Heart Month, Carolina Caring elevates cardiac care for serious illness Carolina Caring, Newton, NC; Press Release; 2/9/26 February is American Heart Month, a national effort to raise awareness about heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. As of 2025, 6.7 million Americans over the age of 20 are living with heart failure (Heart Failure Society of America, 2025). ... In response, Carolina Caring’s Advanced Cardiac Care program provides effective, tailored support to patients with chronic heart conditions. As the first cardiac care program of its kind in North Carolina, Carolina Caring combines nationally recognized standards of care with a home-based hospice approach. 

What can we learn from death in the age of longevity? Time; by Arianna Huffington; 2/16/26 ... Research on those at the end of life shows that our values change as death approaches. At the end, we don’t crave more status or more things, but more connection. A study on terminally ill patients found that common reflections include concern for loved ones, gratitude, and spirituality. Another found that the most commonly discussed topics included accepting one's imperfections, celebrating and appreciating what you have, giving, and service to others. And a study of hospice patients found that they showed “the desire to grow and change at this critical time.” If hospice patients can grow and change at the end of life, why not grow and change now? ... It is a surprising, but important, lesson to learn: bringing death into our lives is what paradoxically allows us to live more fully.  

Suffolk paramedic students participate in 1st clinical hospice-specific rotation Patch, Westhampton-Hampton Bays, NY; by Lisa Finn; 2/12/26 In a groundbreaking new program, Suffolk County Community College paramedic students have begun participating in New York State’s first hospice-specific clinical rotation at the East End Hospice Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Westhampton Beach. As part of their program training, Suffolk students already complete more than 600 clinical hours in areas that overlap with emergency services, including emergency rooms, labor and delivery, and mental health, officials said. The new initiative introduces an unprecedented focus on hospice care within paramedic education, officials added.

How an ethics course can prep you for med school: It can strengthen communication and empathy and help with complex treatment and research decisions. U.S. News & World; by Neha Raju; 2/10/26 Medical school applicants often focus on the most tangible parts of preparation: grades, MCAT scores, clinical hours and research. Ethics courses, when considered at all, are sometimes treated as peripheral or “nice to have” rather than genuinely useful. That view misses how central ethical reasoning has become ...

Spreading the principles of palliative care to all corners Health Affairs; by Jessica Nutik Zitter; 2/2/26 My daughter Sasha is a first-year medical student. ... Most recently, she has been envisioning herself as a palliative care physician. She tells me it may be the only specialty that will allow her to practice her values. As a long-time palliative care physician who has acted as an evangelist for the specialty, I surprised myself with a reflexive response. “I’m not sure that’s the best choice for you,” I said. ... Something needs to change—for our patients and for ourselves. ... I propose several strategies ...

How ‘rest’ became the biggest four-letter word in healthcareMedscape; by Eric Spitznagel; 1/30/26As a resident at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, he did his best to get enough of it, which wasn’t often. Even when he managed a full night’s sleep, it didn’t bring the relief he expected. His body might slow down, but his mind didn’t. “My mind kept racing through patient records,” Jacobs said. “So even sitting on the couch wasn’t helping.” He was on the cusp of understanding what few healthcare workers figure out: True rest requires more than lying down. It requires something that pulls your attention out of the mental loops that medicine trains clinicians to spin 24/7. ...

“This is what loneliness looks like”: A description of a high-risk population of palliative and oncology patients American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Tamia Ross, MSPH, Ruwanthi Ekanayake, BA, Lucy Rabinowitz Bailey, MPH, Kain Kim, MD, and Emily Pinto Taylor, MD; 1/9/26 Background: Loneliness exacerbates symptom burden and reduces quality of life in serious illness. Social prescribing–linking patients to non-clinical community activities–offers a novel approach to address loneliness in palliative care. Results: Most patients were older, non-Hispanic Black women experiencing financial strain, food insecurity, and transportation barriers. Anxiety exceeded depression severity; mood disorders, loneliness, and social isolation were leading referral reasons.

Galactic Symphony thrills young hospice patient Lovin' Life; by Lin Sue Flood; 2/1/26 A quiet backyard suddenly burst into song with the stirring brass of John Williams Star Wars theme recently, transforming a regular afternoon into a Galactic Symphony. For 26-year-old Anthony Castle, a lifelong Star Wars superfan, it was like watching the magic of the big screen come to life. Through a unique partnership between Hospice of the Valley and the Phoenix Symphony, six professional musicians arrived at Anthonys home to perform a private medley. To the delight of Anthony who proudly wore his Baby Yoda T-shirt several of the performers arrived in character, dressed as Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker.

Evaluating palliative care needs in patients with advanced non-malignant chronic conditions: An umbrella review of needs assessment tools Healthcare; by Chrysovalantis Karagkounis, Stephen Connor, Danai Papadatou, Thalia Bellali; 12/24/25 Patients with advanced non-malignant chronic conditions experience illness burdens and palliative care needs comparable to those of oncology patients, yet palliative care is often introduced late. Identifying individuals with potential palliative care needs is complex, and although multiple tools exist, the most appropriate approach for assessing needs in this population remains unclear. This umbrella review aimed to identify and evaluate tools used to systematically assess palliative care in adults with advanced non-malignant chronic conditions, with a specific focus on their content, structure, and psychometric properties.

Briana Kohlbrenner: End-of-life care is under threat - as demand for hospice grows, workers say staffing and pay must keep paceVTDigger, Vermont; commentary by Briana Kohlbrenner; 1/27/26 As demand for hospice grows, workers say staffing and pay must keep pace. University of Vermont Home Health and Hospice (UVMHHH) is at a crossroads. As Vermont’s population ages, the demand for hospice care is growing. ... We are asking for fair and transparent pay scales, safe staffing and equity within the UVM Health system. Though we wear the same logo on our badges, we are paid less than our counterparts in other parts of the UVM Health system. A new nurse starting at UVM Home Health and Hospice earns $6.72 less per hour than a new nurse at the UVM Medical Center.

Husband with Parkinson's was admitted into at-home hospice program and has dramatically improved. Have others experienced this? Aging Care; by Klwolf; 1/21/26 My DH has Parkinson’s that has been getting progressively worse for months. In early December we had him assessed for hospice and he was admitted. Since then, he’s improved dramatically. Has anyone else experienced dramatic improvement AFTER hospice enrollment? The hospice staff simply shrugs and says this sometimes happens and that we need to be prepared for him to revert back to his previous state. Editor's Note: Many clinicians have seen individuals improve after hospice enrollment, often due to better symptom control, reduced stress, or consistent interdisciplinary care. The concern here is not the improvement itself, but the hospice team’s reported response. A shrug can feel dismissive to families already living with uncertainty. How do we teach teams to communicate about improvement—honoring hope while preparing families with clarity, compassion, and trust?

An Anderson Township nursing home patient died of natural causes — until the coroner called it homicide ABC WCPO-9, Cincinnati / Anderson Township, OH; by Dan Monk; 1/21/26 An Anderson Township nursing home is under scrutiny after a patient’s death was changed from natural causes to homicide by the Hamilton County Coroner. Robert Meyer was a patient at Forest Hills Healthcare Center, ... He died on Sept. 6, 2025, soon after being transferred to a hospice facility in Blue Ash. No autopsy was conducted because the original death certificate said Meyer died of natural causes. However, as his funeral approached, his daughter raised concerns about his care at Forest Hills. Tammy Maham sent the coroner pictures of neck bruises that Meyer incurred in the days before his death. That led to Meyer’s disinterment, a Sept. 22 autopsy and a revised death certificate that lists “physical elder abuse” as the immediate cause of death by homicide.

How hospice social workers create everyday moments that matter Severna Park Voice, Severna Park, MD; by Chris Gooding, LCSW-C, social worker Hospice of the Chesapeake; 1/15/26  There are many moving stories about how a hospice social worker helped a patient get married or take that one last trip to the ocean. These are impactful, memory-making moments that go a long way to honor the patient’s final wishes while helping a family heal after they’re gone. But I’m not going to share those kinds of moments. I’m going to share moments like helping the patient make a phone call to an estranged family member - or giving them permission to not make that phone call. Counseling a daughter whose mother no longer knows who she is due to dementia. These are moments that matter, everyday moments, that are nurtured by a hospice social worker.