Literature Review

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. 

Witnessing a living funeral Parkview Health; by Tim O'Sullivan, MA, Spiritual and Social Services Supervisor, Parkview Hospice; 2/16/25 ... Rather than planning services after they pass and miss out on a gathering of the people who are most precious to them, some are choosing to schedule a "funeral" while they are still living so they can be a part of the ceremony. These events are known as Living Funerals. As a hospice caregiver, I have seen a rise in the number of these pre-death celebrations of life. While this may not be for everyone, it can be a meaningful experience for those who have chosen to remember a life in this way. I was invited to one of these events and witnessed firsthand the power of acknowledging death while fully living in the moment. ... [Click on the title's link to continue reading.]

Americans who’ve become caregivers rose by a third in 10 years The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, CO; 2/14/25 A growing numbers of family members now provide care for older adults who live at home or in residential care settings, a new study shows. Their ranks increased 32%, from 18.2 million to 24.1 million, between 2011 and 2022, according to new research in the journal Health Affairs. The number of hours that these folks spent caring for older adults with dementia jumped by nearly 50%, from an average 21.4 hours per week in 2011 to 31 hours in 2022. Exactly what is driving the increase in family or unpaid caregiving is not fully understood, but researchers speculate that it may be due to a rise in the number of people who live with the folks who they assist. For the study, researchers culled data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) in 2011 and 2022.  

The number of family caregivers helping older US adults increased from 18 million to 24 million, 2011–22 Health Affairs; by Jennifer L. Wolff, Jennifer C. Cornman, and Vick A. Freedman; 2/25 The evolving composition and experiences of the family caregiver workforce have profound ramifications for public policy but are not well understood. Drawing on the linked National Health and Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving, we found that the numbers of family caregivers providing help to older adults increased by nearly six million between 2011 and 2022, rising from 18.2 million to 24.1 million. ... For family caregivers as a whole, challenges persist, and for those assisting people with dementia, tailored surveillance and effective support programs are needed.

Aging for Amateurs: Valentine's Day brings out the poetry of aging in love The Post and Courier, Charleston, SC ; by Bert Keller; 2/10/2 The week of Valentine’s Day breathes love. Many elders have lived through love’s changing seasons consciously, experiencing what an alive, evolving, hazardous and soul-satisfying thing love is. ... In every long love, the emotional part undergoes a change as the stages of life are lived through. Marriage begins like a bonfire that melts and merges us: our togetherness wants no separation. Then it eases into a practical fire for cooking meals and washing dishes — those years of getting up with the baby, balancing the books, taking out the garbage. ... And then in old age ... love is less a feeling alongside other feelings, and more a shared sense of being with the other. My wife calls it “with-ness.” ... What was transactional in an earlier stage has become grace. After retirement I volunteered to do chaplaincy with a local hospice. I recall a moment sitting at the bedside of a 93-year-old man whose memory was erased by Alzheimer’s disease. He was now dying ... His wife, who also had Alzheimer’s and was no longer capable of much conversation, sat in a wheelchair by his bed and held his hand. She kept repeating to me, tears flowing, “We’ve been married for 73 years, you know.” It was a kind of mantra. How could I know what it’s like to be at the deathbed of a partner with whom you’ve intimately shared 73 years of life? All the stories, all the peaks and valleys, of such a lifetime? ... Editor's note: May we listen and learn.

As I held my dying daughter’s hand, what did I feel? Immense pride in a young woman who – despite a lifetime of complex special needs – taught us that perfection comes in many different guises Express Digest - DailyMail.co.uk; 2/7/25 As I held my dying daughter's hand, what did I feel? Immense pride in a young woman who – despite a lifetime of complex special needs – taught us that perfection comes in many different guises. ... There is no doubt that without her, our own lives might have been easier and much less of an emotional roller-coaster – yet they would also have been so much poorer. For she introduced us to the richness of worlds and wonderful people that we might never have encountered without her.  ... Iona showed that life was for living, despite her disabilities and health struggles. She fuelled my compassion, smoothed my sharper edges and gave me courage ...

What we talk about, or not, when talking about death Enumclaw Courier-Herald; by Wire Service; 2/9/25 Death is a guarantee for everyone, so why do people shy away from talking about it and using words like death and dying? ... As a death doula and grief coach, Kathleen Putnam hopes that providing care to those who are grieving can help change the language surrounding death. ... Putnam explains that in present society, people want to avoid grief and pain. With medical advancements and industries and marketing systems focusing on keeping people alive, the rhetoric surrounding dying has become negative. Putnam also pointed out that instead of using phrases like “they died” or “they’re dying,” other phrases like “pass away” and “they went to sleep” have become popular when talking about a loss.

New report details financial, emotional toll of Parkinson’s on family caregivers McKnights Home Care; by Foster Stubbs; 2/4/25 A new report sheds a light on the unique challenges faced by family caregivers who care for loved ones with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The report, Parkinson’s Disease Caregiving in the US, features insights from secondary analysis and supplementary interviews with 10 PD caregivers. These caregivers average 31 hours of unpaid care per week; half of interviewed caregivers exceed 100 hours each week, according to the report. The National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC), with support from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) and Arcadia University, released the report.  

Garlock: How to prepare children for hardships and tragedies The Citizen; by Dr. Victor Garlock; 2/4/25 All of us must face hardships and tragedies. How well we are able to get through difficult times is a major factor affecting the overall quality of our lives. Sometimes these challenges arrive individually, as in a sudden serious illness, an accident, or the death of a loved one. Sometimes — as in last fall’s devastating floods in North Carolina or the recent wildfires in Southern California — entire communities must find a way to move forward. ... Resilience is the capacity to recover from challenges and adversity. Tragic optimism is the determination to remain optimistic and find meaning and purpose in the face of tragedy. [With children:]

Shameless star Justin Chatwin had a pivotal Law & Order role in a heartbreaking episode NBC; by Jill Sederstrom; 1/30/25 Attorney Nolan Price found himself at odds with his brother, played by Chatwin, as the siblings were forced to make a painful decision. ... Justin Chatwin — who rose to fame on the hit comedy-drama series Shameless — took on the role of Thomas Price, the brother of Executive Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price, in “The Hardest Thing" episode, which premiered on January 30, 2025. The siblings disagreed about how to handle their father’s failing health. ... The brothers had to decide whether they wanted to put in a feeding tube, which could prolong their dad’s life by a few months, or “manage his pain levels” to “make his passing as comfortable as possible," a doctor explained. 

Behind the scenes: Caring for the caregivers Harvard Magazine; by Lydialyel Gibson; 1/30/25 When I was in seventh grade, my best friend’s father was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. He was in his late 50s. ... My sharpest memories from that time are of my friend’s shock and grief as her father deteriorated, and of her mother’s incredible stamina. ... That was more than 30 years ago. ... [When] I heard about the work of Christine Ritchie, a geriatrician and palliative care physician who studies the caregiver experience, I knew I wanted to talk to her. Ritchie directs the Dementia Care Collaborative at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and teaches at Harvard Medical School, and has been doing this research for decades. ... The caregivers are the heart of this story. Across the country there are more than 11 million other people like them, who continue to fill these difficult, precious, necessary roles. [Click on the title's link to continue reading this important article.]

Concurrent Care Collaborative a safety net for pediatric patients Noozhawk, Santa Barbara, CA; by Easter Moorman; 1/26/25 Partners for Kids has initiated Santa Barbara County’s first Pediatric Concurrent Care Collaborative designed to offer comprehensive, compassionate, and coordinated care to seriously ill children from birth to 21 years of age. Spearheaded by Kieran Shah, president/CEO of VNA Health, and Rebecca Simonitsch, Quality Initiatives Program manager for Cottage Health, nine local organizations have joined to create a safety net for pediatric patients and their families to help them receive care close to home. The groups are: CenCal Health, Central Coast Home Health & Hospice, Cottage Children’s Medical Center, Dignity Health, Hearts Aligned, Herencia Indígena, Hospice of Santa Barbara, Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, and VNA Health. 

Children’s book written by Manheim Township mother finally published 3 years after she died of cancer [video] LNP Lancaster Online, Lancaster, PA; by John Walk; 1/27/25 As she battled a rare sarcoma cancer over the last two years of her life, Manheim Township resident Ginny McCreary struggled to find a children’s book she could read to her two young daughters to help them better understand what she was going through. So McCreary wrote the book herself, sometimes on a smartphone while laying in bed late at night, ... McCreary died Aug. 15, 2021. She was 34. She left behind a self-published manuscript of the children’s book that sat idle for about two years but was not forgotten. ... The book has also made its way inside four Hospice & Community Care locations in Lancaster as well as Penn Medicine’s Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute in East Hempfield Township. [Video with Ginny's mother] "I'd love to get it to some cancer centers and hospice centers ..." [Click on the title's link for more information.]