Literature Review

I lost my sister to cancer. Here’s what I learned about medically assisted death. The Washington Post; by Steven Petrow; 8/29/26 The same year that my parents died, my sister, Julie, then 55, was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. Five years and three recurrences later, she’d exhausted all viable treatment options. At that point, she’d undergone one nine-hour surgery, six courses of chemotherapy and had joined two clinical trials. Like my parents’ physicians had done, Julie’s doctor eventually recommended palliative care, with at-home hospice, to keep her comfortable during her last months. ... [Julie, 61, chose legal MAID in 2023.] Approaching MAID as a journalist, I had questions: How is eligibility determined, what are the safeguards, does it always work, is a health care professional involved and many others. As a brother, however, I was conflicted and confused, and my questions felt more urgent and personal. ... [Access might be limited by a paywall.]  

Chaplains describe comforting families during Hawk Fire evacuations KOLO-8 ABC News Now, Reno, NV; by Noah Bond; 8/28/26 The Great Basin Chaplain Corps deployed 17 chaplains across evacuation sites during the Hawk and Bug fires, logging more than 466 hours of service at shelters, according to Chaplain Dana Sater, VOAD liaison and team lead for Northern Nevada corps. ... Sater said the corps logged 466.5 hours of service for the fires at evacuation centers, in addition to chaplains serving in hospitals, hospice, fire departments and with CERT through the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. ... Blackburn said chaplains also coordinated evacuation for a hospice family to the Lawrence J. Weiss Hospice Guest House, ...

Spirituality and religiosity in end-of-life decision-making in intensive care units: a systematic review of preferences, ethical framing, and meaning-making Cureus; by Dimitrios G. Apostolakis, Nikiforos V. Angelopoulos, Spiros Georgakis, Fotios Tatsis, Foteini Veroniki, Konstantinos Stamatis, Georgios Papathanakos, Mary Gouva, Vasilios Koulouras; 8/25/26 End-of-life decision-making in intensive care units (ICUs) is a complex and ethically challenging process shaped not only by clinical factors but also by patients' values, cultural contexts, and spiritual or religious beliefs. ...  [Spirituality] demonstrated a multidimensional role, facilitating acceptance of death, promoting support for palliative care in some contexts, and contributing to meaning-making during the end-of-life process. Cultural and contextual factors moderated these relationships, and the provision of spiritual care by healthcare professionals was associated with less aggressive end-of-life care. ... Integrating spiritual assessment and culturally sensitive spiritual care into routine clinical practice may enhance shared decision-making and improve alignment between treatment decisions and patients' values, preferences, and goals of care.

Frailty predicts more than age: strategies for hospitalists Medscape; by Julie Peck; 8/25/26 An 85-year-old who remains active and independent may recover from pneumonia more quickly than someone 20 years younger with multiple chronic illnesses, poor nutrition, and declining mobility. Growing evidence suggests that frailty — a state of diminished physiologic reserve and increased vulnerability to stressors — is one of the strongest predictors of prolonged hospitalization, complications, functional decline, discharge to post-acute care, readmissions, and mortality, often outperforming chronological age alone.

A retrospective mixed-methods analysis of falls among patients in a social model hospice residential care home American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Carol S. Weisse, PhD, Kelly Melekis, MSW, PhD, Lam Nguyen, Cort Collier, BS, and Nadia Kelley, MPH; 8/9/26 ... In the 24-hour period prior to patients’ falls, opiates were shown to be the most frequently administered medication followed by benzodiazepines, with higher rates of falls among patients who consumed both of these medications in combination. Most falls occurred in the bedroom or bathroom and were related to toileting needs. Results suggest that informal caregivers may benefit from additional training when supporting hospice patients’ toileting needs, especially when they have received opiates and benzodiazepines. Results illustrate caregivers’ efforts to balance fall risk with patients’ desire for autonomy as a central element of home hospice care. Editor's Note: What systems do you have in place for reporting, responding to, and reducing patient falls, especially in homes? At a minimum, you need to have these in place:

Doctors say they feel pressured to prioritize corporate interests over patients: report HealthcareDive; by Jill Hughes; 8/21/26 Corporate entities, including hospitals and health plans, now employ more than 80% of physicians nationwide, according to the Physicians Advocacy Institute.

Honoring my daughter's final wishes Substack; by Larry Lehmer; 8/7/26 I own one pink shirt. I wear it once a year, on Feb. 28, my daughter’s birthday. It’s mostly her idea. “Please wear more pink!” she wrote for her husband, Paul, to read at her celebration of life. “To the men — you can pull it off.” It’s been three years since Paul had to deliver Meghan’s final words, at the Des Moines Botanical Garden, the same place where they began their married life 13 years earlier. “I once read ‘Love doesn’t die, people do’,” Meghan wrote. “So when love is all that’s left of me, give me away.” Meghan died on Aug. 8, 2023. It still hurts, of course, but we continue to celebrate her life, her devotion to family and try to honor her dying wish “that we all help each other a little more.” Here’s what I wrote about her in August 2023: ...

Dementia coach Jeannine Forrest of Through the Forrest recently featured on Close Up Radio EIN Presswire, Chicago, IL; by Close Up Television & Radio; 8/17/26 Jeannine Forrest still remembers the moment her mother looked at her in her own home and said, “I’m living in a house of strangers.” At that moment, as a registered nurse, she realized she was not prepared to understand what her mother was truly experiencing. That realization became her life’s work. More than 30 years later, Forrest is a dementia coach and founder of Through the Forrest, where she works directly with family caregivers. ... Forrest explains that dementia shows up differently in every person, and is much more than memory loss alone. Her approach rests on one idea: When families understand what is happening, have a plan, and feel supported, life can become less frightening and more meaningful for both the person living with dementia and the caregiver.

45 minutes saved per admission: how one hospice is re-shaping their businessHospice News; by Jack Silverstein; 8/17/26When Dar Miller came to Faith Hospice of Arizona two years ago, the organization’s census was just over 100 and their staff worked overtime to enter patient profiles. Now, their average daily census is 135-140, while their nurses have more time available at the bedside and with families. The change? Faith Hospice’s relationship with their pharmacy partner OnePoint Patient Care, whose combination of collaboration, communication, integrated technology and process ensures that hospices are not only getting the best pharmacy service possible, but that their operation is always evolving with the times.

JRMC Hospice Memorial Service NewsDakota.com, Jamestown, ND; by Steve Urness; 8/14/2026 Caregivers, families and friends gathered Aug. 11 at Jamestown Regional Medical Center (JRMC) to remember loved ones during a hospice memorial service. Attendees came together to honor and reflect on those who have passed and concluded with the planting of a maple tree in JRMC’s Kornovich Healing Gardens. Members of JRMC Home Health and Hospice, including chaplains, social workers and nurses, spoke during the ceremony. ... Registered nurse Chelsey Duffy. “Hospice is about living every remaining moment with comfort, dignity, peace and love. It is about making sure no one walks this journey alone.” The newly planted maple tree will serve as a living tribute to those remembered during the service, representing both remembrance and renewal.

Spiritual aspects of palliative and end-of-life care: highlights - compiled by by Barry R. Ashpole ehospice; by The International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care; 8/10/26 The International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care's literature search is intended as an advocacy, research, and teaching resource for colleagues who have a special interest in palliative and end-of-life care. Its goal is to keep its readers abreast of “current thinking” and also of emerging or related issues. ... The current posting focusses on the spiritual aspects of palliative and end-of-life care.

Moral distress is the wound behind bedside careKevinMD.com; by Amanda Dean, RN; 8/9/2026A physician I follow on social media is an incredibly talented artist. He turns medical scenarios into cartoon sketches, as if they belong in a Sunday newspaper instead of on a telephone screen. One of his recent renderings depicted the typical ICU patient: intubated, sedated, and surrounded by machines. Standing beside the hospital bed were two individuals with captions over their heads saying, “Look at all of this! This is torture! He is suffering!” An identical image was placed by its side, the only difference being the captions overhead. This time they read, “Look at all of this! What amazing care! He’s getting everything!” The images invited almost 200 comments, ranging far and wide along the opinionated spectrum. ...

Mom, 35, spent years helping others as a doula. Then, lupus left her on deathbed worrying about her kids’ futurePeople; by Toria Sheffield and Nicholas Rice; 8/1/26