Literature Review

Flying high: A Rainbow veteran’s late-life adventure Watertown Daily Times, Watertown, WI; by Kenyon Kemnitz, Rainbow Community Care; 6/24/26 [The story of a 98 year-old veteran in hospice care going on an Honor Flight to Washington DC.] Behind the scenes, the Rainbow [hospice] staff balanced rigorous clinical planning with deep emotional support. Amanda served as the clinical anchor for the mission. Initially, there were discussions about postponing his flight until May, but Raduege advocated for keeping the timeline the same. She coordinated with the Honor Flight’s specialized medical team and ensured that every potential health variable was addressed long before takeoff. ... The Honor Flight carried over 80 veterans, but Weber was the patriarch of the group. ... Throughout the day, he was accompanied by his own personal medic, an EMT named Travis, who stayed by his side, providing a continuous blanket of clinical safety and companionship.

Adams County Community Foundation supports Hospice of Hope patient care initiative The Highland County Press, Hillsboro, OH; by John Condon; 6/24/26 The Adams County Community Foundation has awarded a grant to Hospice of Hope to support a special patient-centered initiative designed to provide comfort, dignity and meaningful personal connections for hospice patients and their families. The grant will help fund the creation of personalized “All About Me” boards that will be developed and decorated by Hospice of Hope volunteers for patients receiving hospice care. Each board will highlight important aspects of the patient’s life, including their personal story, favorite things, family memories, and what matters most to them. ... In addition to serving as a communication and memory-sharing tool during hospice care, the boards will remain with families as keepsakes and reminders of their loved one’s life and experiences.

Grief experiences among LGBTQ+ populations: a scoping review BMC Palliative Care; by Tamara Rodríguez Pérez, Cristo Manuel Marrero González, Alfonso Miguel García Hernández; 6/23/26 Objective: To explore research published between 2021 and 2026 on grief and bereavement-related experiences among LGBTQ+ adults in healthcare and palliative care settings, identifying the main topics addressed and knowledge gaps relevant to clinical practice. Results: ... Four main themes were identified: minority stress, complexities of disclosure, disenfranchised grief, and gaps in professional training. Critical gaps included underrepresentation of transgender people, a scarcity of quantitative data, an absence of intersectional perspectives, and concentration in Western contexts.

As a doctor and a daughter, finding gratitude amid loss on Father’s Day The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD; by Jean Marbella; 6/21/26 As a physician who specializes in palliative care, Dr. Delia Chiaramonte helps patients, families and medical professionals deal with the stresses and demands that come with serious and often terminal illnesses. Then, her own father died. "I thought I knew what this experience would be like," she said. "It is much more nuanced." On this, her second Father's Day without her own father, Chiaramonte taps into both her lived and professional experiences to offer advice on a holiday for those feeling more bereft than celebratory.

I was my mother's caregiver until her death. Four years later, I'm still struggling with the $17,000 medical debt. yahoo!finance; by Julie Peck; 6/20/26 My mom got sick, then gradually, and then all at once. In 2014, she survived a subarachnoid aneurysm that ruptured while she was driving on the West Virginia Turnpike. After stabilizing, she spent six months recovering with me in South Carolina before heading back to her townhouse in my hometown of Charleston, West Virginia. Unfortunately, her return was short-lived. Mom had a small stroke a year later, followed by a second, more serious stroke in 2016. The doctors told her it was no longer safe to live alone.

When the right end-of-life care is hardest to access MedPageToday's KevinMD.com; by Denise Mohess, MD; 6/17/26 The cost of health care in America is extraordinarily high, too often funding the wrong type of care. As a geriatric medicine and palliative care physician, I sit with patients and families making end-of-life decisions, weighing life-prolonging measures, optimizing quality of life, defining what matters most to them. Recently, a 100-year-old man with severe dementia, limited mobility, hearing impairment, requiring assistance for his daily needs, was admitted to the hospital with worsening weakness. ... At a time when care should have eased suffering, the system instead added to it, as the care that best honored his wishes was the hardest to access.

‘Unmet needs’: Clinicians agree spiritual care important in cancer, but do not provide it Healio; by Josh Friedman; 6/17/26 Most clinicians agree that spiritual care is “essential” to taking care of patients with cancer, but only a fraction routinely screen for distress. In a survey of nearly 700 oncologists, hematologists and palliative care clinicians, more than 90% agreed spiritual suffering can negatively affect outcomes, yet many of those respondents reported screening should not be part of their professional role, and less than 15% said they always screened for spiritual distress.

The pain of caring for a parent who abused youDNYUZ; 6/16/26 It started in January 2024, with a call from her father’s eye doctor. Did Carole know that Andre was still driving, even though his vision was so poor? Even though it was illegal to drive with eyesight so bad? Well, no, she didn’t; she made a point not to know this sort of thing about her father. Also, she didn’t really care. Still, Carole drove to his house, on the outskirts of Santa Rosa, Calif., down long dirt roads surrounded by vineyards. ... And there was her father, 93, standing by the front door, on that filthy rug, next to the maroon-colored walker that he hated to use. Looking small, looking weathered. ... 

The missing middle in healthcare—and why it matters | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Bridget Sumser and Sonya Dolan; 6/20/26 What happens between a life-changing diagnosis and hospice care?  In Part One of this thought-provoking conversation, Chris Comeaux welcomes Mettle Health co-founder Sonya Dolan and Director of Counseling & Programs Bridget Sumser to explore what they call healthcare’s “missing middle.” ... Together, they unpack how Mettle Health was created to provide a different kind of support: one centered on accompaniment rather than treatment, resilience rather than answers, and human connection rather than healthcare transactions.

Humanistically Universalizing Grief (HUG): advisory guidelines for national hospice bereavement programs standards within the United States OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying; by Jared R. Garcia1, Lynn M. Raine, Larry Ortiz, and Mary Akstin; 6/12/26... This quantitative study gathered data through online surveys from bereavement coordinators in California. By aligning these findings with standards from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization standards, the Humanistically Universalizing Grief (HUG) model was developed, which provides core principles and advisory guidelines for hospice bereavement care. The HUG model offers a structured yet adaptable framework to improve program consistency, accessibility, and equity, ensuring bereavement care is comprehensive, sustainable, and responsive to the diverse needs of grieving individuals.

The missing middle in healthcare—and why it matters | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Bridget Sumser and Sonya Dolan; 6/20/26 What happens between a life-changing diagnosis and hospice care?  In Part One of this thought-provoking conversation, Chris Comeaux welcomes Mettle Health co-founder Sonya Dolan and Director of Counseling & Programs Bridget Sumser to explore what they call healthcare’s “missing middle.” ... Together, they unpack how Mettle Health was created to provide a different kind of support: one centered on accompaniment rather than treatment, resilience rather than answers, and human connection rather than healthcare transactions.

Father with terminal illness fights to attend MHSAA championship to see son play Northeaset Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo, MS; by Caleb McCluskey; 6/6/26 From the time Carter Barefoot, 17, could walk, he was playing baseball, especially with his father, Alan Barefoot, who played Division I baseball in college. But illness has limited his father’s ability to enjoy the game they have shared throughout their lives. ... “He never missed a game,” Carter said. After doctors diagnosed Alan, 55, with terminal cancer and admitted him to Sanctuary Hospice, he physically could not be there for most of Carter’s junior-year season. Sanctuary made it happen, arranging for Alan to attend the playoffs in Pearl, where he watched his son’s Mooreville team become Class 4A state champion. It meant the world to Carter to see his dad there. 

We couldn't afford to pay for my mom's dementia assisted living anymore. She moved into a tiny house next door to me. Business Insider; as told to Noah Sheidlower; 5/31/26 This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lori Bufka, 64, who is caring for her mother with dementia in Arizona. Assisted living became too expensive for her mother, so Bufka moved her into a trailer next to their home, where her mother would have enough space and safety. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Editor's Note: From this essay, "She went into hospice care, and we hired someone to come for a few hours a week. It was supposed to be $37 for two hours, but when I got the bill, they tacked on mileage, so it became $92. We figured it wasn't worth it, so now hospice volunteers visit every now and then, and hospice covers medically necessary appointments. ..."