Literature Review

Scans tell us about the cancer. Functional status tells us about the patient. South Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report; by Dr. Ileana Leyva; 8/1/26 In an era of precision oncology, we closely track biomarkers, imaging findings and treatment response. Yet one of the strongest predictors of how a patient is truly doing often receives less attention: functional status. When patients experience progressive fatigue, need more assistance with daily activities or spend more time in bed, clinicians and families may normalize these changes as expected consequences of cancer or treatment. Yet progressive functional decline is frequently the clearest indication that an illness trajectory is changing. It is often a signal that warrants a broader conversation about prognosis, goals of care and whether the current treatment plan still aligns with what matters most to the patient. As physicians, we routinely rely on objective measures to assess disease progression. While scans tell us how a tumor is behaving, functional status tells us how the patient is living. Both are essential to understanding prognosis and making care decisions that align with patient goals.Editor's Note: Read this phrase again, "While scans tell us how a tumor is behaving, functional status tells us how the patient is living." Whule this article is for oncologist, your hospice interdisciplinary teams' interactions with patients and caregivers provide rich, relevant, time-sensitive conversations, observations, and supportive interventions. What kinds of team coordination exist between your physicians and team members who visit regularly in the patient's home setting (aka, home/ALF/LTC)?

Why traditional primary care fails frail elders and the future need for specialized models | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Dr. Bethany Snider; 7/29/26 Traditional primary care wasn't designed for today's frail elders—and that gap may be one of healthcare's greatest challenges. As America's population ages, healthcare leaders face an urgent question: Is the traditional primary care model enough to care for frail older adults with complex medical, functional, and social needs?  In Part One of this thought-provoking conversation, Chris Comeaux welcomes Dr. Bethany Snider, Chief Medical Officer of Everent Health, to explore why the future of serious illness care requires a fundamentally different approach. Together, they unpack the emerging concept of the frail elder practice—a longitudinal, interdisciplinary model that extends beyond office visits to meet patients where they are, both physically and emotionally.

There are moments that remind you just how powerful music can be. YouTube; by Navacare; 6/27/26There are moments that remind you just how powerful music can be. Recently, I had the privilege of attending a ceremony honoring a veteran for his service to our country. During the ceremony, Grace from AccentCare Hospice sang "I Will Always Love You." It was beautiful. It was moving. And if I'm being honest, it brought a few tears to my eyes. Not only because we were honoring someone who had given so much, but because it was also my dad's favorite song. Music has a remarkable way of connecting us to people, memories, and emotions that words alone often can't reach. For many older adults, especially those living with dementia or memory loss, music can spark recognition, comfort, and moments of connection that feel truly extraordinary. [Watch the video to the end, to hear the dad's response.]

Nearly 500 readers shared stories of deathbed visions. Here are 10. The Washington Post; by Caitlin Gibson and Stephanie Arrigotti; 7/26/26 When we pub­lished our recent project about end-of-life dreams and vis­ions, we invited Post read­ers to share their per­sonal exper­i­ences with this phe­nomenon. ... I hoped we might col­lect a few dozen anec­dotes. To date, we’ve received about 500 sub­mis­sions and count­ing. It’s been a priv­ilege to read every one. ... The major­ity of people who wrote in — no mat­ter how they made sense of what they’d seen — described an exper­i­ence that seemed to instill a sense of calm or solace in the per­son who was dying, and in turn, brought a last­ing com­fort to their bereaved care­givers. From those hun­dreds of accounts, here is a selec­tion of 10. The fol­low­ing are drawn from writ­ten sub­mis­sions and fol­low-up inter­views, and edited for length and clar­ity.

Minnesota’s first dual-certified green burial funeral home opens News.net, PR Quantum, Saint Paul, MN; by Mueller Memorial; 7/22/26Interra Green Burial has become the first funeral home in Minnesota to earn certification from both the Green Burial Council and the National Funeral Directors Association. The milestone reflects the funeral home’s focus on environmental sustainability and its role in expanding eco-friendly funeral choices for families in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The dual certification signals a meaningful commitment to offering end-of-life services that align with values of environmental stewardship. Green Burial Council certification is granted to funeral homes that satisfy rigorous standards for environmentally responsible operations. Requirements include the use of biodegradable materials, participation in carbon offset programs, and the adoption of sustainable practices at every stage of the funeral process. 

Wabash Valley Sewing Connection donates quilts to veterans in hospice care WTWO/WAWV Terre Haute, Terre Haute, IN; by Noah Gastineau; 7/20/26 Veterans can sometimes feel left out or forgotten, especially those in Hospice care, but one group is thanking local veterans for their service one quilt at a time. The Wabash Valley Sewing Connection is donating 44 quilts to the VNA and Hospice of the Wabash Valley to be given to veterans at the facility. The group has been doing this for years, but this year is extra special as it coincides with America's 250th birthday. ... It took approximately 1,100 hours to quilt all 44 quilts together before they were donated to the VNA and Hospice of the Wabash Valley. 

Palliative Care team manifests dreams of butterbeer and Harry Potter Vanderbilt Health News, Nashville, TN; by Jill Clendening; 7/20/26 After Mike Guth and his family learned that his pancreatic cancer had advanced beyond treatment, the Vanderbilt Health Palliative Care team worked magic to make a dream trip possible. ... Mike, 53, a beloved high school social studies teacher in southern Indiana and father of four, was diagnosed with Stage 2 pancreatic cancer in early 2025. ... Mike has always loved the magical lore of Harry Potter, excitedly consuming the books and movies with their children (now adults). Mike perhaps seized inspiration from the plot twists of the fantasy series to say he still longed to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida. With careful planning to manage symptoms and stay on top of hydration, the Vanderbilt Health Palliative Care team surprised the Guths and said his dream was doable. ... Palliative care physician Zack Watson, MD described, "for him to have that time with his kids and his wife. Hopefully, this gave them an anchor of joy in the midst of this really tough time." On July 14, Mike died peacefully at home, surrounded by his loved ones.

Some kids come here for vacation. Others come to die. Either way, parents are grateful USA TODAY, San Leandro, CA; by Madeline Mitchell; 7/20/26 ... There are mainly two kinds of families who come to George Mark's Children's House. Some come for respite, entrusting their medically fragile but otherwise stable children to skilled nurses while parents leave for a much-needed break from around-the-clock caregiving. Others come for pediatric end-of-life care, a rare and essential service that changed the trajectory of CEO Shekinah Eliassen's life. These parents stay with their children at George Mark and can bring the patient's siblings, too, to soak in their last days together. "This type of service, I believe, should be part of the system of pediatrics," Eliassen says, adding that families never see a bill for their visits. Her son, Lars, died at George Mark when he was 21 days old, after he was born having seizures. 

An updated analysis of serious health-related suffering from 2021 to 2023 Journal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Afsan Bhadelia, Xiaoxiao Jiang Kwete, Tania Pastrana, Héctor Arreola-Ornelas, Jinfeng Ding, Oscar Méndez-Carniado, Lukas Radbruch, William E Rosa, Hongliang Tao, Valentina Vargas Enciso, Felicia Marie Knaul; 7/15/26 Results: Between 2021 and 2023, global serious health-related suffering (SHS) grew by 3.9% - outpacing population growth (1.8%) - driven by sharp increases in upper-middle-income countries (UMICs) (5.5%) and high-income countries (HICs) (5.2%) and notable condition-specific increases in SHS associated with lung disease (18.2%), inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (11.4%), and dementia (7.9%). Moreover, increases in SHS due to cancer were particularly stark in LICs (17.8%), while injuries markedly rose in HICs (15.9%).

Nurse practitioner: my patient qualified for hospice. I couldn’t get her there The Examiner News; by Diane Pagan; 7/15/26 ... I’ve been Marie’s primary care nurse practitioner for seventeen months. She was referred to me at the time by her PCP because she could no longer physically manage going into the office. She suffered from dementia and her gait was worsening ... Marie’s daughter chose a hospice agency close to her home. The agency reviewed my referral and notes and accepted Marie into their program. The next step was to send them a Certificate of Terminal Illness (CTI) stating that Marie had a terminal illness with an anticipated life expectancy of 6 months or less. Then the obstacle arose. I couldn’t sign the form. ... The inability of nurse practitioners to sign a CTI does not stem from their lack of education or clinical expertise in determining when a patient is nearing end of life. The restriction is rooted in federal Medicare law, written more than 40 years ago, when the role of nurse practitioners was very different than it is today.

Evaluation of a pharmacist-driven discharge medication reconciliation service Pharmacy Times; by Missy Montino, PharmD, Madison Holmes, PharmD, BCPS, Shannon Pierce, PharmD, CPh, BCPS, Randi Silcox, PharmD, Anna-Marie Freeland, PharmD, Bola Habeb, MD; 7/13/26 Introduction: Medication reconciliation is a systematic process utilized to ensure the accuracy and consistency of a patient’s medication information across transitions in care. It involves comparing the patient’s current medication regimen with the prescribed medications to identify and resolve discrepancies, such as omissions, duplications, dosing errors, or potential drug interactions. ... Discussion and Conclusion: ... This study adds to the body of evidence supporting pharmacy’s positive impact on patient health outcomes, specifically in reducing 30-day readmission rates and identifying clinical interventions. This reinforces the benefit of a pharmacist-driven discharge medication reconciliation service. ...

The Healing Page: how Akron Children's combines clinical care with narrative medicine poetry WOSU Public Media | NPR/PBS, Akron, OH ; by Jeff St. Clair; 7/13/26 The written word has healing power. That’s the idea behind narrative medicine, an emerging branch of healthcare that adds creative writing to the clinical toolkit. Akron Children’s Hospital is a leader in narrative medicine, and all this week, Ideastream Public Media is highlighting the program's writers in our series "The Healing Page." Dr. Sarah Friebert is director of Akron Children's palliative care center ... said when sick kids write about what they’re going through, “We tap into an inner spring of wellness and spirituality and wholeness ..." Friebert likened a critical diagnosis to a bomb going off in a family. Her program considers the blast radius of a diagnosis by extending services to impacted family members who are encouraged to write about their experiences and feelings.