Literature Review

Patients with hematologic cancers value blood transfusions most in hospice services Healio; by Josh Friedman; 12/29/25 Key takeaways:

Princess Luz’s final wish Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post, Fredericksburg, TX; by Tammy Rohlf; 12/24/25Luzmaria Salazar, known to those who loved her as “Princess Luz,” was just 17 years old, but her courage and faith measured far beyond her years. After bravely battling a rare genetic disease that affected her nervous and immune systems, she passed away in June of 2025. One of her last wishes was simple, yet, seemed impossible: She wanted to swim with dolphins. Her mom, Jessica Gurrola, tried to make that dream happen with a trip to SeaWorld, but the experience fell short. That’s when the hospice team stepped in. With the help of a hospice volunteer and virtual reality technology, Luz’s dream came true in a way no one expected. When the headset was placed on her, something extraordinary happened. Her entire body calmed. ... 

Heart failure deaths shift to home, hospice, but racial disparities persistAJMC, Cranbury, NJ; by Sabrina McCrear; 12/23/25 Key Takeaways: 

Hospice created Christmas for patient in NovemberBBC News; by Harry Whitehead; 12/24/25 Guernsey's hospice recreated Christmas for a patient in November so she could enjoy a festive experience with her family before she died. Carrie Watson's mother Tracey De La Mare passed away just days after nurses at Les Bourgs Hospice made her wish of a final Christmas come true. Mrs. Watson said her family were "blown away" by the effort put in by hospice staff. 

Palliative care staff attitudes toward music therapy for hospitalized adult patients American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AJHPM); by Katherine A. Carney, APRN, CNP, MS, Rachel M. Wiste, APRN, CNP, MSN, Susanne M. Cutshall, APRN, CNS, DNP, MS, Christina Wood, MA, MT-BC, Rachel C. Gentes, APRN, CNP, MSN, Brianna E. Larsen, MA, MT-BC, Nana A. Tiwaa, MAS, Amelia E. Tetlie, APRN, CNP, DNP, and Regina M. Mackey, MD; 12/18/25 ... Top reasons for music therapy (MT) referral were psychosocial support, pain and symptom management, and coping. The most common symptom-focused indications were anxiety, mood, and existential distress. A variety of factors influenced decisions to refer for MT. Most felt that at least half of their patients could benefit from MT, and nearly all rated MT as “extremely” or “very” effective for improving patients’ quality of life.Editor's Note: Visit stories about music therapy the American Music Therapy Association. For extensive uses of music therapy in hospice and bereavement care, I invite you to explore my book, Music of the Soul - Composing Life Out of Loss, published in Routledge's Series in Death, Dying and Bereavement, 2006. 

End-of-life care needs cultural humility and social justice BMJ; by Jamilla Akhter Hussain, Rekha Vijayshankar, and Mary Hodgson; 12/18/25 Death, dying, and grief are not medical events—they are profoundly social, relational, and shaped by the histories people carry into their final days. ... [A] key question is: how can end-of-life care services become more trustworthy? Too often, institutions respond with so-called cultural competency initiatives. ... What is needed is cultural humility and social justice. Cultural humility involves ongoing self-reflection and acknowledgement of bias at individual, organisational, and system levels. Palliative care must prioritise cultural humility and social justice: trust grows not through outreach alone but through shared creation of knowledge, meaning, and care—and at the end of life ...

Here's a salute to 104-year-old World War II veteran Anita Morris Jacksonville.com - The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville, FL; by Beth Reese Cravey; 12/18/25 Community Hospice & Palliative Care patient Anita Morris, right, receives a service flag from the guard's Amanda Boyd, a Boatswain's Mate Second Class. Morris, who enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1942, was honored for her service as she approached her 104th birthday. ... She is a patient of Community Hospice & Palliative Care, which organized the ceremony. 

Is moral adequacy possible in the face of structural disadvantage? The experiences of health and social care staff in supporting homeless people using substances at the end of life Palliative Care and Social Practice; by Gary Witham https, Gemma Anne Yarwood, Sarah Galvani, Lucy Webb, and Sam Wright; 11/26/25 Background: Homeless people using substances at the end-of-life face many challenges in accessing and receiving good care. These can relate to poor interdisciplinary working by health and social care practitioners, stigma and structural disadvantage. Results: The data analysis resulted in three key discourse positions relating to how practitioners position themselves in relation to the practice challenges of supporting homeless people using AODs and approaching end of life. These were as follows: (i) what constitutes a good death and where, (ii) the limitations of professional boundaries and (iii) maintaining moral adequacy in the face of traumatic death.

I was 36 when my husband died — here's what most of us get wrong about grief Yahoo!Health; by Laura Williams, MS, ACSM EP-C; 12/16/25 Grief is universal, yet deeply personal. Instead of trying to "fix" or "help" someone who's grieving, it's important to make space for them to perpetually navigate the permanent reality of death. ... It turns out, time doesn't heal all wounds. Life simply grows around the immediacy of the pain — the sun rises and sets, and new experiences accumulate, whether or not you want them to, gradually taking the edge off. However, grief isn't just "deep sadness." It's not depression. It's not something you "get over" or "move on from." Grief is the loss of someone you loved — a voice you'll never hear again, a laugh you'll never share. It's the inside jokes no one else understands, the clothing that won't be worn again, ... It's a bed that won't be slept in, a dining room chair that remains empty, a silence that won't be filled.Editor's Note: This first-person reflection gives language to what grief truly is—and is not. It dismantles the myth that time “fixes” loss and instead names grief as a lifelong companion shaped by absence, memory, and love. If this piece feels uncomfortable or heavy at first glance, that discomfort may be instructive. For hospice and palliative leaders, it invites a sober question: how well does your organization acknowledge grief as enduring—and provide timely, meaningful support beyond death?

Bereavement service deserts: A 2024 statewide assessment of  bereavement services Death Studies, open access; by Christopher W. Giang, Luisa Kcomt, Joshua Truchan, Kara Dickinson, Rebecca J. Evans-Polce & Sean Esteban McCabe; 12/5/25 ... This paper introduces the term “bereavement service desert” to describe geographic areas with high mortality and little to no access to bereavement services. Bereavement services deserts are especially concerning where elevated death rates are met with an absence of formal grief supports, trained providers, or community-based resources. As these trends in death have continued to rise over the last decade, the social and economic costs of unresolved grief are becoming more apparent in families, schools, com munities, workplaces, and healthcare systems. ...Editor's Note: Though this research focuses on bereavement agencies across Michigan's 83 counties, its methodologies and outcomes provide data, references, and insights relevant to examining bereavement care in all U.S. states. What are the "bereavement service deserts" in the your state(s)? In the areas you serve?

Palliative and hospice care in prostate cancer: A scoping review Urologic Oncology; by Andrew Glaza, Aidan Kennedy, Minhaj Jabeer, Siddharth Ramanathan, Agyeiwaa Obeng, Bernadette Zwaans, Jason Hafron; Jan 2026 Advanced prostate cancer presents therapeutic and prognostic challenges at the end of life. Palliative and hospice care improve quality of life, reduce hospitalizations, and enhance patient-centered decision-making. ...  On average, 40.4% of patients received palliative care, 14.74% hospice, and 1.3% received both. Early integration was associated with better quality of life, fewer hospital admissions, reduced aggressive interventions, and increased cost savings. Most referrals occurred late in the disease trajectory. ... Future research should focus on barriers to timely referral and evaluate their effects on clinical and economic outcomes in prostate cancer.

'Get out of my house': 84-year-old man shoots son in the face for not visiting mother in hospice care, police say Law & Crime, Palm Bay, FL; by Conrad Hoyt; 12/12/25 An elderly man is accused of shooting his son in the face because he and his spouse did not visit the older man's wife over the weekend while she was in at-home hospice care. William Nowak, 84, has been charged with attempted murder, according to an arrest affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime. Nowak was at his home ... in Palm Bay, Florida, where he lived with his wife and their disabled daughter. His wife had recently been put on in-home hospice care, "and William has been taking care of both of them," ... The defendant's son and his wife came over to the house to visit, something she said they did "on a weekly basis." After they arrived around 6 p.m., "William began to express how he was upset they did not visit over the weekend." According to authorities, an argument between the father and son ensued.

The balancing act: How caregivers navigate the stress of work, family, and caring for a loved one Delaware LIVE; by Staff Writer; 12/12/25With two-thirds of U.S. caregivers struggling to manage both employment and home duties, experts say planning, boundaries, and support can prevent burnout. ... Insights from national research and guidance from Delaware Hospice, Oasis Senior Care (a leading consultant for families), and Easterseals Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore underscore a central message: you don’t have to do this alone, and thriving — not just surviving — is possible. ...