Literature Review

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.

Hospice physician: pain management growing more complex for families Hospice News; by James Warda; 8/7/26  When a patient starts to receive hospice care, families often expect to focus on making memories, finding comfort and spending meaningful time together. However, many instead find themselves making frantic phone calls to multiple pharmacies, driving across town to locate medications, or waiting days for prescriptions that should be readily available, with a patient in need at home. According to the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine’s (AAHPM) Board of Directors Secretary, Dr. Michael Barnett, a hospice physician and former inpatient palliative care physician, this growing challenge is becoming an all-too-common part of 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

Schoolgirl's response to being told about dad's terminal cancer BBC; by Lauren Hirst; 7/12/26  When Chris Capstick was diagnosed with cancer three years ago, his family made the decision not to use the word c-word in the house. Instead the disease was known as "daddy's little monsters" for the benefit of his two youngest children. ... "It was really, really hard," said the 30-year-old, who works as an arts coordinator for young people but has taken time away to support her husband. ... "Having a six-year-old and a two-year-old, we didn't really know how to navigate it." This is when the idea of writing a rhyming storybook with their eldest daughter Isabella, who is now aged six, was born. "We thought what a great thing to do little cartoon monsters in a way that aren't scary," said Lauren. ... Isabella wanted to write the book from her own perspective with lots of colorful illustrations on each page.   

‘It felt like a home:’ Caring House hospice home, in Torrance, celebrates 10 years Daily Breeze, Torrance, CA; by Madeline Armstrong; 8/3/26 When Torrance resident Rick Willson, 65, learned his wife had Leukemia, he knew that her diagnosis was likely terminal. But three months later, when told she would require hospice care, Willson had no idea where to begin. ... That is when they found Caring House. Caring House is the only nonprofit hospice home in Los Angeles County and it just happened to be in the Willsons’ neighborhood. Caring House – an actual six bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home on El Dorado Street – is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Torrance this year.

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)?

Adopting the fourth pillar of acute care surgery: the current state of palliative medicine in trauma care Current Trauma Reports; by Alison Haruta and Kathleen O'Connell; 7/30/26Although most older trauma patients survive hospitalization, many deaths occur within six months after discharge, making early goals-of-care (GOC) discussions essential. However, palliative care consultation remains significantly underused, occurring in only 2–4% of severely injured trauma cases. ... Primary palliative care skills are essential for trauma surgeons, though effective integration into the trauma system has been variable. As the need grows, the specialty palliative care work force cannot keep up with demand, highlighting the need for surgeons to learn and perfect their primary palliative care skills, including communication skills and holistic symptom management. Palliative care should function as a core pillar of trauma care, ensuring dignity, reducing non-beneficial treatments, and improving end-of-life experiences for patients and families.

Ingram: Hospice gave my parents comfort and dignity. Texas must protect that care Tyler Morning Telegraph, Tyler, TX; by Tim Ingram; 7/27/26As a healthcare leader and family caregiver, I've spent years advocating for hospice and care at home. When people ask me why I am so passionate about my work, I tell them about my parents. ... As [my mother] neared the end of her life, she wasn't surrounded by unfamiliar walls, constant interruptions, or strangers coming and going through the hospital hall. She was in our family's home: the place she built a life, raised a family, and created decades of beautiful memories. ... [I have a photo showing] my dad reclining in his favorite chair, with a hospice nurse delicately shaving him because he was too frail to do it himself to get ready for my mother's funeral service. This simple act spoke volumes to our family. ... These final weeks of my parents' lives – having died just 15 days apart – changed how I think about the value of care at home.

Suicide Survivors Support Group offered by Home Hospice of Grayson CountyNorth Texas e-News, Sherman, TX; by Nancy Jackson; 7/27/26 Home Hospice of Grayson County is pleased to announce the start of a new “Suicide Survivors Grief and Loss” Support Group ... “Experiencing grief over the loss of a loved one to suicide can be especially difficult” said Nancy Jackson, Group Leader. “However, it can become overwhelming in the weeks and months after the loss. People are often surprised how much it impacts them emotionally, mentally and physically. There is no magic pill or quick fix for your grief, but sharing your journey with others who have experienced a loss, can make it easier."