Literature Review

Hospice: Relatable language, cultural humility key to grow rural utilizationHome Health Line; by MaryKent Wolff; 6/18/25 Agencies in rural communities that make information about their care more accessible to community members who may be isolated or lack trust in health care services could see both increased hospice utilization and patient engagement. [Subscription required for full access.]

‘It’s going to be the expectation’: Alternative care models reshape home-based care Home Health Care News - Hospital at Home; by Joyce Famakinwa; 6/10/25 At-home care providers are looking to the future. This means seriously investing in alternative home-based care models, such as hospital-at-home and Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). DispatchHealth, Contessa Health and Alivia Care are some of the organizations that have jumped headfirst into alternative home-based care models, enabling the creation of more comprehensive care delivery models. While alternative care models come with inherent challenges, including a complex regulatory environment and higher capital investments, these models are set to become an expectation for home-based care providers.

Local bat mitzvah project becomes ‘bear’ mitzvah Columbus Jewish News, Columbus, OH; by Bill Motchan; 6/4/25 Most 13-year-olds preparing for their b’nai mitzvah mark the occasion by completing a community service initiative. Emily Cammeyer had her bat mitzvah in 2012, but her mitzvah project lives on. In fact, it recently turned 13. The program is known as Love & Hugs and is part of the admission process at Wexner Heritage Village’s Zusman Hospice. A new hospice patient receives a stuffed bear to be there as a comfort tool. Eventually, the bear is reunited with the family of the patient. For her mitzvah project, Cammeyer raised enough money to donate 100 bears to Zusman Hospice. Since then, the program has placed more than 4,000 bears. ... “Our social workers help match the bear to the patient,” Sears told the CJN. ... Personalizing the bears was part of an evolution of the program, but it has made it special for hospice patients, Cammeyer said.

40 years after Karen Ann Quinlan’s death, NJ right-to-die case still stirs strong emotions New Jersy Herald; by William Westhoven; 6/4/25 ... Today, Americans are free to declare those rights [about dying] in the form of advance directives such as a living will. For that, we have one New Jersey family to thank: the parents and siblings of Karen Ann Quinlan, whose faith carried them through the arduous process of turning their tragedy into a legal victory that changed the way Americans approach the end of life. They were aided by a collection of attorneys and judges on both sides of the life-or-death case who chose to work "as adversaries but not enemies." Karen, then 21, fell into an irreversible coma after attending a party in Sussex County on April 15, 1975. She died 40 years ago, on June 11, 1985, in a Morris County nursing home.Editor's note: I remember this. Do you? In the midst of today's MAiD legislation, lobbying, and often highly inflammatory stances, I'm struck by this article's description, "They were aided by a collection of attorneys and judges on both sides of the life-or-death case who chose to work "as adversaries but not enemies." Yes, strong emotions and beliefs still drive both sides. Yes, we still choose how to work together. 

Q&A with Jim Obergefell on the future of Supreme Court's gay marriage ruling, LGBTQ rights Fremont News Messenger; by Laura A. Bischoff; 6/1/25 In 2013, Ohioans Jim Obergefell and John Arthur flew on a medical jet to exchange vows in Maryland where same-sex marriage was legal at the time. With Arthur in hospice care for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, time was slipping away for the Cincinnati couple and their home state of Ohio prohibited same-sex marriage. Days after their tarmac wedding, civil rights attorney Al Gerhardstein showed them a blank Ohio death certificate. "Do you guys understand that when John dies, his last record as a person will be wrong here, where it says marital status at the time of death?" Gerhardstein told them. "Ohio will say John was unmarried. And Jim, your name will not be here, where it says surviving spouse name." Brokenhearted and angry at the idea of not being recognized by Ohio, Arthur and Obergefell told Gerhardstein, yes, they wanted to do something about it. Arthur didn't live to see the fruits of that decision: On June 26, 2015, in a 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court decided states must allow for same-sex marriages and must recognize those solemnized in other states. Arthur died in October 2013 at the age of 48.

Remove barriers that restrict hospice care, Alliance offers in new report McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 5/28/25 Hospice providers can boost quality and patient satisfaction with a focus on transparent, culturally sensitive communication with clients, according to a new report by the National Alliance for Care at Home. ... For the report, the Alliance surveyed 2,000 adults who either recently experienced the death of a loved one or have been involved in healthcare decisionmaking for a person with a serious illness. Respondents included individuals of a variety of ages, income levels, ethnicities and educational backgrounds. ... . For many seniors, one of the largest barriers to care is ineffective communication, the survey found. Language barriers are a significant hurdle for non-English speaking older adults, particularly those who are first generation immigrants, it noted. Many seniors are also less comfortable with technology-based communication than younger people, and prefer face-to-face conversation over text messages.

'Dancing With Our Stars' marks 10 years of hospice fundraising in Marquette County My UP News, Marquette, MI; by Schyler Perkins; 5/22/25 Thursday night marked the grand finale of the tenth annual Dancing with Our Stars - Marquette County Style contest. ... "Tonight, people can expect nothing short of epic performances," said event organizer Lindsay Hemmila. The competition, which began in 2012 to raise funds for UP Health & Hospice, has become a cornerstone fundraising event in Marquette County. ... "When we first started off, I remember thinking like, my gosh, if I could raise like $40,000, which is quite huge. And now we're, you know, doubling or in some years tripling that number," Hemmila said. ... One of the most impactful programs funded through the event is the "Make a Memory" program, where hospice staff meet with patients to help fulfill wishes before they pass away. 

The evolution of hospice care The Journal; by Dr. Sarah Phillips, Medical Director, Hospice of the Panhandle; 5/18/25 Historians believe that the first hospices originated in Malta around 1065, dedicated to caring for the ill and dying enroute to and from the Holy Land. The term “hospice” referred to places of shelter for travelers, particularly in medieval Europe. The moder hospice movement began to gain momentum in the 1960’s with Dame Cicely Saunders’s establishment of St. Christopher’s Hospice in London, which emphasized comfort and quality of life for patients and their families. This idea of specialized care for the dying was first introduced to the United States during a lecture at Yale University in 1963. In the early 1970’s the first national hearings on the subject of death with dignity were conducted by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. In 1978, the National Hospice Organization was established and the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare task force reports that “the hospice movement … is a viable concept and one which holds out a means of providing more humane care for Americans dying of terminal illness while possibly reducing costs. As such, it is the proper subject of federal support.” [Continue reading ...]

Finding her strength in silence: CSU Pueblo student graduates twice, carring her mother's dream Colorado State University Pueblo, Pueblo, CO; by Soni Brinsko; 5/14/25 The porch was still new when the professors arrived that late November evening. Hand-laid tiles, each one carefully placed by a father during what should have been vacation time. He’d built it for his wife so she could sit outside, feel the Colorado breeze one more time. That night, the porch became something else entirely. It became a stage for a graduation ceremony that wasn’t supposed to happen until May. Alondra Solis Ayala is about to walk across the commencement stage at Colorado State University Pueblo this week. It will be her second graduation. The first one happened in her family’s living room, with her dying mother watching from a chair, too weak to stand but strong enough to declare “esa es mi hija”—that’s my daughter—as faculty members in full regalia handed over a diploma cover and stole in what became an impromptu, deeply personal ceremony.

Listen to what your mother tells you, especially near the end News+ Membership; by Jerry Davich; 5/7/25If your mother is no longer alive, what were her last words to you? My mom passed away two years ago and I’ve been asking myself this question since her last breath, which took place in my presence. I had just placed a yellow tulip next to her pillow on a bed inside her hospice room. It was an early Mother’s Day gift, continuing a tradition I started as a child with a stolen tulip from a neighbor’s yard. I knew my mother would not be around a month later for her special holiday. In fact, she wouldn’t be around just a minute later. While pondering that stolen moment, I looked over to my mom and noticed her left index finger moving. It was just a twitch, but until that time she had made no movements since she was admitted into a local hospice near my home. ...... Though I can’t recall my mom’s final words, I deeply feel her lasting legacy of love for my family. We continue to talk about her every day. We think of her every moment. We share photos and memories of her on a family group text thread. Some make us laugh. Some make us cry. This is the beauty and the heartbreak of losing a mother or a father. My mom may be gone, but her gentle voice can be heard in my head any time I want or need it. ...

Addressing workforce challenges: Hospice in the news, April 2025 Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast by Chris Comeaux with Cordt Kassner; 5/7/25 What defines quality in end-of-life care?  How are Hospice organizations navigating workforce challenges?  And why has medical aid in dying become such a critical conversation?  These questions take center stage in this data-driven exploration of April's most impactful Hospice and Palliative Care news stories. In this episode of TCNtalks, Chris Comeaux and Cordt Kassner discuss the top news stories from April, focusing on Hospice and Palliative Care.  They explore personal aspirations, data insights, the impact of spiritual care, emerging categories in news reporting, and key themes such as reimbursement and workforce challenges.  The conversation also touches on mission moments, regulatory changes, technology innovations, and the evolving nature of leadership in healthcare, particularly in the context of AI and human skills. ... Cordt closes the show with a Master's Class reviewing the National Hospice Locator, a valuable tool for finding high-quality Hospice Care anywhere in the country.

Hillsdale woman celebrates 100th birthday [hospice pioneer, 1970's] HudsonValley360, Hudson, NY; by Tiffany Greenwaldt-Simon; 5/2/25 A Hillsdale resident is celebrating a big milestone - turning 100. Dr. Irma Waldo was born on May 1, 2025, and recently celebrated joining the centenarian club with an openhouse celebration at the Copake Community Center Friday afternoon. ... [Dr. Waldo] opened her own pediatric practice in Hillsdale in 1952 - often making house calls and getting to know the families she was caring for. ... For Waldo, the most rewarding part of her medical career was the hospice service she helped create, Roe Jan Hospice. She received a call in the 1970s from a doctor in New York City who had a 9-year-old patient with a brain tumor. ... The hospice was expanded to cover the all of Columbia County over the course of 18 years, eventually becoming Columbia County Hospice, and then being absorbed into Hudson Valley Hospice. "That was the best thing, most important part of my practice, forming that hospice," Waldo said.Editor's note: Click here for more history.