Literature Review

Sheinelle Jones honors nurses who cared for her late husbandTODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle; YouTube segment from tv show; 2/4/26 TODAY's Sheinelle Jones pays special tribute to the nurses and caretakers who looked after her husband Uche Ojeh while in hospice and not only made the time he had left more comfortable, but also supported her and the whole family during their most difficult moments. "The only reason I even have the strength to talk about it, is because I believe that they're our heroes. They deserve all the love and attention we can give them," she says. Then, the care team, Jazzie Stickle, Denise James Wright, Nykyra Owens, Chanel Duff and Jessica Goldstein, get a special surprise.Editor's Note: This segment on TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle honored Uche's birthday, the first birthday Sheinelle and her family are experiencing since his death from brain cancer in May 2025. Hudson Valley Hospice provided hospice care, and beautifully represented the best of hospice care's philosophy and care. In addition to nurses and aides, Sheinelle especially thanked Uche's speech pathologist who helped him voice "I love you." I invite you to watch this and be inspired:  Sheinelle Jones' late husband Uche relearned to say 'I love you' in hospice. And she has the video.

Fly fishing support group provides new angle on grief processing: The grieving can find peace in the rhythm of fishingTimes Courier, Ellijay, GA; by Jackson Elliott; 1/28/26 Few people understand grief like a hospice chaplain. “I’ve experienced about 5,000 deaths,” former hospice chaplain Rick Gillert said. “And I’ve helped those families and patients through the grieving process." “‘I had this idea in the back of my head of combining professional grief care with fly fishing,” he said. During his time as a hospice chaplain, he would often seek peace from the difficulty of the work by going fishing the next day. “I can almost imagine my anxieties, my worries as leaves falling on the water and washing away,” Gillert said. In his program, clients join a group and go through a 10-week course on fly fishing, processing grief and coping skills.

Meant to Be: Denise's journey into hospice nursing The McKenzie, Tennessee Banner; 1/27/26 When Denise lost her husband, Tony, to leukemia at only 39, her world shifted forever. She was 29. ... In her thirties, ... she enrolled in nursing school, determined to rebuild her own story, one chapter at a time. ...Then came a nursing hospice opportunity. ... For Denise, hospice nursing isn't about endings; it's about helping families find peace, honesty, dignity, and hope in the final chapter. She carries the responsibility with deep reverence. "We're the last chapter," she says softly. "And if that chapter ends poorly, a lot of it is on us." ... Denise's journey reminds us that sometimes the hardest heartbreaks lead us to the most meaningful callings. Editor's Note: [Full access to this may require a subscription.] What personal life experiences brought many of your clinicians to end-of-life care? You may be surpised how little you know about them; what brings meaning and purpose for them; how seeing their journeys inspires you in your leadership role.

Gerald’s Law reintroduced in Congress to permanently protect veterans’ burial benefits National Alliance for Care at Home, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 1/22/26 Representatives Bergman (R-MI) and Budzinski (D-IL) formally reintroduced Gerald’s Law as a standalone bill to permanently protect burial benefits for veterans who receive Veterans Affairs (VA) furnished hospice care outside of a VA facility. The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) applauds this bi-partisan effort to close a critical gap in benefits impacting seriously-ill veterans and their families. 

Limited English proficiency and its association with quality of care and bereavement at the end of lifeAmerican Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine; by Maxwell D. Chen, Joan M. Teno; 12/25Of 17.1 million deaths, 5.4% occurred in Hispanic decedents, compared to 3.0% among non-Hispanics ... The strongest disparity was a 12.9-point lower adjusted quality-of-care rating for Hispanic decedents with LEP [limited English proficiency] ...  Respondents of Hispanic decedents with LEP reported trends of higher unmet needs for dyspnea palliation and receipt of goal concordant care. Conclusion: LEP is prevalent in Hispanic decedents, with those with LEP reporting lower ratings of the quality of care compared to non-Hispanics without LEP.

Nurse Honor Guard provides final salute to health care heroes Valley News Live; by Meredith Anderson; 1/16/26 Honor guard ceremonies, which are traditionally reserved for funerals held for military veterans, police officers and firefighters, are becoming more common for another group of frontline workers: nurses. The Georgia Nurse Honor Guard provides tributes to nurses who have died or are in hospice care, offering families a formal recognition of their loved one’s service to the community.

The long quiet of Karen Andrews 15 - Utah's Art Magazine, by Shawn Rossiter; 1/14/25 When Alli Harbertson first walked into the Andrews home, it was the paintings that stopped her. “They’re everywhere,” Harbertson recalls. The living room—where Karen Andrews’ hospital bed had been placed—was filled with artwork, paintings covering the walls and leaning against furniture while ceramics, blankets and small sculptures covered coffee tables, bureaus and dressers. ... [After Karen's death,] Ron Andrews did not know what to do with the more than 130 painting, but he knew what his wife had asked of him. “She was so clear,” Harbertson says. “She said, ‘I made my mark. This is the mark I made—my paintings. Don’t let them go to the DI.’” ...

West Michigan nonprofit celebrates 30 years of service, debuts new grief program MLive, Byron Center, MI; by Skyla Jewell-Hammie; 1/8/26 Faith Hospice, one of West Michigan’s largest nonprofit hospices, celebrated three decades of service with the launch of a new grief support program. The new program, “Real Grief,” is designed to address the needs of those experiencing unexpected, unexplained loss and unrelenting grief. "It’s a starting point for those struggling to process their loss,” said Janet Jaymin, M.A., LPC, director of integrative support services. “We’ve created a community where people can connect with others who understand what they’re going through.”

Together we remember: Using topic modeling and semantic networks to study obituaries and collective memories of contemporary United States Omega - Journal of Death and Dying; Haojian Li, Chengfang Wang, and Ping Hu; 12/6/25 Obituaries have long served as an important source in recording memories and social values in the United States. However, prior research has focused primarily on celebrities or specific groups, often overlooking the narratives of ordinary citizens and neglecting broader discussions of their collective memories. This study addresses these gaps by applying large-scale data analysis and computational methods. ... Overall, this study contributes new insights to obituary research and introduces a novel framework for examining collective memory through large-scale commemorative texts.

323.3: What happens after the gift? Insights from organ procurement organizations on strengthening aftercare in the United StatesTransplantation; by Levan, Macey; Akhtar, Jasmine; Sidoti, Carolyn; Kaplow, Katya; Klitenic, Samantha; Flower, Tessa; Yusef, Bola; Vanterpool, Karen; Parent, Brendan; Koons, Brittany; 12/25Each of the 55 U.S. organ procurement organizations (OPOs) is responsible for obtaining authorization for donation and supporting donor families through the donation process. While federal regulations mandate certain responsibilities related to authorization and coordination, there is no regulatory requirement that OPOs provide services to families after donation. Nonetheless, most OPOs have developed “aftercare” programs, which historically have focused on honoring loved ones, commemorating donation, and offering limited grief-related support. Facilitators of meaningful aftercare included peer connection efforts, standardized data processes, and tailoring services to diverse family needs. However, the structure, scope, and intensity of these programs vary widely, and there has been little national attention to standardizing or modernizing aftercare efforts. Common barriers to effective aftercare included limited access to mental health resources, low survey response rates, insufficient staffing or funding, and fragmentation between initial and long-term support teams. 

Tiny tree reappears along Lititz Pike to brighten the holiday season Lancaster Online, Lancaster, PA; by Claudia Esbenshade; 12/23/25 ... Anderson, a social Worker with Hospice & Community Care, took the initiative that year to give "Charlie," which is what Anderson called her tree, some love and adorned it with a little blue blanket and one red ornament. She named the tree in honor of the beloved tree from "A Charlie Brown Christmas." ... "Charlie had become more than a weed in a crack. He was a symbol. A pause. A quiet reminder that resilience exists even when conditions are ugly, and hope can show up where you least expect it," she wrote in her post. "My work centers around people who are often really fragile and facing limited life expectancy," Anderson said in an email. "So sometimes the smallest, most overlooked things end up meaning the most, especially to people who are tired, grieving, or just trying to get through the day. That little tree’s resilience has always been really special to me."

Father of 3 stages 'Grief Photo Shoot' to remember wife who died of cancer (exclusive): CJ Infantino and his late wife Ariana were high school sweethearts People; by Jordan Greene; 2/13/25 There are many moments forever etched in CJ Infantino’s memory, but one stands out above the rest. It was Sept. 5, 2020, when CJ and his wife, Ariana, sat their three kids down at the kitchen table in their California home and told them that Ariana, 35, was going to die. ... Ariana was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in 2015 — coincidentally, on CJ’s 30th birthday. "We spent the next five-and-a-half years trying to live as much life as we could. We wanted to pack 30 years into 10," CJ says. ... After her last breath, he recalls that everyone "just went silent." ... Right away, the father of three felt isolated, as if no one could relate to his experience. He found that the things people said were often unhelpful and, at times, unintentionally harmful.  ... "I really just wanted to show my kids that, even though she’s not physically here, it’s okay to talk about her. We’re still allowed to laugh, even when we’re in so much pain," he says. "I remember the first moment I laughed or felt a hint of joy, and I thought, 'Are we allowed to do this?' " ... [Click on the title's link for the inspirational story and family photos before and after Ariana's 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?