Literature Review

How the St. Francis Foundation supports healthcare for Santa Barbara’s most vulnerable Noozhawk - Special to Good for Santa Barbara; 11/26/24 The foundation grants nearly a million annually to local organizations focused on health, end-of-life, palliative and geriatric care. Maximize the impact of your generosity this holiday season by supporting the nonprofits that matter most to you. There’s no better way to close out the year than by giving back to your community. This #GivingTuesday, Noozhawk invites you to contribute to one of the incredible local organizations featured in our  Giving Guide. On December 3, 2024, join us and nonprofits across Santa Barbara County in celebrating this global movement of giving. Together, we can make a difference! ...Editor's note: This interview provides a great example for ways that you, too, can still fast-track your community outreach before next week's December 3rd "Giving Tuesday."

Nutrition Shake Drive supports local hospice patientsECB Publishing, Inc.; 11/26/24 Juanice Hughes Big Bend Hospice Advisory Council Big Bend Hospice is currently seeking donations of nutrition shakes, such as Ensure vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavors for its local patients. These shakes are essential for maintaining health and comfort during care. From some patients, this is the only nutrition they can tolerate. As one Big Bend Hospice administrator indicated, there is always a need for these shakes. There is not time that there is too much Ensure on hand, because it is an important sustenance for patients under hospice care. ... Editor's note: This is such a simple, significant, practical donation! Bravo to Big Bend Hospice! The privilege of my lifetime was for my Mom to live with us--with hospice care--through the last months of her life. Her chocolate similar-to-Ensure mini-cartons were essential to giving her crucial nutrition, in the midst of her dying. What a wonderful way to support patient (and caregiver!) care. Perhaps, this might be an 11th-hour idea for other hospices to use for December 3rd's Giving Tuesday? Thanks, Big Bend Hospice!

Keeping referral partners happy after dropping contracts with Medicare Advantage plans Home Health News; by Audire Martin; 11/25/24 Home health providers may walk away from specific health plans due to financial feasibility, administrative burdens, or misalignment with their patient care values and priorities. However, this decision can create short-term challenges with referral partners and health systems, as they may have patients enrolled in those plans. “If a health plan consistently under-reimburses for services or requires excessive administrative hurdles, it may compromise the ability to deliver quality care efficiently,” Preston Lucas, chief financial officer at Interim HealthCare Great Lakes, told Home Health Care News. “Additionally, if the plan’s policies restrict access to necessary treatments or fail to support the level of care required for patients, it becomes difficult to sustain the partnership.” ... Maintaining open lines of communication and emphasizing the shared goal of providing high-quality care helps mitigate the short-term consequences of leaving a health system, according to Lucas.

Hospice of Baton Rouge: New grief center opens offering vital support and healing Unfiltered With Kiran, Baton Rouge, LA; by Megan Kelly; 11/25/24 As the holiday season approaches, a time often filled with joy and togetherness, it can also be a profoundly challenging period for those experiencing grief. The Hospice of Baton Rouge has recognized this need and has transformed a property into a haven of healing: The Retreat at Quarters Lake. This newly established grief center aims to address the significant gap in resources for grieving individuals, a void that became especially apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Retreat at Quarters Lake provides hope, healing, and connectivity for the grieving through counseling, support groups, alternative grief therapies, and community education,” reads a statement on their website. The facility offers both traditional grief services, such as individual counseling and support groups, and unique, holistic approaches that include art therapy, music therapy, and pet therapy. The goal is to provide a comprehensive support system that caters to individuals of all ages and backgrounds. “We are focusing on some alternative therapies like yoga, meditation, gardening, and even fishing,” said Catherine Schendel, CEO of The Hospice of Baton Rouge. “We want to utilize the beautiful landscaping here to offer non-traditional grief support as well.” 

Caring for all stages of life: The legacy of VNA Health Good for Santa Barbara, CA; by Noozhawk; 11/21/24 VNA Health provides Home Health Care, Palliative Care, Hospice Care, Bereavement Care, and more. The holiday season is more than just a time for celebrations—it’s a chance to make a real difference. This Giving Tuesday, let’s focus on the power of local generosity and how it can transform lives in our community. At Noozhawk, we believe that every act of kindness counts. Our Giving Guide is your gateway to discovering local organizations doing incredible work and in need of support. Whether it’s a small donation or volunteering your time, your contribution can spark positive change as we wrap up the year. ... In this interview, Noozhawk spoke with Easter Moorman, Director of Marketing & Communications at VNA Health, to learn more about the nonprofit’s mission to care for our community with compassion and integrity. ...Editor's note: This article provides a great example of community outreach for Giving Tuesday, December 3rd, 2024.

Hospices have long road ahead on improving health equity Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 11/21/24 Prolific health disparities have driven hospices to implement various strategies to improve diversity, equity and inclusion among underserved patient populations. Some providers say the needle has much farther to go toward equitable access. End-of-life care models have increasingly diversified to reach a broader range of patients with different beliefs, values and spiritual outlooks, according to Altonia Garrett, COO of Blue Ridge Hospice. Garrett is also executive director of the Virginia-based hospice’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee. Yet, hospice providers lack a full scope of understanding around the nuanced challenges impeding utilization and the ways to more effectively address unmet patient needs, Garrett said.  

United Hospice celebrates success with “A Night in the Catskills" [$215,000] MidHudson News, Hudson Valley, NY; by News Staff; 11/24/24 In late October United Hospice held its annual gala, “A Night in the Catskills” and a silent auction at the Hilton Pearl River which drew more than 300 attendees and was the most successful gala in the organization’s history, raising more than $215,000. During the event, CEO Cara Pace recalled all of United Hospice’s achievements this past year, including the successful start of a new and innovative program, Living Well New York, in which palliative physicians make recommendations to patients’ primary care teams that will ultimately improve the quality of life for every patient and their families who participate in the program. 

3 clear signs to quickly identify someone with good leadership skills: Good leadership in the business world extends beyond hitting targets, increasing revenue, and achieving status. Inc., by Marcel Schwantes; 11/20/24 If you’ve ever had the chance to work under a good leader, you’ve probably noticed something important: They actually care about their people. They’re not just focused on hitting targets or climbing the ladder themselves—they genuinely care about helping their team succeed, both in their current roles and in their long-term goals. For many leaders, this doesn’t come naturally. It’s tough to balance caring for others when you’re under pressure to deliver results and meet expectations. But here’s the thing: Research—and countless stories from top leaders I have interviewed on my podcast—shows that focusing on your people is a game-changer for the success of your business. It’s not just a feel-good approach; it’s smart strategy. ... When leaders consistently show they care and foster the right environment, the positive ripple effects are undeniable. Let’s talk about three clear signs that will tell you someone is fit for leadership:

Q&A: Prioritizing health equity with Emory Healthcare’s Chief Transformation Office CDW Healthcare - Patient-Centered Care; by Teta Alim; 11/19/24 Most healthcare organizations regularly prioritize goals to improve the patient experience and increase clinician satisfaction, aligning with the Quintuple Aim. Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare created the role of chief transformation officer to focus on these areas, and in July 2023, Dr. Amaka Eneanya became the first to fill the role. ... What would you say were the top three lessons you learned during the first year in your new role? ENEANYA: It's been a great year. For lesson one, as someone coming from a different part of the U.S., ingraining yourself and getting to know the people and the culture of the organization that you’re in, that’s important to determine the change readiness of an organization. ... The second lesson is that change is exciting. There's a lot of trepidation with change, and part of being effective with change management and transformation is really garnering excitement. ... The third lesson that continues to be pervasive in my career is that health equity is poorly understood. ... You have to start with the basic foundation and concepts of health equity before you can make initiatives, otherwise people won't understand what you're doing, and they might have a visceral response to what you're doing because of the misinformation around health equity. 

A guiding light: hospice care social workers provide support for dealing with the idea of death Scot Scoop - Carlmont High School's Student News Site; by Rei Baxter; 11/20/24 Death is a natural part of life, yet it is also terrifying. Being young and dying is especially difficult to accept. Regina Tong, a hospice social worker, has to deal with difficult cases. "The hardest parts for me are the young patients, like the moms with children, or younger people who are just not ready to die, but they get this terminal illness, and their parents are grieving. Those are really hard for me,” Tong said. ... Before starting in hospice, Tong worked in nursing homes and palliative care patients, who are people that aren’t quite hospice level but have chronic illnesses. However, when her mom died, she realized that she needed to stretch her boundaries and learn more about something she was uncomfortable with: death. “That’s why I’m here. The more I work in hospice, the more I realize how important inner peace is. I see a lot of patients who are at the end of their lives, and they really struggle with the idea of death, even though it’s a natural process of everything that has a life. So people who resisted end up suffering so much towards the end,” Tong said. Tong’s work doesn’t just help her patients and their families; it helps her connect more with herself. ...Editor's note: Rei Baxter--this article's author--is a high school senior. This beautiful article gifts us with a prelude into Thanksgiving week, as we gather with intergenerational families and tune into what matters most.

Lamar Area Hospice’s grief programs are made possible from BBB donations The Prowers Journal, Lamar, CO; by Barbara Crimond; 11/20/24 The words “good” and “grief” don’t commonly go together.  At the Lamar Area Hospice, however, they not only go together but, when combined, embrace the idea of a place to go which allows children and adults to normalize their grief, receive support from others experiencing similar emotional struggles and education in healthy ways to move through their grief.  They learn that they can tell their stories in a safe, loving and nurturing environment.  I recently met with Deb Pelley (Executive Director of Lamar Area Hospice). Roni Vallejos (Children’s Good Grief Coordinator) and Kelsie Cedeno (Adult Bereavement Coordinator) to learn more about these programs.  I could immediately sense the compassion and love for their jobs that all three women have. Before telling me about the programs though, they told me that it was only because of the generous donations from the BBB each year that the programs can even exist. They wanted to express how extremely grateful they are to BBB for enabling them to continue Jillian Sweet Tinnes’s legacy. ...

VITAS Healthcare honors retired hospice veteran, announces new executive leadership Globe Newswire, Miami, FL; by VITAS Healthcare; 11/20/24 VITAS Healthcare, the nation’s leading provider of end-of-life care and a best-in-class healthcare employer, proudly announces four major executive leadership changes:

Local hospice organization announces dementia care program for patients and caregivers Southern Maryland News Net; 11/19/24 Hospice of the Chesapeake has launched a new and innovative dementia care program for dementia patients and their caregivers. The program, in collaboration with The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI), The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) and Aliviado Health, includes free access to the “Dementia Care Patient & Caregiver Resource Guide,” which provides the best-in-class resource for dementia care. The goal is to improve the quality of life for dementia patients, reduce hospitalizations and ease burdens for families and caregivers.Editor's note: The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) is a sponsor for our newsletter.