Literature Review

Nursing home profit status and pain among residents living with dementiaPain Management Nursing; by Sorah Levy, Barbara Resnick, Elizabeth Galik, Kelly Doran, Tara McMullen, Sarah Holmes; 2/26Nursing home (NH) residents living with dementia experience pain that is often sub-optimally managed. Nearly one in five nursing home residents with dementia experience pain symptoms.There is a known relationship between NH organizational factors, such as profit status, and quality of care. However, little attention has been paid to understanding the relationship between NH ownership profit status and pain among residents living with dementia. NH ownership profit status was not significantly associated with pain ... 

Medicare plan switching and hospice care among decedents with advanced cancer JAMA Network Open; by Xin Hu, Changchuan Jiang, Youngmin Kwon, Fangli Geng, Qinjin Fan, Kewei Sylvia Shi, Zhiyuan Zheng, Jingxuan Zhao, Joan L Warren, K Robin Yabroff, Xuesong Han; 3/2/16Importance: Hospice ... is an excluded benefit under Medicare Advantage (MA), with coverage instead provided by traditional Medicare (TM). With growing MA penetration, more beneficiaries also switch between MA and TM for financial protection and physician access considerations, although less is known about how different Medicare programs and plan switching behaviors affect EOL care for patients with advanced cancers.Conclusions and relevance: In this cohort study of Medicare decedents with advanced cancers, continuous MA enrollees were most likely to receive hospice at home, while those who switched from MA to TM more frequently received hospice care in nursing homes. Plan switching near the EOL may reflect access barriers, highlighting the importance of addressing care coordination to improve EOL care.

Hospice & Palliative Care of Chenango finalizes partnership with NYS Veterans Home in Oxford The Evening Sun, Oxford, NY; by Rebecca Laibowitz; 3/9/26 Hospice & Palliative Care of Chenango and the New York State Veterans Home at Oxford recently finalized a long-awaited partnership which now allows residents of the home and their families to receive hospice care from the nurses and volunteers of the organization. Prior to this partnership the home would have to send away people in seeking hospice care as strict regulations require a contract between a nursing home and hospice care provider in order for that type of care to be administered.

Outpatient curricular content for hospice and palliative medicine trainees: A national survey Journal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Harry J Han, Angelika Golebiowska, Emily N Hansen, Michelle Park, Victoria I Sweetnam, Christian T Sinclair, Jonathan C Yeh, Mary K Buss; 3/2/26, online ahead of print Context: More health systems are establishing outpatient palliative care (PC) programs, increasing demand for ambulatory PC clinicians. ... Little is known about the outpatient-specific knowledge and skills PC trainees should acquire for competent outpatient practice. Conclusion: This national survey identified foundational outpatient-focused educational topics for hospice and pallitive medical (HPM) learners and suggests that outpatient curricula prioritize deliberate education on the unique application of core PC skills in outpatient settings. This prioritized list provides education leaders a roadmap to enhance existing curricula and informs the development of outpatient educational resources that can be shared across institutions.

Azura Palliative Care & Hospice NBC WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee, WI; Press Release; 2/27/26 Azura has been the leader in Memory Care & Assisted Living for many years. They are now opening a new location in Mukwonago. They also have a new sister company Azura Palliative Care & Hospice. The two companies allow them to offer assisted living, memory care, respite, hospice, palliative care and an adult day program called TIME. 

The measure isn’t wrong. The story is incomplete. McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Steven Littlehale; 2/27/26 Not long ago, I was sitting across from a nursing home leadership team as they stared at a quality measure report that didn’t make sense to them. ... So we did what more facilities should do when a QM score feels off: We stopped looking at the rating and started looking at the math. That’s where the real story surfaced. It wasn’t about poor care, but about exclusions not captured, covariates not fully coded, and pieces of the clinical picture that never made it into the structured data fields the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reads. 

Why Silverado’s new CEO thinks memory care must ‘be bold’ to serve new customers Senior Housing News; by Austin Montgomery; 2/24/26 Memory care providers today must take bold approaches to develop the next generation of new leadership and serve the incoming baby boomer generation. That’s according to Silverado CEO Designate Wayne Sanner. Last year, Sanner joined the California-based memory care provider with plans to take over for longtime CEO Loren Shook, who will transition to a role as the operator’s executive chairman of the board later this year.

Effect of antipsychotic medication use and type on mortality and cardiovascular risks in nursing home patients with dementiaAlzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring; by Hamid R. Okhravi, Fang Fang, Melissa P. Hunter, Brynn E. Sheehan; 1/26Antipsychotic medication (APM) use in nursing home (NH) patients with dementia is common but carries risks. APM use in NH dementia patients is linked to higher death risk. First‐generation APMs showed higher mortality risk than second‐generation APMs. Overall, APM use is associated with increased stroke risk. No association was found between APM use and MI risk overall.

‘It’s a collaborative effort’: Northern Light Medical Transport paramedics providing hospice supportWABI-5, Bangor, ME; by Alyssa Thurlow; 2/19/26 ... Paramedics can help patients across Maine with a variety of needs, but some are embracing a slower-paced role, focused on assisting those who are at the end of life. “Patients have access to care 24/7, and part of that coverage for after-hours is now coming through the community paramedicine program,” said hospice educator Allie Rohrer, RN. ... “It’s not with lights and sirens. It’s very low key. It’s driving there in a car, and then it’s talking through the issues,” said paramedic Ed Moreshead. ... Northern Light’s community paramedics are contracted with Northern Light Home Care & Hospice. Families in need of assistance call the triage number, and a hospice nurse and on-call physician can respond if needed.

This American Heart Month, Carolina Caring elevates cardiac care for serious illness Carolina Caring, Newton, NC; Press Release; 2/9/26 February is American Heart Month, a national effort to raise awareness about heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. As of 2025, 6.7 million Americans over the age of 20 are living with heart failure (Heart Failure Society of America, 2025). ... In response, Carolina Caring’s Advanced Cardiac Care program provides effective, tailored support to patients with chronic heart conditions. As the first cardiac care program of its kind in North Carolina, Carolina Caring combines nationally recognized standards of care with a home-based hospice approach. 

EMS at 60: The past, present, and future of our profession Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS); by David Ferris; 2/10/26 This year, 2026, marks sixty years since the birth of organized national EMS in the United States, and I’ve been fortunate—or maybe stubborn—enough to ride in the back of an ambulance for more than half of that history. For 34 years I’ve carried a radio, a drug box, and the weight of responsibility that comes with being a paramedic. In that time, I’ve watched EMS evolve from the Wild West of guesswork and tradition into a profession grounded in evidence, outcomes, and community health. What follows isn’t just a timeline of milestones; it’s the story of EMS through my own eyes, ...Editor's Note: Whose life--in your life--has been saved (or significantly helped) by Emergency Medical Services?  Memories through the years break through my take-it-for-granted view. While in hospice we tend to downplay EMS calls and hospitalization, join me in gratitude for the timely, life-saving and mitigation of horrific outcomes provided 24/7 by EMS care. 

Brookdale Senior Living continues downsizing with focus on owning communities McKnights Senior Living; by Lois A. Bowers; 2/2/26The future, including the future size, of the country’s largest senior living company was brought into sharper focus Friday during Brookdale Senior Living’s Investor Day. In the near term, that future appears to include a more aggressive portfolio pruning than previously announced. In the long term, CEO Nick Stengle didn’t rule out a potential return to the home health and hospice care space, although he said the company has no current plans to do so.

A qualitative study of chaplains spiritual care for persons with dementia in long-term careJournal of Applied Gerontology; by Meganne K. Masko, Sarah McEvoy, Jung Kwak, Kathryn Lyndes, Alexia M. Torke, Shelley Varner Perez, George Fitchett; 12/25This study explored how chaplains provide spiritual care for residents with dementia in long-term care, which is not well understood. We conducted six separate semi-structured focus groups with a total of 16 chaplains who provide care for people with dementia in long-term care facilities across the U.S. Two main themes emerged: the broad and multifaceted role of chaplains in long-term care, including responsibilities to residents, staff, and family, and dementia-specific spiritual care adaptations and delivery practices, including learning through experience, using multisensory tools, relying on presence, music, and emotional resonance. Chaplains’ adaptive, person-centered spiritual care for residents with dementia highlights the need for dementia-informed chaplaincy training and greater integration of chaplaincy into interdisciplinary care planning in long-term care settings.