Literature Review

Hospitality exec brings hotel playbook to senior living, hits 97% occupancy Pacific Business News, Hawaii; by Cathy Cruz-George; 5/14/26 Mark Tsuda had three decades of hospitality experience when he joined the opening team of Ilima at Leihano, a luxury senior living community in Kapolei, in 2016. He previously was a regional executive for Aston Hotels & Resorts, ... Ilima at Leihano - which provides independent living, assisted living and memory care - has held an occupancy rate of between 95% and 97% over the past six years, supported by 92 employees who balance hotel-style services with healthcare needs and recreation. ... If a resident is in hospice, they can stay with us. Hospice is outsourced to local providers like Malama Ola and Island Hospice, ...

Don’t guess with health: Samaritan helps families identify the best care level for their aging loved one citybiz | New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh | Non-Profit; by Samaritan; 5/11/26When a loved one’s health begins to decline, families often face one of the most difficult questions in caregiving: What kind of care do they really need? Is it time for home-based primary care? Would palliative medicine improve quality of life while still seeking treatment? Or is hospice the most appropriate next step? ... With a full continuum of services—from primary care to end-of-life care—Samaritan helps families navigate complex healthcare decisions with compassion, expertise, and clarity. ... Editor's Note: Excellent descriptions for "choosing the right level of care" with simple, clear information and "navigation" services.

Nursing home ratings and characteristics predict hospice use among decedents with serious illnessesJournal of the American Medical Directors Association; by Ellis C Dillon, Chae Man Lee, Wenqi Gan, Doreek Charles, Germine Soliman, Julie Robison; 4/26Approximately one-third of older Americans experience a nursing home (NH) stay within 3 months of death, but it is unclear how NH characteristics influence end-of-life care.  Short-term (vs long-term) NH stays were associated with increased odds of hospice use and short hospice use. Individuals with long-term stays had lower odds of hospice use with stays at NHs with the highest (vs lowest) CMS ratings for quality measures and staffing ... Those with short-term stays had lower odds of hospice use with stays at NHs with the highest CMS Health Inspection ratings. People with long-term stays at NHs that were part of a chain, had Alzheimer's care units, or had more beds had increased odds of hospice care. Conclusions and implications: Among Connecticut Medicaid-insured decedents with NH stays, people with long-term stays and stays in NHs with better CMS ratings had lower odds of hospice use. Assistant Editor's note: This summary article highlights an important issue and an excellent opportunity for future analysis in a broader context. Intuitively, we'd like to see highly rated NHs have higher hospice utilization. 

Pennant acquires senior living communities in Arizona and Wisconsin US National Times, Eagle, ID; Press Release by Globe Newswire; 5/1/26 The Pennant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: PNTG), the parent company of the Pennant group of affiliated home health, hospice, home care and senior living companies, announced today that effective May 1st 2026, it has assumed operations of three senior living communities across Arizona and Wisconsin, expanding Pennant’s operations by 194 units. The three operations are all subject to triple net leases. ...

Midland Care expands care model with VMA acquisition Midland Care; Press Release; 4/13/26 Midland Care Connection has announced that its subsidiary, Midland Care Physician Services, has acquired Vintage Medical Associates (VMA), a primary care practice focused on serving older adults across northeast Kansas. This acquisition allows Midland Care to more closely coordinate medical and support services, enable streamlined care transitions, and improve communication among providers. Shawn Sullivan, President and CEO of Midland Care, “This acquisition strengthens our strategy to expand access to integrated, person-centered care for older adults.”

Woman indicted for mother's death turns tragedy into advocacy WJBF-6 ABC News, Augusta, GA; by Kim Vickers; 4/16/26 A woman is speaking out after she was indicted last year for the death of her mother. Rachel Waters gave her mother morphine provided by a hospice company, which authorities believed led to the woman’s death. Six months later, the charges were dropped. Now, Waters is turning her experience into something positive. ... Foster was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and bone cancer and eventually her oncologist recommended home hospice care. The hospice company prescribed an end-of-life care kit for Waters to use when Foster needed it. End-of-life care kits contain several drugs specific to the patient’s needs, including liquid morphine. We spoke to several Hospice nurses who told us they are commonly prescribed to families and caregivers to administer to their loved one.

Connecting palliative care and age‑friendly care to support what matters most Institute for Healthcare Improvement; by Marian Grant; 4/8/26 ... The 4Ms Framework of an Age-Friendly Health System identifies the core subjects that should drive the care of older adults. The 4Ms (What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility) align with the approach of palliative care teams and are part of their comprehensive assessment. Age-friendly leaders and team members can use the expertise of palliative care colleagues to implement the 4Ms. Editor's Note: Click here for a great graphic of this "4Ms Framework." It states, "For related work, this graphic may be used in its entirety without requesting permission. Graphic files and guidance at www.ihi.org/AgeFriendly.

How can more efficient data sharing improve patient care plans? HealthTech; by Christopher Mills; 4/8/26 The effective participation in health information exchanges requires a focus on data governance, interoperability and organizationwide buy-in. Health information exchanges are steadily gaining traction as healthcare organizations look for ways to improve care coordination, reduce costs and meet regulatory expectations. Organizations are seeking ways to use data to make better decisions, which reduces costs and increases revenue. This is especially important for health systems as the federal government cuts funding across the board.

Seniors who say they’re “not afraid of death” often still carry these quiet worries they don’t talk about Bolde; by Julie Brown; 4/1/26 My grandmother said it so matter-of-factly that it almost stopped the conversation. ... "I'm not afraid of it," she said. "I've had a very good life. When it's time, it's time." And she meant it. I believed her completely. But then, a few minutes later, she mentioned almost in passing that she hoped she wouldn't "get confused" at the end.

Language preference is associated with goals-of-care communication and end-of-life care in dementia Journal of General Internal Medicine; by Lauren R. Pollack MD, MS, Lois Downey MA, Ruth A. Engelberg PhD, James Sibley BS, Linda K. Ko PhD, Kimiko Domoto-Reilly MD, MS, Lyndia C. Brumback PhD, Annie T. Chen PhD & Rashmi K. Sharma MD, MHS; 3/30/26 Background: People with dementia and preferred language other than English (PLOE) in the United States may face communication-related barriers to high-quality end-of-life care.Objective: Compare end-of-life care characteristics among people with dementia and PLOE versus those preferring English. ... [Efforts] to improve end-of-life care for those with PLOE might prioritize ED and hospital-based interventions, recognizing their critical safety-net functions, as well as ensure that people with dementia and PLOE and their families have sufficient cultural and linguistic support to engage in high-quality end-of-life communication with their healthcare providers.Editor's Note: Pair this with today's post, "Neenah pastor finds deeper calling after brother’s hospice journey."

State POLST program maturity status and dying in the nursing home or hospice in the United States: An event time studyJournal of the American Medical Directors Association; by Komal Patel Murali, May Hua, Patricia W Stone, Andrew Dick, Tadeja Gracner; 2/26State Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) programs ensure documentation of orders for treatment are documented for the provision of goal-concordant care at the end of life. The national POLST organization tracks the maturity stages of state programs and categorizes them as developed (beginning of use) and endorsed (benchmarks and standardized use). Examining the association between POLST program maturation and the likelihood of dying in place can help clarify how implementation stage may affect end-of-life care and place of death. POLST program maturity is associated with a higher likelihood of NH residents dying in place or in hospice, potentially supporting goal-concordant care and reducing burdensome hospital transfers near the end of life.

Study: Families pleased after meeting nursing home advance care planning specialist McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Foster Stubbs; 3/10/26 Overall, family caregivers who met with advance care planning (ACP) specialists reported positive experiences in a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. The study enrolled 28 family caregivers of nursing home residents with dementia who had engaged in an ACP discussion with the ACP specialist in the prior three-month period. ... [Authors said,] “Their reports of needs and challenges reinforce the importance of ACP training programs like the ACP Specialist that promote routine conversations in the NH to support family decision makers for persons living with dementia.”