Literature Review

Diversified Healthcare Trust completes transition of all 116 Five Star-branded AlerisLife communities to new operators McKnights Senior Living; by Lois A. Bowers; 1/5/26 Diversified Healthcare Trust has transitioned all 116 Five-Star Senior Living-branded communities in its senior living operating portfolio communities to new seven different third-party operators, the Newton, MA-based real estate investment trust announced Monday morning. The actions, as expected, were completed by Dec. 31, according to the company.

Is Alzheimer’s disease more common than previously thought? Medscape; by Megan Brooks; 12/24/25 Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may be more common than previously thought in some demographic groups, according to the first population-based study to use a blood test to gauge AD-related neuropathological changes (ADNCs). ... A “major advance” of this study is the use of blood-based biomarkers as a way to generate more accurate, population-level estimates of AD pathology, Nicholas Ashton, PhD, senior director of the Banner Fluid Biomarker Program, Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City, Arizona, told Medscape Medical News.

Alzheimer's: When is it time to consider hospice care? The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA; by Dana Territo; 12/29/25 ... Since the span of Alzheimer's disease can run from seven to 20 years, it is often difficult to know when the person warrants hospice care. Generally, an individual with Alzheimer's is ready for a hospice referral when they become severely impaired in function, (no longer can walk or feed themselves); when the person has become incontinent; when they experience frequent choking episodes or have difficulty in breathing, are unable to speak or communicate meaningfully (limited to about a half dozen or fewer intelligible words), or have significant weight loss. ...Editor's Note: This local advocacy article provides important information for all hospices, with references to their state organization--Louisiana-Missisippi Hospice & Palliative Care Organization--for ongoing resources. 

CMS weighs advance care planning quality measure for nursing homesMcKnight's Long-Term Care News; by Kimberly Marselas;12/16/25Nursing homes could soon be measured on their ability to capture advance care planning documents for their patients, according to a federal publication. On Monday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its 2025 list of measures under consideration. Among 24 new or updated metrics pitched for a range of Medicare programs, just one would directly affect skilled nursing: Advance Care Planning.

When the nurse becomes the daughter: Lessons from my father's final daysAmerican Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care; by Keshia R Brown; 11/25Military service demands sacrifice, but no professional challenge prepared me for the deeply personal experience of caring for my father at the end of his life. This experience transformed my understanding of nursing by revealing the profound impact of presence, love, and dignity-centered care. Caring for my father illuminated the intersection of professional skill and personal devotion, demonstrating that the heart of nursing extends beyond clinical interventions. It resides in honoring the whole person and offering unwavering compassion in their most vulnerable moments. This narrative reflects on the emotional, ethical, and spiritual lessons learned as I walked my father through his final chapter-an unexpected gift and the greatest honor of my nursing career.

How palliative services can smooth over transitions of care Hospice News; by Kevin Ryan; 12/17/25 Transitions of care are crucial moments for patients, often fraught with risks, but palliative care providers can help ensure that the changes go more smoothly. One way of doing this is through transitional care. Transitional care is a dynamic and highly personalized type of care that provides care services to assist patients as they move between different levels of health care. This may include a patient transitioning from a hospital setting to another care facility, or to their home. Transitional care helps bridge service gaps and enhances communication as patients move between health care settings, according to Dr. Diane Meier, founder of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). 

Hospitalization experiences among nursing home residents with dementiaJournal of the American Medical Directors Association; by Jordan M Alpert, Jeffrey D Kovach, Nicholas J Casacchia, David Harris, Ardeshir Hashmi, Luke Dogyun Kim, Silvia Perez-Protto, Matthew A Pappas, Michael B Rothberg; 12/5/25Hospital admissions among nursing home residents with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are burdensome, expensive, and provide limited clinical benefit. ... Conclusions and implications: Patients undergoing hospital admission suffered distressing experiences, but most patients did not have do-not-resuscitate orders, and referrals to hospice and palliative care were rare. Patients and their family members should be informed about the hospital experience before admission and offered appropriate care services.

Transforming care: MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center receives $6 million gift from Marilyn V. Adams to expand lifesaving geriatric emergency program and comfort services PR Newswire, Laguna Hills, CA; by MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center; 12/2/25 MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center is honored to announce a landmark $6 million gift from the late Marilyn V. Adams, a former Laguna Woods resident and lifelong philanthropist. This extraordinary contribution will support palliative, hospice and geriatric emergency care, ensuring quality, compassionate care for patients who are seniors in need of emergent care or who have life-limiting illness—two vulnerable populations often overlooked.

BULLETIN: HHS repeals nursing home staffing rule provisions McKNights Long-Term Care News; by Kimberly Marselas; 12/2/25 The Department of Health and Human Services today repealed key provisions of the minimum staffing standards for long-term care facilities finalized in 2024. The move follows months of legal and legislative challenges, which had already rendered hourly staffing and registered nurse requirements moot. HHS said it was repealing provisions in alignment with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which imposed a nine-year moratorium on the rule’s staffing measures. ... Notice of the appeal was posted in the Federal Register Tuesday morning. Editor's Note: Click here for the official publication of this repeal, scheduled to be published on 12/3/25.

'Rehabbed to death’: Bringing more palliative, hospice care to SNFs Hospice News; by Kristin Easterling; 11/26/25 Patients in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) can become trapped in a “rehabbed to death” cycle that could be prevented with better access to palliative care and hospice. The Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) used by SNFs could be harnessed to enable more palliative care and earlier admission to hospice, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.Editor's Note: Click below for the study and related articles we've posted.

85-year-old woman in senior home brings down the house with Fleetwood Mac 'Landslide' cover: There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Upworthy; by Cecily Knobler; 11/16/25 On a hot Sunday in July, Carole Wade took the mic at a Dallas senior living facility where my mom lives. I happened to be visiting for the karaoke event, and the list of residents who couldn't wait to put their stamps on their favorite tunes was so long, the event had to be extended. ... When it was Wade's turn, the microphone was brought to her table. She took it in her hands as though it was an extension of her fingers as the music cued up. Then, as she began to effortlessly sing "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac, the room got still. Frozen. All eyes were on her, and most of those eyes were wet. The lyrics, so beautifully fitting:

Unique ethical dilemmas occur in long-term care settings: Staff need ethics resources  Medical Ethics Advisor; by Stacey Kusterbeck; online ahead of print 12/1/25 issue ... “The position paper was developed in response to concerns from our members about the ethical challenges of the changing environment in long-term services,” says Jason M. Goldman, MD, MACP, president of the American College of Physicians. ... Discharge disposition, communication issues (either among the clinical team or between clinicians and parents), behavior problems, and goals of care were the top ethical issues reported. Lack of caregiver support was another frequent unique ethical concern. Editor's Note: Your hospice is in a unique role to provide ethics trainings for end-of-life care, and thus building trust, clinical best practices, and referrals. The CMS Hospice Conditions of Participation require: Hospices That Provide Hospice Care to Residents of a SNF/NF or ICF/MR (§ 418.112) (f) Standard: Orientation and training of staff. Finally, this rule requires a hospice to assure the orientation of SNF/NF and ICF/MR staff caring for hospice patients. Staff orientation must address the following topics: hospice philosophy; hospice policies regarding patient comfort methods, pain control, and symptom management; principles about death and dying; individual responses to death; patient rights; appropriate forms; and record keeping requirements.

States’ promising practices to improve care of serious illness National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP); by Stacie Sinclair (Center to Advance Palliative Care) and Wendy Fox-Grage; 11/17/25 Every state has taken meaningful action in some capacity to improve care for residents facing serious illness, affirms a recent publication from the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). The report documents how states are using a wide array of policy levers — such as legislation, Medicaid innovation, public education, and workforce development — to improve access to and quality of palliative care.