Literature Review

An age-old fear grows more common: 'I'm going to die alone' The Washington Post; by Judith Graham; 10/11/25 As families fracture, people are living long and are more likely to find themselves without close relatives or friends at the end of their lives. [Full access may be limited by a paywall.]

Conspiracy of verticals:  Rethinking healthcare models with Peter Benjamin Teleios collaborative Network (TCN); video/podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Peter Benjamin; 10/8/25 In this conversation, Peter Benjamin and Chris Comeaux discuss the impact of COVID-19 on mortality rates, particularly the concept of 'death pull forward' and its implications for Hospice Care. Peter highlights the significant role of assisted living facilities in Hospice days and explores macro trends in healthcare, emphasizing the shift from vertical to horizontal care models. The discussion also covers the evolution of Palliative Care, frail elderly practices, and institutional special needs plans (iSNPs), while stressing the importance of measuring quality of care, particularly in pain management. 

Milton Village Open House builds community to support caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's, dementia, or other cognitive conditions GreatNews.Life; by Lauren Grasham; 10/6/25 To help healthcare providers better understand the numerous resources available, Milton Village hosted an open house on Tuesday, September 30. Milton Village is a collaborative effort between Milton Adult Day Services (a program of the Center for Hospice Care) and Alzheimer’s & Dementia Services of Northern Indiana (a REAL Services program) to provide comprehensive care and support to individuals living with Alzheimer’s or other cognitive conditions and their caregivers. “Inviting healthcare providers to see our facility and learn more about our programs is a great way to help them understand our unique model,” said Sarah Youngs, director of Milton Adult Day Services. “As providers tour the facility and hear how our guests engage in the programming, it’s so satisfying to see them recognize what this can mean for their patients and the patients’ caregivers.”

Stamford-area seniors can now enjoy free daytime care Evergreen, Stamford, CT; by Evergreen Daytime Senior Care and CT Hospice; 10/3/25Thanks to a groundbreaking Medicare initiative, seniors living with dementia now qualify for benefits that help cover the cost of adult daytime care. Designed to improve quality of life, the GUIDE (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience) Model, offered by Connecticut Hospice's Stand By Me program, features a full range of valuable services, including care coordination, caregiver education, and an annual respite benefit for up to 25 free days at adult day centers like Evergreen Daytime Senior Care. ... "We're excited to partner with Evergreen to provide high-quality adult day services to families enrolled in the GUIDE Model program," explained Mark Olynciw, GUIDE Program Manager at Connecticut Hospice. "Having trusted partners like Evergreen ensures our families have excellent options for their respite benefits."

Acara Healthcare names Kerri Pendley Chief Executive Officer EIN Presswire, Dallas, TX; by Momentum Healthcare and Technology Consulting; 9/25/25 Acara Healthcare today [9/25] announced the appointment of Kerri Pendley as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 8, 2025. Pendley, who has served as Interim CEO since October 2024, was unanimously confirmed by the Board of Directors in recognition of her leadership during a pivotal year for the organization. With more than two decades of leadership experience in post-acute and home-based care, Pendley has guided Acara through a period of renewal and transformation. During her interim tenure, she stabilized operations, implemented cost-saving initiatives, and spearheaded a comprehensive growth strategy across Acara’s personal care, home health, and hospice service lines. 

Living with dementia: To improve lives, we need to change how we think and talk about this experience in aging societies EurekAlert! - AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science); peer reviewed publication by The Hastings Center; 9/24/25 To experience or even contemplate dementia raises some of the most profound questions: What does it mean to be a person? How does someone find meaning in life while facing progressive neurological deterioration? ... To improve the lives of our fellow citizens who are living with dementia or providing dementia care, all of us need to pay attention to how we imagine and talk about these interwoven and increasingly common experiences, concludes Living with Dementia: Learning from Cultural Narratives in Aging Societies, a special report published by The Hastings Center for Bioethics. This report responds to calls from health care and social service practitioners for new ways to depict and talk about dementia, a collective term for Alzheimer disease and related dementias. Editor's Note: Click here for free access to multiple articles in this crucial report, such as

Elara Caring and National HME announce exclusive partnership to provide durable medical equipment services nationwide Business Wire (BW), Dallas & Irving, TX; Press Release; 9/23/25 Elara Caring, a leading national home health provider offering high-quality clinical and personal care services, and National HME, a leading provider of durable medical equipment (DME) solutions and services, today announced that they have entered into an exclusive agreement under which National HME will deliver its best-in-class DME services to Elara Caring’s 49 hospice locations across the United States. 

[Canada] Availability of respite care almost triples a palliative care patient’s chance of dying at home EurekAlert! - AAAS; News Release by McGill University; 9/22/25 Access to respite services for family caregivers increases a palliative care patient’s probability of dying at home almost threefold, according to a McGill University-led study. Previous surveys suggest most Canadians with a serious illness would prefer to spend the end of their lives at home. ... Funded by Quebec’s health ministry as part of its action plan for equitable access to quality palliative and end-of-life care, the study set out to find which factors matter most in helping patients avoid a transfer to a hospital or palliative care centre in their final days. Respite care – professional help that allows family caregivers to take short breaks –emerged as the strongest predictor, with patients 2.7 times more likely to die at home when it was available.

The Alliance expresses concerns regarding MACPAC approach to HCBS rate setting National Care at Home, Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC; Press Release; 9/18/25 The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) released the following statement in response to the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission’s (MACPAC) discussion regarding home- and community-based services (HCBS) rate-setting held during today’s September MACPAC meeting. The Alliance appreciates MACPAC’s interest in addressing issues related to worker pay in HCBS. These workers should receive higher wages and benefits as they are the backbone of the long-term care system in our country. ... Unfortunately, we are concerned about the draft recommendation MACPAC discussed during today’s meeting. Rather than seeking to address the root-cause of low worker wages, MACPAC’s recommendation instead focuses on collecting additional information that would further describe the issue. This approach increases administrative burden on states and providers without actually proposing solutions to this problem.

Low-cost respite service offered North Central News, Phoenix, AZ; by NCN Staff; 9/17/25 A new program is bringing together Arizona State University students and Hospice of the Valley to provide support to families caring for a person with dementia at home or in a facility. RISE — Respite In Student Engagement is a unique partnership between ASU and Hospice of the Valley’s Supportive Care for Dementia program. RISE connects students with families to provide affordable respite for caregivers and meaningful engagement for the person living with dementia in their home or in a facility. The rate is $20 per hour and families pay the student directly. RISE students are not employees or contractors for ASU or Hospice of the Valley. All students are background checked, and ASU students who join RISE receive evidence-based dementia training from the Dementia Care and Education Campus in Phoenix.

Federal long-term care advisory commission proposed McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Kimberly Marselas; 9/14/25 A National Advisory Commission on long-term care would be created under a bill introduced Thursday [9/11] that is intended to provide recommendations to Congress over the next decade. US Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and John Boozman (R-AR) said the commission would address a growing number of issues for seniors and others in need of long-term help with activities of daily living. The bipartisan Supporting Our Seniors Act directs a 12-member commission to assess and provide recommendations to Congress on improving service delivery, financing, workforce adequacy, and other issues related to access and affordability.

Home health agency sues HHS over $34m Medicare payment recoupment Home Health Care News; by Morgan Gonzales; 9/8/25 Infinity Home Care of Lakeland, a Florida-based home health provider and affiliate of Amedisys, has sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over Medicare recoupments. The Florida-based home health agency alleged that HHS completed “shoddy expert work” that led the agency to conclude that Medicare overpaid Infinity by $34 million for services from 2014 to 2016. According to the lawsuit, a contractor, Zone Program Integrity Contractors (ZPIC), reviewed 72 of the agency’s claims in 2017 and denied all 72 on the basis of errors with the face-to-face encounter documentation, that home health services were not medically reasonable and necessary or a lack of medical records.