Literature Review

Klamath Hospice honors older Americans with 4th annual Senior Awareness Fair Herald and News, Klamath Falls, OR; by Courtney Neubauer; 5/22/26 Booths lined the walkways of the Klamath Hospice walking paths while a local musician played tunes, and many grabbed a hot dog and a bag of chips to mark the fourth annual Senior Awareness Fair. This event, organized by Klamath Hospice and Palliative Care, featured roughly 40 community booths offering resources and services to seniors and their families. ...  This year’s theme, Champion Your Health, encourages older adults to take action to support their health and prevent health issues, advocate for their needs, and make informed choices that support their well-being.

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.

Virtual reality for serious illness: connecting, healing, and inducing awe | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Kathleen Benton and Teri Yarbrow; 4/29/26 What if, even in the most limiting and uncertain moments of serious illness, a person could still experience freedom, movement, beauty, and a renewed sense of meaning? In this episode, Kathleen Benton and Virtual Reality (VR innovator Teri Yarbrow reveal how virtual reality is reshaping Hospice and Palliative Care by restoring something often lost in modern medicine—human experience.  As care becomes increasingly clinical and documentation-driven, VR creates space for patients to reconnect with meaning, beauty, and identity beyond their diagnosis.

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.

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."

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.

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. 

Rethinking home care: New models to sustain aging in place Governing; by Paula Span; 1/9/26 Worker-owned cooperatives and direct-connect registries are reducing turnover and reshaping how older adults get care at home. ... One innovation, still small but expanding: home care cooperatives owned by the workers themselves. The first and largest, Cooperative Home Care Associates in the Bronx borough of New York City, began in 1985 and now employs about 1,600 home care aides. The ICA Group now counts 26 such worker-owned home care businesses nationwide.

Malnutrition deaths are soaring in the US – especially among seniors Independent; by Brendan Rascius; 1/5/26 Malnutrition deaths are soaring in the United States — particularly among seniors — and the reasons are unclear, according to a new report. In roughly the last 10 years, deaths linked to malnutrition have skyrocketed by a factor of six, making it the fastest-growing killer in the country, The Washington Post reported, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Students deliver custom holiday cards to hospital patients Butler Eagle, Butler, PA; by Sol McCormick; 12/23/25 The next generation of medical professionals might not be ready to deliver health care just yet, but they found a way to deliver a different type of care just before the holidays. About 20 or so members of Butler Senior High School’s Medical Careers Club gathered Tuesday, Dec. 23, at Butler Memorial Hospital to distribute around 1,500 holiday cards to patients. Each card was handmade by students of all eight of Butler Area School District’s elementary schools. ... “A lot of patients were so grateful. One of them, last year when we went up to Clarion, she was in hospice and only had a week left. They said that was the first time they saw her smile for days,” Reese said.

The business of caring for older Americans is in a deepening crisis The Washington Post; by Shannon Najmabadi; 12/7/25 Jonas Atta-Kyereme helps 85-year-old David Reese dress in the morning and prepare for bed at night. He makes sure the retired pediatrician takes his medicine, and calms him when he gets anxious looking for his wife, Jane, who died last year. ... Home health workers and caregivers such as Atta-Kyereme, who immigrated from Ghana two years ago, fill a critical role in the health care ecosystem as America ages and demand for caregivers soar. ...

The tech-enabled evolution of home-based care: How technology is shifting care from hospital to home THL - Thomas H. Lee Partners, Boston, MA; posted on "Insight & Analysis | Healthcare"; 12/1/25 Key Takeaways:

Living with dementia report emphasizes that even those with advanced disease have stories to share JAMA Medical News; by Rita Rubin, MA; 10/31/25 As the average age of the US population has risen, so has the number of people living with Alzheimer disease and related dementias. And yet, dementia is still a highly stigmatized condition, a new collection of essays published by the Hastings Center for Bioethics points out. Clinicians, caregivers, and loved ones could improve the lives of the more than 7 million people in the US who are living with dementia if they only recognized that such individuals still have their own stories to tell, even when they can’t express themselves the same way they did before their symptoms appeared.