Literature Review

Head chef at Jersey Hospice cherishes the privilege of cooking for end-of-life patientsBNN, by Mahnoor Jehangir; 1/19/24The head chef at Jersey Hospice, Sam Sherwood, has a deeply personal mission. His role is not merely a professional one, but a labor of love, driven by the memory of his father who passed away just days before Sherwood took the helm of the hospice kitchen. For Sherwood and his team, preparing meals for patients in end-of-life care is more than just a job; it’s a calling.

Lions fan in hospice care dyes hair Honolulu Blue to support the teamABC 12 News WJRT, Saginaw Townshiop, MI, by Terry Camp; 1/17/24... Larry Benjamin, 83, has entered hospice care, but this Lions season and now the playoff win has given him a lot of joy. He wants everyone to get behind the Lions, and his show of support has gone viral.

16 sustainable health care design examplesgb&d / Health Care, by Andrew Biro; 1/17/24WHO defines a sustainable health care facility as one that “improves, maintains, or restores health while minimizing negative impacts on the environment and leveraging opportunities to restore and improve it, to the benefit of the health and well-being of current and future generations.”Editor's Note: Does your organization plan to build any type of building? Examine these healthcare designs and guiding priniciples.

Home-based leaders are focusing on culture, creative benefits to mitigate staffing challengesHome Healthcare News, by Joyce Famakinwa; 1/16/24One of Accurate Home Care’s biggest strategies for combating the nursing shortage is positioning the company as the employer of choice and focusing on culture. ... “We have to focus heavily on culture, and we have to focus heavily on purpose, and try to attract those who have a heart for home care, and the money is secondary to them,” [Bill] English said [president and CEO of Accurate Home Care]. “Those are the nurses that we went after. Today, we were voted as one of the top 200 workplaces in Minnesota by the Star Tribune.”

NAVC announces Pet Peace of Mind as the 2024 NAVC gives Marquee Award recipient

Man with cancer once wanted assisted suicide, but was glad he chose natural death insteadLive Action, by Cassy Fiano-Chesser; 1/15/24“In our last moments, when he was awake, I sat on his bed and sang to him — Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now. He had watched her sing it at the Isle of Wight pop festival and it was a magical memory he had relived with us.

The 100 club: U.S. centenarians are set to quadruple by 2054chartr, by U.S. Census Bureau; 1/12/24... As life expectancies increase and birth rates decline, the US is anticipated to trend older in the coming decades, with the median age already reaching a record high of 38.9 in 2022. Zooming out, the global population is generally aging at a much faster pace too. Indeed, in 2020, the number of people aged 60+ outnumbered under-5s, and there are an estimated 772k centenarians the world over at present.

UnitedHealth Group posts $5.5B profit in fourth quarterBecker's Payer Issues, by Jakob Emerson; 1/12/24UnitedHealth Group recorded double-digit growth in revenue year over year across its core lines of business at UnitedHealthcare and Optum, according to the company's fourth quarter earnings report released Jan. 12. UnitedHealth Group total revenues in 2023 were $371.6 billion, up 14.6% year over year. In the fourth quarter, revenues were $94.4 billion. For 2024, the company projects revenues of $400 billion.Notable mention: Andrew Witty, CEO.

Association Forum announces 2024 Woman of InfluenceForum; 12/11/23Association Forum is pleased to announce Wendy-Jo Toyama, MBA, CAE, FASAE, CEO of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (a client of the Association Management Center), as the 2024 recipient of the Woman of Influence Award.  This honor is awarded to trailblazers in the industry who have a proven track record of innovation, impact and paying it forward through coaching, mentoring and service to others.  Being named the 2024 Woman of Influence reflects Toyama’s ... dedication to the advancement of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

Bayard Rustin: Why MLK's right-hand man was nearly written out of historyHistory.com, by Thaddeus Morgan; 1/2/24Bayard Rustin was an indispensable force behind the civil rights movement, and openly gay. ... To the hundreds of thousands who were bused to Washington for the [August 28, 1963] March [on Washington for Jobs and Freedom], Rustin was synonymous with the movement. After all, he was the march’s chief organizer.Editor's Note: Learn more by viewing Rustin, the biographical drama film released via Netflix on November 3, 2023.

Dr. Richard Besdine, a professor of medicine and health services, policy and practice, and Terrie “Fox” Wetle, a professor of health services, policy and practice, were honored in 2023 by HopeHealth with the Human Dignity Award. The nonprofit organization, a teaching affiliate of the Warren Alpert Medical School, recognized Besdine and Wetle for their dedication to the essence of hospice, which is to provide comfort, compassion and dignity to patients, and hope and healing to their families.

Speaking out: Hello and goodbyeThe Bismarck Tribune, by Amanda Godfread; 1/11/24As I said hello to 2024, though, I had the difficult honor of saying goodbye at two funerals. One for a dear friend’s father who passed away unexpectedly and another for my great aunt, who was 94 and in hospice when she died. Two very different lives that led to the same kind of commemoration by friends and family to remember, to say goodbye, and to figure out how to move forward.