Literature Review

[Canada] How mobile palliative care unit is making a difference Ontario Hospital Association - New Models of Care, Ontario, Canada; Press Release; 9/9/25 Launched earlier this year, the PEGASUS program, short for palliative expertise group for ambulatory support and unified solutions, is an innovative, mobile model of care that brings palliative medicine directly to patients in outpatient clinics across the hospital. Rather than establishing a traditional clinic space, the PEGASUS team “flies” to where the need is. ... The result: a consultation-based team that integrates seamlessly into existing ambulatory clinics, avoiding duplication of services and focusing on enhancing continuity of care. 

[Japan] Clinical and communication factors associated with family conflict in palliative care units: A survey of bereaved families in JapanCancer Medicine; by Jun Hamano, Kento Masukawa, Masanori Mori, Takashi Yamaguchi, Hiroyuki Otani, Hiroto Ishiki, Yutaka Hatano, Isseki Maeda, Satoru Tsuneto, Yasuo Shima, Tatsuya Morita, Yoshiyuki Kizawa, Mitsunori Miyashita; 9/25Family conflict is a common problem in palliative care and has been identified as a potential barrier to providing appropriate care... Our findings suggest that abrupt clinical deterioration is associated with family conflict. Confirming patients' and families' wishes regarding CPR during hospitalization may help reduce family conflict in PCUs.

[United Kingdom] Stories of unpaid carers supporting loved ones with dementia at the end of their lives ehospice, London, UK; by NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) South London; 8/30/25The artwork from Dementia Journeys, a powerful exhibition at Science Gallery London which ran from April to June 2024, can now be viewed online.The Dementia Journeys exhibition was created in response to Empowering Better End-of-Life Dementia Care (EMBED-Care) – a research programme that aims to generate a step-change in how care is provided for people at any age with any type of dementia. 

[Germany] Yes, we (still) can! A qualitative study on the dynamic process of team resilienceJournal of Management; Silja Hartmann, Matthias Weiss, Martin Hoegl; 7/25Research on psychological resilience in the workplace is on the rise, aiming to better understand how to successfully manage adverse events. To address this research gap, we conducted a qualitative study with a palliative care team that experienced work-related adverse events. This model specifies the experience of adverse events as loss events and illustrates how teams can counteract these losses and enact team resilience through the relational process of caring. Caring in teams can be enacted through four dimensions, which we refer to as understanding, being with, doing for, and enabling. By enacting these caring dimensions, teams can heal social safety and collective action capabilities and can moreover build valuable resources, which may buffer resource loss and fuel resource growth in subsequent team resilience episodes.

[Iceland] Medication causes and treatment of delirium in patients with and without dementiaBrain and Behavior; by Anita Elaine Weidmann, Rut Matthíasdóttir, Guðný Björk Proppé, Ivana Tadić, Pétur Sigurdur Gunnarsson, Freyja Jónsdóttir; 7/25This summary offers the most detailed summary of medication-related information for delirium in patients with and without dementia to support prescribing decisions. While the detailed results can be used to support a multicomponent approach to delirium care, they also support the call for categorizing delirium into distinct etiological subgroups. The effect of medication on gut microbiome diversity and composition should be considered.

[United Kingdom] Dying patients bundled into ambulances and transferred in their final hours after 'cruel' managers shut hospice without warning Daily Mailm United Kingdom; by Liz Hull; 8/15/25 Dying patients were bundled into emergency ambulances and moved in their final hours after managers shut down a hospice without warning. Nurses on duty at the Sue Ryder Wheatfields Hospice, in Leeds, were left in tears after being told to ring relatives of end-of-life patients with the distressing news that their loved ones were being immediately transferred. ... One woman died within five hours of being moved, while another two patients had passed away within 48 hours. At least two families lodged formal complaints about their treatment in the aftermath.

[UK] 'Dementia has got two faces': grief as an experience of holding on and letting go for people living with primary progressive aphasia and posterior cortical atrophyAging and Mental Health; Claire Waddington, Henry Clements, Sebastian Crutch, Martina Davis, Jonathan Glenister, Emma Harding, Erin Hope Thompson, Jill Walton, Joshua Stott; 8/25Research on grief in people with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), is limited, despite the unique challenges these individuals face due to lack of understanding of their condition, younger age at onset and atypical symptom profile. The current study explores the losses people living with PPA or PCA experience and what helps to navigate these losses. The impact and navigation of loss is reflected across five interconnecting themes: what I have lost, am losing and will lose, shared and unique sense of loss, balance between what is lost and what remains, changes in relationships and what helps in navigating loss. These findings will be used alongside existing grief theory and interventional frameworks to develop a psychosocial intervention for people living with dementia.

First-ever global ranking of palliative care: 2025 World Map under the new WHO framework Journal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Vilma A. Tripodoro, Jesús Fernando López Fidalgo, Juan José Pons, Stephen R. Connor, Eduardo Garralda, MA, Fernanda Bastos, Álvaro Montero, Laura Monzón Llamas, Ana Cristina Béjar, Daniela Suárez, Carlos Centeno; 8/7/25 This is the fourth edition of mapping global palliative care development and the first to introduce a country ranking using the new WHO framework. Covering 201 countries, the findings reveal deep inequities and highlight priority areas for action. The Global Development Score enables the creation of tailored strategies, supporting advocacy, policy, and investment to expand access and reduce serious health-related suffering worldwide. [To view the map, open the source article and scroll down to Figure 3.]

[Italy] End-of-life cancer patients’ dignity perception before and during COVID-19 pandemicAmerican Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Andrea Bovero, Francesca Cotardo, Erika Tuberosa, Sara Carletto, Francesco Oliva; 8/25The safety and restriction regulations implemented to contain the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted people’s quality of life compromising the perception of dignity. Preserving dignity for end-of-life patients remains a paramount objective in palliative care. This study aimed to compare dignity levels in terminal cancer patients between pre- and during-pandemic periods... Existential Distress, Loss of Purpose and Meaning, Physical Symptoms and Dependency, Social Support PDI subscales and PDI Total score were higher in the during-pandemic group... Social isolation and other restrictions put in place to contain the COVID-19 pandemic may have had a negative impact on the perception of dignity in cancer patients at the end of life.

[United Kingdom] Hospice to become 'first for LGBTQ+ people in UK' BBC News, Sussex Beacon; by Josh McLaughlin; 8/5/25 A hospice in East Sussex has announced it is to become the UK's first dedicated hospice for the LGBTQ+ community. The move by Sussex Beacon, based in Brighton, has been dubbed a "landmark development" by NHS Sussex, aiming to combine inclusive care with expertise in specialist HIV care. The charity has been offering palliative and end-of-life care to people with HIV for more than 30 years, recently expanding its services to the wider LGBTQ+ community, regardless of HIV status. 

[India] Challenges and ethical considerations of palliative care in Indian prisonsJournal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Swapnil Kumar Barasker, Pankaj Singhai, Maya Nair, Deepali Kumar; 8/25The landscape of palliative care (PC) in India is still nascent, and when applied to the prison setting, it becomes a terrain fraught with unique challenges. There is a dearth of region-specific perspectives on end-of-life care (EOLC) and PC in Indian prisons. In Indian prisons, EOLC is complicated by issues such as overcrowding, inadequate medical facilities, and the societal neglect of incarcerated individuals, yet the need for it remains largely unrecognized... Prison deaths are frequently associated with brutality or neglect, but statistics reveal that most deaths occur due to natural causes such as ischemic heart disease, pneumonia, cancer, and liver and kidney disorders. Despite many prisoners having chronic illnesses, they often lack regular follow-ups and access to appropriate care due to insufficient medical staff and infrastructure.

[China] Machine learning models to predict 6-month mortality risk in home-based hospice patients with advanced cancerAsia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing; by Wan Cheng, Jianwei Zheng,Yuanfeng Lu, Guojuan Chen, Zheng Zhu, Hong Wu, Yitao Wei, Huimin Xiao; 12/25This study aimed to construct predictive models using five different machine learning algorithms for predicting 6-month mortality risk among home-based hospice patients with advanced cancer. Our study demonstrated that routinely collected healthcare data on the first home visit have the potential to help screen high-risk patients, which may provide evidence for targeted hospice care.

[Korea] Earlier palliative cancer care cuts end-of-life ED visits Medscape; ed. by Gargi Mukherjee; 7/23/25 A recent retrospective study found that earlier outpatient palliative care referrals for patients with advanced cancer were associated with a small increase in overall emergency department (ED) visits but significantly fewer end-of-life ED visits and improved advance care planning. ... A substantial proportion of patients with advanced cancer visited the ED, including during the final month of life. Earlier palliative care referrals were associated with fewer end-of-life ED visits, “emphasizing the importance of timely integration of [palliative care] to reduce unnecessary interventions and ensure goal-concordant care,” the authors wrote. The researchers also noted that the findings underscore the need for structured advance care planning discussions across care settings to enhance the quality of end-of-life care.