Frailty predicts more than age: strategies for hospitalists 
Medscape; by Julie Peck; 8/25/26 
An 85-year-old who remains active and independent may recover from pneumonia more quickly than someone 20 years younger with multiple chronic illnesses, poor nutrition, and declining mobility. Growing evidence suggests that frailty — a state of diminished physiologic reserve and increased vulnerability to stressors — is one of the strongest predictors of prolonged hospitalization, complications, functional decline, discharge to post-acute care, readmissions, and mortality, often outperforming chronological age alone.

My grandparents wanted to age at home. Eventually, their care cost $4,000 a week. 
Business Insider; by Erin Dentmon; 8/25/26 
My grandparents lived at home until dying in their 90s in 2024 and 2025. Like many people, they had no desire to leave their shared home at the end of their lives. ... Through great sacrifice, my mom and her siblings worked to make that happen for them. My grandparents, a rural, middle-class couple, benefited from an increasingly unique set of circumstances: Their end-of-life illnesses were relatively short. My grandfather's pension provided financial security. Most importantly, they had six adult children ready to pitch in to make it happen. Even with all of these advantages, caregiving was complicated.

• Their family had meetings every Sunday to discuss their care ...
• Their adult children would sleep over at their place ...
• Eventually, they required 24-hour care ...

It's hard to ignore that the most important resources my grandparents had in their final years are becoming increasingly scarce. Two siblings, or an only child, simply can't do as much work as four, five, or six. An adult child facing the reality that their parents' 401(k) balances are reaching zero will have to make choices based on affordability rather than wishes. 

Family caregivers' understanding, expectations, and emotional responses during transition to a palliative care unit: a qualitative study 
Empirical Research Qualitative; by Filipa Vieira-Matos and Paulo Reis-\Pina; 8/2/26 
Aim: To explore how family caregivers interpret palliative care and respond to admission to a palliative care unit as a critical transition in care. ... 
Results: Admission was experienced as a critical transition. Three interrelated themes were identified: understanding of palliative care, expectations regarding care, and emotional responses. Participants described partial familiarity with palliative care but frequently associated referral with terminal illness. Expectations focused on comfort and clear communication. Emotional responses included fear, uncertainty, and ambivalence, particularly when referral occurred abruptly. ... 
Impact: Admission was experienced as a transition involving meaning-making, expectation formation, and emotional adjustment. Findings may inform nursing practice in inpatient palliative care by supporting caregiver-centered transition support.

Area bereavement coordinator heads group supporting women chaplains 
Cranberry Eagle; by Marcia Jones-Washington; 8/24/26 
It already takes a certain kind of person to perform the work of a chaplain, according to longtime police chaplain Millie Johnson, who said being a woman in the field lends its own challenges to the duties. ... Marcia Jones-Washington, a bereavement coordinator with Good Samaritan Hospice, organized an online networking ministry specifically for women chaplains which meets monthly to discuss topics relating to their work. Johnson has been a regular attendee since its founding in 2022. Jones-Washington said the group allows women to share their experiences in chaplaincy to encourage and support other women with the same calling. ...  After running the online support group for a few months, Jones-Washington took her planning to the real world and organized a conference for women chaplains that is now entering its fourth year.

Soul injury in St. Augustine aims to help health workers with trauma 
The St. Augustine Record, St. Augustine, FL; by Lucia Viti; 8/24/26 
Community Hospice & Palliative Care is bringing a specialized Soul Injury Workshop to St. Augustine, designed to help health-care workers address the emotional wounds that often accompany trauma, grief and caregiving. The workshop brings together child protection advocates, mental health providers, victim advocates, educators, domestic violence staff, social workers, first responders, nurses, nursing students and other medical professionals. [Additional access may be limited by a paywall.]
Editor's Note: This community initiative exemplifies excellence for collaboration across the continuum of care. Every hospice patient, caregiver, and family arrives carrying their own history of trauma, grief, and caregiving — unhealed "soul injury," in Deborah Grassman's language of unmourned loss and unforgiven guilt. A hospice's most sacred season can reinforce those wounds through rushed, dismissive care, or begin to heal them through compassionate presence. Which door are you opening?

BrightSpring ‘leaning in’ on M&A 
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 8/24/26
BrightSpring Health Services (Nasdaq: BTSG) is pursuing healthcare deals in 2026, with the potential for some larger deals. The company has primarily invested in tuck-in acquisitions in recent times and will continue to emphasis those targets in its pipeline. However, it will also consider more medium-sized deals, provided they are less than 30% to 40% of EBIDTA, according to CEO Jon Rousseau. “Our M&A approach over the last 10 years now has been you know really targeting tuck-ins and geographically adjacent areas where we can apply better operational capabilities and synergies to drive a lot of accretive deals,” Rouseau said in an earnings call. “Some of our markets don’t really have acquisition opportunities, but you look at home health, hospice, rehab, infusion, primary care, home and community pharmacy, those all do. ...” 

Understanding the hospice journey: care, comfort, and connection in assisted living 
WriteUpCafe; Oakdale Heights Assisted Living; 8/25/26 
Hospice care can feel like unfamiliar territory for families, especially when a loved one is already receiving support in assisted living. It is natural to have questions about what happens next, who provides care, and how everyday needs will be handled. ...

• What Hospice Care Really Means ...
• Hospice Can Work Alongside Existing Care ...
• Comfort Goes Beyond Managing Pain ...
• Supporting Families Through Difficult Decisions ...
• Hospice and Memory Care ...
• Making the Hospice Journey More Personal ...

Opinion: Family caregivers in NH need stronger support 
Concord Monitor, Concord, NH; by Julia Stone; 8/25/26 
Every day across New Hampshire, family caregivers quietly hold our system of care together. Most never call themselves “caregivers,” they simply see themselves as doing what families and friends do. They are your 50-something coworker with a busy career and home life who cares for an aging parent, not only visiting regularly, but also managing their healthcare, daily needs, finances and more. And they are your elderly neighbor who still cares for an adult child with disabilities while navigating their own health challenges, and the older couple trying to go about life as usual while one of them slips deeper into dementia. As New Hampshire’s largest non-profit home health and hospice agency, our team members at Granite VNA witness these real scenarios and many others across the state every day. And they see the toll it takes on caregivers. ... While resources for caregivers exist, many do not seek help until they are overwhelmed. New Hampshire’s ServiceLink Aging and Disability Resource Centers offer information, counseling, respite services and connections to community resources, yet many families are unaware these programs are available.

Before you sign that AI contract: 7 questions every healthcare CFO should ask 
MedCity News; by Purnendu Bala; 8/25/26 
Every healthcare CFO’s inbox now has an AI-in-RCM pitch in it. The promises are consistent: lower denial rates, faster collections, leaner overhead. What’s inconsistent is the due diligence behind the decision to buy. Most of these deals are still evaluated like traditional software purchases: features, price, timeline. That framework misses what actually determines whether an AI investment pays off or becomes a costly write-off eighteen months later: data readiness, workforce redesign, and governance exposure that never show up on a vendor’s feature sheet. Before approving a budget for AI in revenue cycle management, CFOs should be asking seven specific questions, and most vendors are hoping they won’t.

1. What problem are we actually trying to solve? ...
2. Which RCM workflows will generate the fastest ROI? ...
3. Can our data support effective AI? ...
4. [More] ...

I love being an only child. Then I think about my parents getting older. 
Scary Mommy - Solo Act; by Brianne Hogan; 8/25/26 
... When you’re an only child and you watch your parents age, you do realize that, when it comes to them, you’re on your own. And with aging parents, as so many of us in the sandwich generation understand, it’s a tough road to navigate at times. ... “Only children often need to carry the emotional weight of transitioning to the caregiver and decision-maker role for their parents alone, ...” says Marisa T. Cohen, PhD, LMFT, CST, a licensed marriage and family therapist and also an only child. “Without siblings who most likely have a shared narrative of the family history, taking on this caregiver role can feel incredibly isolating and may even lead to anticipatory grief.”

Dying man’s final wish comes true as his beloved dogs find a forever home together 
Greater Good; by Guest Contributor; 8/25/26 
A man in New York spent his final weeks with one hope on his mind: that his beloved German shepherds would find a new forever home. His story, and the story of his dogs Bowie and Nikki, has moved thousands of people who care deeply about pet adoption and the special bond between humans and animals. At its core, this is a story about love, planning for pets when life changes, and the quiet heroism of animal rescues that step in when families are in crisis. ... One of the most moving moments in this story came when Mr. Spencer asked for something that many pet guardians nearing the end of life quietly hope for. He wanted to say goodbye. 

I hope life treats you kind
And I hope that you have all
That you ever dreamed of
And I wish you joy and happiness
But above all of this, I wish you love
And I will always love you
I will always love you

~ Dolly Parton, January 19, 1946 - August 25, 2026