Breast cancer awareness month 
BreastCancer.org; by Jennifer Carr; 9/21/26 
October is about more than pink ribbons. ... Understanding the goals behind the global campaign and the emotions felt by the many different people living with the disease may help you decide if and how you want to commemorate the month. Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an international health campaign that’s held every October. The month aims to promote screening and reduce the risk of the disease, which affects 2.4 million women worldwide.1 Known best for its pink theme color, the month features a number of campaigns and programs designed to: ...

Alive Hospice honors Bluebird Café at inaugural Alive and Legacy Breakfast 
MusicRow; by Lorie Hollabaugh; 9/28/26 
Alive Hospice, Middle Tennessee’s only nonprofit hospice organization, recently honored the Bluebird Café for more than 30 years of support with its Inaugural Legacy Legend Award at the first-ever Alive and Legacy Breakfast. ... Since 1994, the Bluebird Café has donated proceeds from its January shows to Alive demonstrating an unwavering commitment to the organization through economic booms and busts, wars, a pandemic, multiple owners and countless rounds of winter weather. ... Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Kent Blazy presented the award, reflecting on the impact of Alive’s care for his wife during her battle with cancer. Blazy also performed “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” the song he co-wrote with Garth Brooks, in a moving tribute to the organization and its mission.

The future of palliative care: who will lead, who will pay, and what comes next? | part two 
Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Brynn Bowman; 10/2/26  
In Part Two, Chris Comeaux continues his conversation with Brynn Bowman, CEO of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), about the decisions facing hospice and healthcare leaders.  As health systems, payers, and community providers expand their roles, Bowman shifts the focus from who owns palliative care to who takes responsibility for its quality. Together, they examine how payment opportunities, technology investments, and workforce capabilities could shape access to serious illness care. ... Their message is clear: growth cannot depend on teams continually doing more with less.

Telehealth as a bridge for palliative and end-of-life care in nursing homes 
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society; by Rachael Alexander, Rebekah Perkins, Amy Powell-Versteeg, Pamela Barrientos, Laura Block, Rebecca M. Goodwin, Megan McClure, Rebecca Utz, Paige Patterson, Theresa A. Allison, Lynn Flint, and Caroline Stephens; 10/1/26 
... In interviews with multidisciplinary nursing home staff, participants described telehealth as enabling timely palliative and end-of-life care for nursing home residents, particularly where specialty services were otherwise unavailable and when units were closed during infectious outbreaks.
Telehealth can reduce travel burden for nursing home residents, increase family engagement, improve symptom management, and facilitate goals-of-care discussions.

BlackDoctor launches first-ever medical advisory board  
BlackDoctor, Chicago, IL; Press Release by BlackDoctor; 10/1/26 
BlackDoctor, the leading health and wellness platform for Black America, today announced its first Medical Advisory Board. The board brings together eight physicians from across the country. They will help inform the company’s product and content development strategy for clinicians, advance its health education efforts, help shape new products and tools and facilitate strategic engagements across the healthcare ecosystem. ...  It gives the company, which reaches 30 million people each year, a formal layer of clinical oversight from physicians who understand the challenges facing Black patients and clinicians with specialities spanning cardiovascular health, cancer, mental health, kidney disease, clinical trials, dermatology and vision care.

Do you need to step back from caregiving? How to spot the signs 
WAND News, Decatur, IL; by LeAnne Gendreau, Katherine Ambrose , Sondra 'Sam' Cradduck , Amy Cameron O’Rourke and Dr. Rhea Rogers; 10/2/26 
Caregiving is often called an act of love, but over time it can wear down your mind, your body and your relationships. The Aging Untold experts explain the warning signs of caregiver burnout, why stepping back can actually be the safer choice and how to make the transition without falling into guilt.

• “It’s OK if you’re even deliberating quitting” ...
• Expect “buyer’s remorse” after the decision ...
• Respite care can offer a reset ...
• Love doesn’t mean you have the ability to do the job ...
• Caregiving doesn’t have to mean hands-on, 24/7 work ...
• Give yourself permission to get help ...

DAI closes on HCA Healthcare deal 
Home Health Care News; by Morgan Gonzales; 10/2/26 
Deaconess Associations Incorporated (DAI) has closed on its acquisition of 24 home health locations and seven hospice locations from HCA Healthcare. The new agencies, which span eight states, have joined Central Pyramid, one of DAI’s four owned subsidiaries. DAI CEO Trey Crabb previously told Home Health Care News that the acquisition was part of the company’s plan to double down on home health and hospice.

Deep sourcing and sensitive multimedia reporting provide a rare, intimate look at medically assisted dying 
The Associated Press (AP); by Luis Andres Henao, Laura Bargfeld and Javier Arciga; 10/2/26
As medically assisted death expands across the United States, AP delivered a deeply sourced and humane examination of the legal, moral and religious questions surrounding the contentious issue, told through people confronting those questions in their own lives. Global Religion reporter Luis Andres Henao examined state laws, court challenges and the history of medical aid in dying since the first U.S. law took effect in 1997. He interviewed doctors, bioethicists, faith leaders and legal experts, while seeking out voices on both sides of the debate. ... Together, the text, the photographs by Henao and the videos by Bargfeld and Arciga created an intimate, respectful package that made complicated questions of faith, disability rights, medical ethics and personal choice accessible through the experiences of those most directly affected.

Value-based care and alternative payment models: What they are and how they work
Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA); by HFMA; 9/20/26
Value-based care (VBC) is an approach to healthcare that seeks to improve the quality, outcomes and experience of care while managing its cost. Rather than rewarding healthcare organizations solely for the volume of services they provide, value-based arrangements link some or all payment to measures of quality, outcomes, utilization or total cost of care.

• What is the difference between value-based care, value-based payment and an APM? ...
• How is value-based care different from fee-for-service? ...
• What does value-based care measure? ...
• How are alternative payment models structured? ...
• [More ...]

109 years of memories: Cocoa woman in hospice at Health First celebrates remarkable milestone 
Space Coast Daily; by Space Coast Daily;10/2/26 
Surrounded by family, friends and caregivers, Mildred Phaneuf celebrated her 109th birthday on Friday, marking a milestone reached by only a small number of Americans. The celebration – a third for her this week – was coordinated by the Hospice of Health First care team, who joined loved ones in honoring Phaneuf’s life, which has spanned more than a century of American history. Her actual birthday is Saturday, Oct. 3. ... Born in 1917, Phaneuf has lived through two world wars, the Great Depression, the advent of television, the dawn of the Space Age, and the rise of the digital era. During that time, she built a life centered on family, faith, and service to others. 

A perfect strike: hospice resident relives glory days as professional bowler with special trip to Wayward Social 
Time-Republican, Marshalltown, IA; by Robert Maharry; 10/3/26 
Barbara Rothman, a current resident at Iowa River Hospice, has lived an extraordinary life: she served in the U.S. Army and helped to design and create outfits for the soldier shows, and she also enjoyed a career as a professional bowler in the Newark, N.J. area many years ago. So when it was time to plan a special surprise for her through IRH's "Making Moments Matter" program, the answer was simple: she just wanted to go bowling one last time. [See inspirational photo]

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. ~ Marcel Proust