Best of Beth Ashley: After a life well lived, facing the sadness together 
Marin Independent Journal; by Beth Ashley, this MIJ is reprinting some of the late Beth Ashley’s columns. This column is from 2014, reprinted in MIJ 10/27/25 
A dear friend is now being cared for by hospice. Like so many others, she has trusted hospice to see her through the last days of her life. Knowing that she may soon die is a blow to the heart. But it’s not as though I haven’t known that for all of us, life ends sometimes. That doesn’t make it any easier. By now, a huge assortment of dear ones have left my here and now. My parents are gone. My beloved second husband. My two sisters. My precious son Jeff. And so many friends I’ve lost count, including my best friend and fellow traveler for years and years, my Stanford classmate Skid. I still talk to them all. My mom has not really left my life; I’m just with her in a different way. ... Whenever these endings come near, it’s important to express our love, and face the final sadness together.

Hospice market expands at 9.6% CAGR, projected to hit USD 182.1 billion 
Market.Us Media; by Trishita Deb; 10/26/25 
The Global Hospice Market is projected to reach USD 182.1 billion by 2033, growing from USD 72.8 billion in 2023 at a CAGR of 9.6%. ...
Challenges:

1. Workforce Shortages and Turnover ...
2. Payment Updates and Margin Pressure ...
3. Tightened Oversight and Compliance Risk ...
4. Telehealth Policy Uncertainty ...
5. Access and Equity Gaps ...

Opportunities:

1. Expand Home-Based and Community Models ...
2. Strengthen Quality and Patient Experience ...
3. Optimize Case Mix and Care Pathways ...
4. Workforce Redesign and Retention ...
5. Compliance as a Competitive Edge ...
6. Adress Unmet Need and Equity ...

After her son’s painful death, a Cheshire mother highlights Connecticut’s pediatric hospice gap 
New Haven Register, Norwalk, CT; by Cris Villalonga-Vivoni; 10/26/25 
Carolyn Torello believes that no parent should outlive their children, yet that became her reality. ...  As his condition worsened, the family faced his impending death without the support of pediatric palliative or hospice care. No provider, she said, seemed to know how to help or where to begin. He died at 15 years old in 2021. ... In 2020, an estimated 7,800 children in Connecticut were living with complex medical conditions that limited their life expectancy and could have benefited from palliative or hospice care, according to data from the National Survey of Children's Health. ... Torello thinks that if Michael had access to hospice care, he could have died with greater dignity, and their family could have focused on simply being together. ... Efforts to create a more formalized pediatric palliative care system have been underway since 2024, led by a state-commissioned working group that will make recommendations to the legislature on potential reforms.
Editor's Note: Editor's Note: This article puts forth significant information (with links) for all states, for all hospices. Having served on the firmly rooted Pediatrics Team of Hospice & Palliative Care of Louisville (begun in 1980) for four years (1997-2001), I take for granted how some type of pediatric hospice care needs to be available in every region. For related articles we have recently posted:

• Danbury hospice gets $2 million to expand care for children with life-limiting illnesses
• Building a strong foundation for pediatric palliative care in Connecticut
• The Family Caregiver Act—Safeguarding the human care chain
• National Alliance for Care at Home - Pediatric e-Journal submission information
• Ethics of disclosure in pediatric end-of-life care
• Solomon Center white paper outlines options to expand health care for children living with serious illness

Hospice organizations: 5 tips for building a direct-to-consumer campaign 
McKnights Home Care; by Andrew Robinson; 10/22/25 
[... Why] are so many hospice organizations so reliant on waiting for families to find you through referrals? Referrals usually come too late. And families are left scrambling to make sense of their options. This is why direct-to-consumer marketing is not only appropriate, it’s essential. Here are five tips on how to effectively create and execute hospice direct-to-consumer marketing.

1. Remember your brand matters more than you think. ...
2. Be everywhere caregivers are (omnichannel marketing). ...
3. Create a caregiver-first landing page. ...
4. Track everything (and use it to get smarter). ...
5. Don’t wait — Be proactive. ...

Hospice chaplains play key role in addressing emotional pain, VITAS spiritual lead explains 
McKnights Home Care; by Foster Stubbs; 10/26/25 
In hospice care, maintaining the comfort and dignity of the patient are top priorities for clinicians. But there are some aspects of the end-of-life experience that they are not equipped to handle. That’s where hospice chaplains like Jason Cooper, national spiritual lead at VITAS Healthcare, come in.  ... In hospice care, maintaining the comfort and dignity of the patient are top priorities for clinicians. But there are some aspects of the end-of-life experience that they are not equipped to handle. That’s where hospice chaplains like Jason Cooper, national spiritual lead at VITAS Healthcare, come in. In his role, Cooper supports over 300 chaplains and spiritual caregivers and up to 23,000 patients with terminal diagnoses nationwide. 

Peaceful acceptance of illness among older adults with advanced cancer 
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Sule Yilmaz, Elizabeth Gilbride, Sofiia Hryniv, William Consagra, Supriya G Mohile, Eva Culakova, Beverly Canin, Arul Malhotra, Rachael Tylock, Judith O Hopkins, Jane Jijun Liu, Jamil Khatri, Marissa LoCastro, Maya Anand, Allison Magnuson, Kah Poh Loh; 10/23/25 
Context: Peaceful acceptance of illness is associated with lower psychological distress and increased engagement in advance care planning among adults with advanced cancer. Limited data exist on factors influencing illness acceptance in older adults. ...
Conclusion: Patient psychological health, perceived prognosis, and caregiver education were linked to PEACE. Triadic interventions addressing these factors may enhance end-of-life care for older adults with advanced cancer.

Stitched with love: Allied’s memory bears offer comfort to grieving families in Northeast Pennsylvania 
WVIA News - PBS/NPR, Scranton, PA; by Lydia McFarlane; 10/27/25 
Barbara Rushinski received a bear made of her partner’s pajamas after he passed in hospice care at Allied Services. She was so moved, she put her sewing skills to good use and joined the team of volunteers making the bears for grieving families in Northeast Pennsylvania. ... Allied offers its memory bears to grieving families whose loved ones died in hospice. ... Joyce Wizda started the program at Allied more than six years ago when she joined the healthcare system as a social worker. ... She estimates the volunteers make about 150 bears a year. ... Wizda encourages families to send in clothing items from their loved one’s closet to ease their grieving journey.

When words matter: NFDA releases groundbreaking communication guide for funeral professionals 
National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), Brookfield, WI; Press Release; 10/27/25 
The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) has released “When Words Matter: A Funeral Director’s Guide to Clear and Compassionate Communication,” a groundbreaking, research-driven resource designed to bridge the growing language gap between funeral professionals and the families they serve. ... Available now as a free download at NFDA.org/Research, this new guide is grounded in original NFDA research conducted earlier this year with more than 1,100 U.S. consumers across four generations. ... While funeral professionals have long used terms like “funeral,” “memorial service” and “celebration of life,” the new study revealed that families often define – or misunderstand – these terms in radically different ways. 
Editor's Note: Basic decisions about burial versus cremation usually need to be made before the death. Your interdisciplinary team members need to be up-to-date with this NFDA communication guide, for consistent family information and planning.

Engaging community health workers in Advance Care Planning  
Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 10/24/25 
Three organizations have developed an advance care planning training program in Illinois for community health workers that could potentially be adapted for other states. The seeds for the project were planted when the Illinois Public Health Association (IPHA) was awarded a grant by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA). IPHA proceeded to engage the Illinois Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (IL-HPCO) and the HAP Foundation as subject matter experts to help develop the curriculum, as well as the education company Hospice Media, which filmed and designed the modules and workbooks.

New diligence challenge: Uncovering AI risks and opportunities 
Bain & Company; by Benjamin Farmer, Gene Rapoport, Richard Lichtenstein, Emmanuel Coque, Amy Wall, and Parker DeRensis; 10/27/25 
At a Glance:

• Private equity investors and M&A dealmakers now evaluate artificial intelligence’s potential impact as a critical step in a full potential diligence.
• The three categories of AI’s impact are revolution, transformation, and augmentation.
• AI’s potential to disrupt or create opportunities can vary significantly based on where the target plays within an industry.

Here is what no one tells you about watching your wonderful dad slowly slipping away in front of you 
HuffPost Personal; by Jill Bodach; 10/25/25 
... When I get the call at 2:30 a.m. from my dad’s nursing home, dread slaps me awake, and I answer in an almost whisper. They say, “Your father is having trouble breathing. We’ve sent him to Bridgeport Hospital.” ... In the emergency department, I am led into a waiting room. ... He is transferred to the ICU, and again I am told to wait. ... When I am finally allowed to see him, family members in other rooms look up when I walk by. Some smile and nod. A knowing. I smile back. We’re all in this together in some weird way the universe has planned. ...

Whenever these endings come near, it’s important to express our love, and face the final sadness together. ~ Beth Ashley (from this issue's "Editor Picks")