Literature Review

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. 

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.

Value-based care and alternative payment models: What they are and how they workHealthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA); by HFMA; 9/20/26Value-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.

The future of palliative care: who will lead, who will pay, and what comes next? | part one Teleios Collaborative Network (TCN); podcast hosted by Chris Comeaux with Brynn Bowman; 9/30/26 Palliative care isn’t struggling to prove that it works.  The bigger question now is whether our healthcare system can figure out how to deliver it to everyone who needs it—and sustainably pay for it. In Part One, Chris Comeaux sits down with Brynn Bowman, CEO of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), for a candid look at where palliative care is headed next.  Brynn paints a compelling picture of what success could look like five years from now: a patient living in rural America should have access to high-quality palliative care just as reliably as someone living near a major health system.

Industry veteran launches ServingOverSelling movement to encourage health systems to curb promotional marketing News Chief, Minneapolis, MN; Press Release; 9/27/26 Chris Bevolo, former healthcare marketing agency owner, CEO and author of seven books calls on health systems to redirect money from self-promotion. One year after retiring from a 25-year health system marketing career, industry veteran Chris Bevolo has launched ServingOverSelling, a movement that encourages health systems to reallocate their promotional marketing spend and instead put those resources, energy and focus of those institutions back where they belong: on helping the people they exist to serve. The initiative, launched during the 2026 Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development 2026 Connections Annual Conference, already has a number of signatories to the movement’s pledge for health system marketing leaders to reallocate their promotional marketing spend in whatever way possible.

Warning: If you get a ‘new’ plastic Medicare card in the mail, do not give your Social Security number SavingAdvice.com; by James Hendrickson; 9/28/26 An official-looking Medicare card unexpectedly arrives in your mailbox, but there’s something different about it: it’s plastic, perhaps has a chip, and comes with instructions telling you to call a number to “activate” your new benefits. Don’t make that call. The Senior Medicare Patrol specifically warns beneficiaries about scams involving supposed new plastic Medicare cards, chip cards, and annual replacement cards. Scammers may use the story as an excuse to obtain your Medicare number, Social Security number, banking information, or other personal data. There’s an important 2026 wrinkle, however: receiving a new Medicare card isn’t automatically evidence of fraud. ... Here’s what to check before giving anyone information. ...Editor's Note: Beware this additional level of fraud. Educate your employees, volunteers, and community. Read and distribute this timely information with specific, practical advice. 

What is end-of-life care at home? A complete guide for families exeleon | Healthcare; 9/28/26 A study published in Federal Practitioner in September 2025, using data from the CDC WONDER database, found that home was the most common place of death among cancer patients between 2003 and 2023, accounting for 40.3% of all recorded deaths. ... This guide walks through what services are typically included, how eligibility works, and what separates in-home support from care delivered in a facility. Along the way, it covers home care for end of life planning, the difference between hospice and general end-of-life support, and practical steps for arranging services quickly.

Interactive maps of aging: Judy Salerno and Lindsay Goldman GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Care Podcast for Every Healthcare Professional; pocast by Judy Salerno and Lindsay Goldman; 9/24/26 Love the story Judy Solerno tells at the start of this podcast. The story is about how John Snow, the father of modern epidemiology, mapped out cases of Cholera in London in the year 1854.  He was able to identify a concentration of cases near a neighborhood water pump.  Simply removing the handle from the pump halted the outbreak.  This is one of the earliest recorded uses of maps for public health purposes. Our guests today, Judy Salerno (President Emeritus of the New York Academy of Medicine) and Lindsay Goldman (CEO of Grantmakers in Aging) have done some wonderful work creating detailed, in-depth, interactive maps of aging in New York City. Go to IMAGENNYC and try it yourself.

Center for Hospice Care spotlights doula volunteer program GreatNews.Life, Valparaiso, IN; by Bennett Silveus; 9/25/26 Over the years, Center for Hospice Care (CHC) has worked to provide a wide range of specialized hospice and palliative care options to members of the Northern Indiana community.  ... End-of-life doulas are trained, non-medical professionals who provide emotional, spiritual, and personal support and guidance to patients and families navigating the transitional period between life and death. ... Each CHC end-of-life doula works as a general volunteer for the non-profit, often starting off as a home visit or patient volunteer before moving to work as a doula. From there, the volunteer must take a 16-hour course and shadow a current doula to become fully trained in the practice.

Geographic disparities in hospice quality and family caregiver experience: the roles of ownership, social vulnerability, and workforce capacity arXiv; by Jinho Cha and Misun Roh; 9/29/26  Hospice quality should be interpreted in relation to both provider organization and the local conditions under which care is delivered. This study develops a provider-county performance assessment framework by linking national Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hospice data and Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey outcomes with county measures of rurality, social vulnerability, health burden, and workforce and health-resource context. The adjusted analysis includes 2,928 providers in 1,078 counties and combines geographic mapping, blockwise regression, six secondary CAHPS outcomes, and eight sensitivity analyses.

Sunday newsletters focus on headlines and top read stories of the last week (in order) - enjoy!

Ethics and professionalism in artificial intelligence and medical practice: A position paper from the American College of PhysiciansAnnals of Internal Medicine; by Matthew DeCamp, Lois Snyder Sulmasy, Kyle E. Karches, for the Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee of the American College of PhysiciansArtificial intelligence (AI) in health care is being rapidly adopted in perhaps one of the most rapid implementations of technology in medicine to date. Better thought of as augmented intelligence, as a tool that provides assistance to physicians and patients, many guidelines for its use have been issued, but consensus has not yet been achieved on issues such as privacy, disclosure, and fairness. Patients and physicians need ethical guidance at the point of care. Three guideposts described in this American College of Physicians position paper and rooted in the patient–physician relationship—principles of medical ethics, clinical integrity, and physician-independent practical reasoning—can inform the ethical use of AI: relationality, self-governance, and competence. This paper examines the implications of AI for patients, physicians, and health care and provides guidance for its ethical use.