Literature Review

New ‘action plan’ gives providers tools to prevent falls, minimize injuries  McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 9/18/25 The National Council on Aging this week published its 2025 National Falls Prevention Action Plan, a report that offers strategies home care providers can use to protect their clients from injury. NCOA’s action plan has six goals: boosting awareness, expanding funding, promoting clinical interventions, enhancing care coordination, upgrading technological capabilities and improving data collection for fall prevention activities. While the action plan aims to inform policymakers about ways to protect older adults from falls, it also includes actionable strategies home care providers can employ to keep their clients safe.

COUNTDOWN: 7 Days Until HOPE Tool Starts, October 1, 2025 

[Canada] Availability of respite care almost triples a palliative care patient’s chance of dying at home EurekAlert! - AAAS; News Release by McGill University; 9/22/25 Access to respite services for family caregivers increases a palliative care patient’s probability of dying at home almost threefold, according to a McGill University-led study. Previous surveys suggest most Canadians with a serious illness would prefer to spend the end of their lives at home. ... Funded by Quebec’s health ministry as part of its action plan for equitable access to quality palliative and end-of-life care, the study set out to find which factors matter most in helping patients avoid a transfer to a hospital or palliative care centre in their final days. Respite care – professional help that allows family caregivers to take short breaks –emerged as the strongest predictor, with patients 2.7 times more likely to die at home when it was available.

[Canada] Huron Shores Hospice host record breaking Handbags for Hospice fundraiser [$284k]CKNX NewsToday.ca; by Ryan Drury; 9/22/25 ... The now annual event in its ninth year raises money for compassionate end-of-life care at Huron Shores Hospice. This year's event was held on September 18 and Huron Shores Hospice shared in a media release that a new fundraising record of $248,000 was set. Huron Shores Hospice Executive Director Cathy Herbert began the evening's speeches by thanking everyone for making the night happen and continuing to support the hospice and its role in the community. All the funds raised will support Huron Shores Hospice’s mission ...

Early palliative care intervention improves end-of-life care in ovarian cancer Medscape; by Maurie Markman, MD; 9/18/25 ... This particular study asked an important question: Is there a relationship between that timing when palliative care is introduced to the ultimate end-of-life aggressiveness of care (emergency room use, use of intensive care, and hospitalization)? ... The outcome was timing, or introduction, of palliative care with emergency room use, hospitalization, and intensive care use within the last 30 days of life and chemotherapy in the last 14 days of life, as well as the risk of death occurring in the hospital.  ... The investigators found that any palliative care or any use of a palliative care physician called in as a consult earlier than 3 months before the death was associated with a lower risk of aggressive end-of-life care. 

COUNTDOWN: 8 Days Until HOPE Tool Starts, October 1, 2025 

On this day when light and darkness are equal, may you find the balance you need in your life, and my your autumn harvest basket be bountiful. ~ Unknown

Serious falls resulting in hospitalization among Medicare-enrolled nursing home residents, July 2022–June 2023HHS Office of the Inspector General; Report number: OEI-05-24-0018; 9/18/25This OIG data snapshot accompanies the report, Nursing Homes Failed To Report 43 Percent of Falls With Major Injury and Hospitalization Among Their Medicare-Enrolled Residents, OEI-05-24-00180. The snapshot found that between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, more than 42,000 Medicare-enrolled nursing home residents experienced serious falls resulting in major injury and hospitalization, and 1,911 died during their hospital stays. The data indicated that most residents had known fall risk factors prior to their injuries, and falls were more common among female, older, and short-stay residents. Nursing homes with lower nurse staffing levels and lower quality ratings had higher fall rates. These preventable events reduced residents’ quality of life and cost Medicare and enrollees over $800 million, underscoring the need for stronger fall prevention and quality improvement efforts in nursing homes. 

AI can aid in end-of-life care decisions, but can't replace human teams MarylandToday; by Fid Thompson; 9/19/25 “Would I be surprised if this person were not alive 12 months from now?”  This so-called “surprise question,” combined with clinical risk calculators, helps doctors make decisions about care for patients near the end of life. Increasingly, clinicians also use artificial intelligence (AI) models to predict remaining life expectancy and better inform palliative care decisions. In a recent study out in the Journal of Palliative Medicine, a University of Maryland researcher sought to understand what palliative care teams think about these AI tools that give an estimated life expectancy or prognosis in end-of-life care, and found mixed reactions. 

How hospice chaplains improve patient outcomes Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/19/25 Patients may seek spiritual guidance from a number of places, but hospice chaplains remain essential. Hospice chaplains receive specialized training in caring for patients at the end of life that clergy in the larger community may not have. They are trained in active listening and to address the intricacies and sensitivities of end-of-live conversations with patients and families. Nearly 8,000 hospice chaplains are working in the United States, according to a study in the journal Work, Employment and Society. About 66% of these chaplains identify as men, and 20% are members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Close to 72% are white, 10.8% are Black and 8.5% are Latino. Nearly 42% of hospice chaplains have a bachelor’s degree, an equal percentage have masters degrees and 7% hold a Ph.D., the study indicated. Editor's Note: Hospice chaplains are often misunderstood or underestimated. Their role is not simply to pray or read Scripture, but to offer skilled, sensitive spiritual support—often through life-review, family conflict, presence, words and actions that honor diverse beliefs. Effective chaplains know when not to pray, how to avoid imposing religious language, and how to remain aware of their own biases while creating space for another’s faith or worldview. Their contributions can profoundly shape the patient and family experience at the end of life. When hiring, look for credentials such as BCC, BCCI, or BCC-PCHAC and learn more through the Association for Professional Chaplains. 

What makes a good death? GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Care Podcast for Every Healthcare Professional; by Alex Smith with Karen Steinhauser, Rasa Mikelyte and Edison Vidal; 9/18/25What is a “good death”? How should we define it, and who gets to decide? Is the concept of a “good death” even useful? ... In today’s podcast, we are honored to have Karen join us to discuss this pivotal study and the nature of a “good death”. We are also joined by Rasa Mikelyte and Edison Vidal, co-authors of a recent study comparing the perspectives of people with dementia in the UK and Brazil on what constitutes a good death. In addition to exploring the nature of a good death and their individual studies, we will discuss:

Heart disease tops US mortality in 2024, CDC reports McKnights Long-Term Care News; by Foster Stubbs; 9/12/25 The leading causes of death in the United States in 2024 were heart disease, cancer and unintentional injury, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a September report. ... In total, there were 3,072,039 total deaths that occurred in the US in 2024 with a death rate of 722.0 per 100,000 people. This was 3.8% lower than the totals in 2023. Death rates also decreased for all race and ethnicity groups but rates for Black people remain higher than those for all other groups. Overall, death rates were highest for males, older adults and Black people, demonstrating a need for further examination of the health of these demographic groups. Heart disease caused 683,037 deaths, cancer caused 619,812 deaths and unintentional injury resulted in 196,488 deaths. Mortality statistics were collected by The National Center for Health Statistics’ (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) using US death certificate data. [The CDC Report is at Vital Statistics Rapid Release, Number 039, September 2025.]