Literature Review
End-of-life clinicians are trying to shift Hollywood’s depiction of death
12/05/23 at 04:00 AMEnd-of-life clinicians are trying to shift Hollywood’s depiction of deathDeath is often depicted in TV and movies, but some clinicians say not very accurately. They’re trying to shift the way Hollywood represents it.NPRDecember 3, 2023YESHA RASCOE, HOST: We’re used to seeing death on TV and in the movies, but some clinicians who work with people at the end of life say the most common depictions aren’t representative of what happens in the real world. They’re trying to shift the stories we tell about death to help people cope better.[Editor’s Note: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded a similar effort 20 years ago called “Last Acts.”][Editor’s Note: To listen to the 4-minute report, click here.]
State’s regulators under fire for not imposing ‘meaningful’ punishment on operators
12/05/23 at 04:00 AMState’s regulators under fire for not imposing ‘meaningful’ punishment on operatorsMcKnight’s Senior LivingDecember 4, 2023If provider punishments in Maine ramp up in the near future, operators won’t need to look far for the catalyst. A ProPublica investigation into what it calls the failures of the state’s oversight agencies is creating a lot of heat in and around the sector. ... In partnership with The Maine Monitor, ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network shined a spotlight on the state’s health department for citing dozens of resident rights violations and hundreds of other deficiencies between 2020 and 2022 but imposing only the “lowest intervention possible, even for some of the most serious abuse and neglect incidents.” ... Long-term care advocates said that a lack of regulatory enforcement essentially encourages bad behavior. Industry representatives called for increasing nursing hours and requiring on-site medical directors in assisted living rather than imposing sanctions.
Hospice 36-month rule work-around not worth the risk, financial experts warn
12/05/23 at 04:00 AMHospice 36-month rule work-around not worth the risk, financial experts warnMcKnight’s Home Care DailyDecember 4, 2023Though the recently enacted 36-month rule presents another obstacle for hospice transactions, mergers and acquisitions experts encouraged buyers to play by the rules rather than push the boundaries of the new regulation. This so-called 36-month rule, which requires re-enrollment for providers that undergo a change in majority ownership within 36 months of initial Medicare certification, now covers hospice as part of the 2023 home health final rule. It had previously only applied to home health facilities.
‘Between Life & Death: Terri Schiavo’s Story’ Official Trailer
12/05/23 at 04:00 AM‘Between Life & Death: Terri Schiavo’s Story’ Official TrailerMSNBC.comNovember 22, 2023Sunday, December 3rd, MSNBC Films presents “Between Life & Death,” an NBC News Studios production. The documentary retraces the tragic story of Terri Schiavo from the 1990s and early 2000s, going beyond the headlines of the national debate over her life that reverberates in today’s culture wars. Watch “Between Life & Death: Terri Schiavo’s Story,” Sunday, December 3rd at 10pm ET on MSNBC and streaming on Peacock.[Editor’s Note: To watch the one-minute trailer for this 90-minute documentary, click here. There is no pdf associated with this item.]
Light-a-Life Tree Lighting for Hospice Buffalo
12/05/23 at 04:00 AMLight-a-Life Tree Lighting for Hospice BuffaloWKBW-TV (Buffalo, NY)December 2, 2023Buffalo, NY—Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo hosted its 35th annual Light-a-Life Memorial Tree Lighting Ceremony. This is a longstanding tradition that provides an opportunity to remember loved ones who were cared for by Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo.
Savannah Hospice honors loved ones for the holidays
12/05/23 at 04:00 AMSavannah Hospice honors loved ones for the holidaysWTGS-TV (Savannah, GA)December 3, 2023Savannah, GA—Hospice Savannah hosted their 32nd annual Tree of Light Memorial Ceremony on Sunday. The memorial honored the memory of loved ones during the holiday season.
It’s OK to Never ‘Get Over’ Your Grief
12/05/23 at 04:00 AMIt’s OK to Never ‘Get Over’ Your GriefBy Mikolaj Slawkowski-Rode, MA, PhDNew York TimesDecember 3, 2023Over the past century, traditional mourning practices have fallen out of favor in the West. Black is now usually worn only to a funeral, and not always then. But traditional mourning practices were designed to do just that: to preserve a place for the dead among the living, to help mourners carry the weight of their grief not by getting over it but by maintaining their relationship with the deceased (as metaphysically suspect as that might sound to modern ears). Today we are encouraged to step out from the shadow loss casts over our lives and return to happiness. ... This approach to grief and mourning might seem to be a good thing, like picking yourself up after a fall. It is arguably less morbid, with its emphasis on “getting closure” and “moving on” in a process whose goal is “healing.” But I fear the benefits do not outweigh the costs. ... [Editor’s Note: The author is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Warsaw and a research fellow at Blackfriars Hall at the University of Oxford. He is the editor of “The Meaning of Mourning: Perspectives on Death, Loss, and Grief.”]
Nurse-led geriatric primary care model offers care benefits for seniors
12/05/23 at 04:00 AMNurse-led geriatric primary care model offers care benefits for seniorsMcKnight’s Long Term Care NewsDecember 4, 2023A new study found that integrating Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training-Primary Care (GITT-PC) can improve primary care for older adults. Essentially, GITT-PC trains healthcare workers to function as a team while integrating geriatric care into primary care settings. It can focus on using nurses instead of doctors. Overall, the model aims to change practices by leveraging Medicare reimbursement billable codes for Annual Wellness Visit (AWV), Chronic Care Management (CCM), Advance Care Planning (ACP) and Dementia services. The study was published Friday in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
NAHC offers guidance, prevention strategies for home care workplace violence
12/05/23 at 04:00 AMNAHC offers guidance, prevention strategies for home care workplace violenceMcKnight’s Home Care DailyDecember 4, 2023Providers and their caregivers need to take actions to protect themselves against workplace violence, a group of experts said in a webinar sponsored by the National Association for Home Care & Hospice. “We may not be able to 100% prevent violence for safety concerns in the home setting,” Candyce Slusher, owner of senior care consulting firm Slusher Consulting, said during the Wednesday webinar. “So we’ll do what we can to recognize those things ahead of time and try to protect our staff, but they also need to know how to protect themselves and feel comfortable coming to you when there’s issues.”
Three historic California hospices to merge
12/05/23 at 03:55 AMThree historic California hospices to mergeMcKnight’s Home Care DailyDecember 4, 2023A blockbuster merger of three long-standing providers will create the largest independent nonprofit hospice network in northern California. By the Bay Health, Mission Hospice & Home Care and Hope Hospice, three providers with deep roots in their communities, disclosed the deal in a statement Friday.
A woman’s hospice death leads to a police standoff at an Orange home
12/05/23 at 03:50 AMA woman’s hospice death leads to a police standoff at an Orange homeKBMT-TV (Beaumont, TX)December 2, 2023Orange, TX—SWAT responded to a standoff at a house in Orange after a husband didn’t want his wife’s body be taken away. Around 7 p.m. a call was made about a woman in hospice passing away, according to Orange Police Sergeant Isaac T. Henry III. Soon after a hospice nurse called saying the husband made suicidal and threatening comments to people because he was upset that his wife had passed away, Henry told 12News crew at the scene. When Orange police responded there was a short standoff2. The husband eventually came out of the house and is now going to have a mental evaluation, according to Henry.
Why Doctors and Pharmacists Are in Revolt
12/05/23 at 03:45 AMWhy Doctors and Pharmacists Are in RevoltNew York TimesDecember 3, 2023... And doctors are not the only health professionals who are unionizing or protesting in greater numbers. Health care workers, many of them nurses, held eight major work stoppages last year—the most in a decade—and are on pace to match or exceed that number this year. This fall, dozens of nonunion pharmacists at CVS and Walgreens stores called in sick or walked off the job to protest understaffing, many for a full day or more.
Volunteers stepping up to help Hospice of the Red River Valley finish holiday gifts
12/04/23 at 04:00 AMVolunteers stepping up to help Hospice of the Red River Valley finish holiday giftsFargo (ND) ForumDecember 1, 2023Fargo, ND—The community is stepping up to give grieving families a special gift for the holidays. Hospice of the Red River Valley makes teddy bears called Celebration Bears using the clothing of patients who have passed away as keepsakes at the request of their families.
Today's Encouragement 12/4/23
12/04/23 at 04:00 AMLive as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. ~Mahatma GandhiSign up for our free daily newsletters here!UNSUBSCRIBE NOTICE: Hospice & Palliative Care Today is a free subscription email. If you believe you have received this email in error, or if you no longer wish to receive Hospice & Palliative Care Today, please unsubscribe here or reply to this email with the message “Unsubscribe”. Thank you.
Hospice of the Valley becomes hospice provider for Banner Health
12/04/23 at 04:00 AMHospice of the Valley becomes hospice provider for Banner HealthArizona Business MagazineDecember 1, 2023Hospice of the Valley will become the hospice provider for Banner Health in the Phoenix and Tucson areas beginning Dec. 1. Banner Hospice staff will join Hospice of the Valley, ensuring a seamless transition of care for current Banner patients.Notable Mentions: Debbi Shumway, Hospice of the Valley Executive Director Debbie Shumway.
‘It will put us out of business’—Remington pharmacist fights corporate fees, under-payments
12/04/23 at 04:00 AM‘It will put us out of business’—Remington pharmacist fights corporate fees, under-paymentsCulpeper (VA) Star-ExponentDecember 1, 2023Remington, VA—A local pharmacist is joining voices calling for reform and oversight of corporate-run “Pharmacy Benefit Managers” (PBMs) he said are straining the historic small-town pharmacy he runs, located on Main Street since 1913, still with its original soda fountain. Travis Hale, PharmD, president of Apothecary Solutions Inc., doing business as Remington Drug Co., said the payment practices of the prescription drug middlemen are responsible for community pharmacies closing at an alarming rate.
Trinity slims operating loss to $58.6M in FY Q1
12/04/23 at 04:00 AMTrinity slims operating loss to $58.6M in FY Q1Becker’s Hospital CFO ReportDecember 1, 2023Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health reported an operating loss of $58.6 million (-1% margin) in the first quarter of the fiscal year—the three months ended Sept. 30—compared to a $146.3 million loss (-2.9% margin) during the same period in 2022. For the fiscal first quarter, operating revenue increased 12.4% year over year to $5.6 billion.
New Grief Resources for the Holidays
12/04/23 at 04:00 AMNew Grief Resources for the HolidaysPress Release 12/3/23Composing Life Out of Loss offering multiple grief resources for individuals and providers.
UCP Developing Scripted Series Based On ‘The In-Between’ Memoir From Hospice Nurse Hadley Vlahos
12/04/23 at 04:00 AMUCP Developing Scripted Series Based On ‘The In-Between’ Memoir From Hospice Nurse Hadley VlahosDeadlineDecember 1, 2023The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life’s Final Moments, a book about death, written by hospice nurse Hadley Vlahos is set to be turned into a scripted series. UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, has landed the rights to the project in a competitive situation. In The In-Between, Vlahos recounts the most impactful experiences she’s had with the people she’s worked with—from the woman who never once questioned her faith until she was close to death, to the older man seeing visions of his late daughter, to the young patient who laments that she spent too much of her short life worrying about what others thought of her—while also sharing her own fascinating journey.
OIG FY 2022 Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Annual Report
12/04/23 at 04:00 AMOIG FY 2022 Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Annual ReportPress Release 11/14/23OIG publishes the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Report for Fiscal Year 2022 and posts two enforcement actions. Three hospice actions in this report (download report and search for "hospice").
2024 Hospice & Palliative Care Organization Education Calendar
12/04/23 at 04:00 AM2024 Hospice & Palliative Care Organization Education Calendar
Dying Broke: The High Cost Of Help Desperate Families Search for Affordable Home Care
12/04/23 at 04:00 AMDying Broke: The High Cost Of Help Desperate Families Search for Affordable Home CareNew York TimesDecember 2, 2023... Frank Lee’s search for trustworthy home health aides—an experience that millions of American families face—has often been exhausting and infuriating, but he has persisted. ... There is precious little assistance from the government for families who need a home health aide unless they are poor. The people working in these jobs are often woefully underpaid and unprepared to help a frail, elderly person with dementia to bathe and use the bathroom, or to defuse an angry outburst.[Editor’s Note: This article is part of The New York Times’ “Dying Broke” series examining how the immense financial costs of long-term care drain older Americans and their families. For additional coverage, see the accompanying article in this package, “What to Know About Home Care Services: Finding an aide to help an older person stay at home safely takes work. Here’s a guide.“]
Ready Pet Go! Meet the 125 lb. dog comforting people in hospice care
12/04/23 at 04:00 AMReady Pet Go! Meet the 125 lb. dog comforting people in hospice careWKYC-TV (Cleveland, OH)November 29, 2023Strongsville, OH—When your loved one is ready to move on to the other side, you hope they’ll find comfort in a place of peace, serenity, and care. At the Thomas P. Perciak Hospice of Southwest General, there’s someone there to help. His name is Winston. He’s an 8-year-old Bernese mountain dog, about 125 lbs., and is the biggest lover you’ll ever meet.
Kids fighting health battles take off from Dulles to the North Pole
12/04/23 at 04:00 AMKids fighting health battles take off from Dulles to the North PoleWTOP-FM (Washington, DC)December 2, 2023Dozens of kids facing tough health battles and in hospice care took a special United ‘fantasy flight’ from Dulles International Airport on Saturday. Their final destination? The North Pole, to meet Santa.