Literature Review

Trends in pediatric palliative care research: February 2024 listPedPalASCNET, editor Hal Siden, MD, MHSc, FRCPC; email; 2/26/24PedPalASCNET: A network for accessible, sustainable, and collaborative research in pediatric palliative care. Trends in Pediatric Palliative Care Research, 2024, Issue 01.  

Sunday NewslettersTop read stories of the last week (in order) is the focus of Sunday newsletters - enjoy!

“Dying with a smile, just knowing that somebody’s listened to me”: End-of-life care and medical assistance in dying in Canadian prisonsOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, by Jessica Shaw, Peter Driftmier; 3/24Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) has been legal in Canada since 2016 and some incarcerated patients who are at the end of their lives are eligible for the procedure. Interviews with nine incarcerated men at a federal penitentiary in Canada provide insight into some of the ways that people who are navigating aging and end-of-life in prison think about MAiD.

Close but not close enough: How distance caregiving is associated with hospice family caregiver hospice communication experiencesHealth Communication, by Lauren T Starr, Karla Washington, Kyle Pitzer, Debra Parker Oliver, George Demiris; 3/24Half of hospice family caregivers report having unmet information needs, which can contribute to poor pain and symptom management, emergency department use, and hospice disenrollment for care-recipients and to caregiver strain and stress. Effective communication between hospice teams and family caregivers is critical yet communication inadequacies persist. Despite the growing prevalence of distance caregiving, including in hospice care, and the relationship between caregiver proximity and communication effectiveness, little is known about how caregiver proximity is associated with caregiver perceptions of hospice communication. 

Oncologist perceptions of racial disparity, racial anxiety, and unconscious bias in clinical interactions, treatment, and outcomesJournal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, by Alexandrina Balanean, Emily Bland, Ajeet Gajra, Yolaine Jeune-Smith, Andrew J Klink, Harlen Hays, Bruce A Feinberg; 2/24Cancer spares no demographic or socioeconomic group; it is indeed the great equalizer. But its distribution is not equal; when structural discrimination concentrates poverty and race, zip code surpasses genetic code in predicting outcomes. Compared with White patients in the United States, Black patients are less likely to receive appropriate treatment and referral to clinical trials, genetic testing, or palliative care/hospice.

Hospice fraud: Predicting ability and intentIllness, Crisis & Loss, by Laura M. Waters, Patricia Moyle Wright; 2/28/24Hospice fraud is a growing concern around the world. Yet, little attention has been given to the study of hospice fraud in the extant literature.

There is only one cardinal rule: One must always listen to the patient. ~Oliver Sacks, MD, Neurologist and Author

Other Business Headlines of Interest, updated 2/29/24 per nasdaq.com

Facing dementia: Clarifying end-of-life choices, supporting better lives The Hastings Center; 2/28/24The report includes 10 recommendations for policymakers, research funders, clinical and legal practitioners, and professional societies. ... “Facing Dementia: Clarifying End-of-Life Choices, Supporting Better Lives” is the major product of a Hastings Center research project, codirected by Hastings senior research scholar Nancy Berlinger and President Emerita Mildred Z. Solomon. 

False Claims Act - 2023 Year in ReviewJD Supra; by William Athanas, A. Lee Bentley III, Gene Besen, Ryan Dean, Jonathan Ferry, Daniel Fortune, Giovanni Giarratana, Ty Howard, Elisha Kobre, Anna Lashley, Gregory Marshall, Lyndsay Medlin, Stephen Moulton, Ocasha Musah, Scarlett Singleton Nokes, Cara Rice, Brad Robertson, Tara Sarosiek, Jack Selden, Erin Sullivan, Courtlyn Ward, Virginia Wright; 2/28/24As we do every year, this issue revisits the key cases and other developments from the year gone by. And by most metrics, 2023 was a notable year for the False Claims Act (FCA).

Untangling the history, causes behind the precipitous home health aide utilization drop Home Health Care News, by Patrick Filbin; 2/28/24In the last home health proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency in charge of reimbursement rates sent out a request for information on home health aide utilization. Specifically, the agency wondered why Medicare-covered home health aide visits and utilization had fallen off a cliff over the last few decades. According to the Center for Medicare Advocacy, home health aide visits declined by 90% from 1998 to 2019. 

Musician Mom Cat Janice dead at 31: 'Cat saw her music go places she never expected'People, by Jordan Green; 2/28/24In January, Janice went viral on TikTok after releasing the song "Dance You Outta My Head" inspired by her son. On Wednesday, musician Cat Janice died from cancer. The announcement of the singer-songwriter's death was made via a post on her Instagram account by her family. ... "We are eternally thankful for the outpouring of love that Catherine and our family have received over the past few months," the post continued.