Literature Review

Terri Schiavo's death 20 years ago sparked lingering debate about death and politics USA Today; by Marc Ramirez; 3/31/25 Monday [March 31st marked] 20 years since the death of Terri Schiavo, whose landmark case became the symbol of the "right to die" movement, generated political controversy and sparked public outcry as her husband and family members took their fight over her fate to the courts. Schiavo died on March 31, 2005, after a dragged-out legal and political battle ... The case thrust discussions about end-of-life care into the public consciousness, a topic that continues to provoke heightened emotions among Americans. “It became the most reviewed, debated end-of-life case in history,” said Arthur Caplan, who heads the division of medical ethics at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine. [Continue reading ...]

‘The most someone wants is to be heard’: Students foster connection, create memoirs for hospice patients The Daily Texan - University of Texas, Austin, TX; 4/3/25 ... Brought to UT in 2023, Last Writers is a service organization where student volunteers interview hospice patients over the course of several months to write a memoir that is then printed and given to the patients and their families. The process is intended to bring comfort to hospice patients and create a physical memento for the families, representing their lives once they pass. ... “It’s not often that you’re a college student and you get to meet someone who is going to pass away in the next few months,” Nguyen said. “To be with them in that very vulnerable point, it gives you a lot of perspectives. A lot of our members come out of it realizing how much they have to live for. … It makes us more grateful in life and puts our mortality into perspective.” [Continue reading ...]

National Healthcare Decisions Week highlights the importance of Advance Care Planning JAX Chamber - Jacksonville News, Jacksonville, FL; 4/1/25 National Healthcare Decisions Week kicks off on April 14, 2025, with a nationwide effort to raise awareness about the importance of advance healthcare decision-making. This initiative encourages individuals to take proactive steps in planning for their future healthcare needs. Through various events and resources, the week aims to promote thoughtful conversations about healthcare decisions and the completion of advance directives to ensure patients' wishes are known and respected. ... For more information about National Healthcare Decision Day, please visit http://nhdd.org.

What is death positivity? Healthline; by Sarah Choi, medically reviewed by Joslyn Jelinek, LCSW, ACSW, RDDP; 3/28/25 Death positivity involves acknowledging death as simply the final phase of life. It emphasizes open discussions around death and education on the options, rights, and choices surrounding it. ... The Death Positivity Movement was coined in 2011 by funeral director Caitlin Doughty, but the sentiment existed long before — the movement’s origins date back to the 1970s, drawing on the hospice movement. ... Elements of the Death Positivity Movement:

What to know about palliative and hospice care Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ); by Liz Seegert; 3/28/25 ... [Palliative care] is fundamental to health and human dignity and is a basic human right, according to the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard.  When reporting on serious illnesses, journalists can help demystify palliative care and encourage more people in need to take advantage of it by clearly explaining the differences, and benefits, and incorporating anecdotes to further illustrate how these types of care make a difference in the lives of patients and their families. [Continue reading ...] Editor's note: Share this article--written for health care journalists--with your communications and marketing leadership, with your community newspapers' journalists, and your employee/volunteer educators. Too often, new hospice/palliative care employees at all levels of roles and responsibilities begin their roles without clear knowledge, comprehension, and application of distinctions between standard healthcare, palliative care, and hospice care.  

Palliative care in home health: Misconceptions and market opportunities Home Health Care News; by Joyce Famakinwa; 3/28/25 While palliative care remains an uncommon offering among home-based health care providers, forward-thinking providers have recognized a growing market demand and are strategically expanding their service offerings to include palliative care solutions. Expanding service lines to include palliative care can help home-based care providers stand out from their peers, industry insiders told Home Health Care News. However, a significant knowledge gap is slowing the adoption of palliative care within the home health community. Home health care clinicians, patients and caregivers all report insufficient knowledge of palliative care, according to a recent study conducted by Columbia Nursing research and published in the Journal Home Healthcare Now. [Continue reading ...]

New musical asks, 'How do we deal with the end?' (with a singalong)Edge Media Network; by Kilian Melloy; 3/25/25 Worcester, Massachusetts natives and brothers Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour started making theater when they were still kids, ...  "It was a really beautiful coming together of the whole [theater] community to do these shows," Daniel adds. That communal spirit lives on in the brothers' latest work, "Night Side Songs," a production of the American Repertory Theater that's scheduled to play ... from March 27 – April 6 [and] April 8 - 20. Bringing audiences together for a full-length play that makes singing an integral part of the experience – the songs are written to be easy for the audience to sing and to participate in performing, much like hymns at a church service, the brothers say – "Night Side Songs" makes a cathartic shared experience from the story of Yasmine (Brooke Ishibashi), a woman facing cancer and chemotherapy but finding love, meaning, and her own voice as part of the journey. [Continue reading ...] 

Ohio reported its first measles case in 2025. Here’s what you need to know about this highly contagious virus. Signal Cleveland, Cleveland, OH; by Sue Zake and Reegan Davis Saunders; 3/25/25 An unvaccinated adult in Ashtabula contracted the first case of measles in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health. The individual had contact with someone who recently traveled internationally and was confirmed to have contracted the highly contagious respiratory virus. ... As of March 20, the CDC has reported 378 confirmed cases in the U.S.  — 95% of those who became ill were either unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. Twenty-seven percent of children under 5 years of age who contracted measles have been hospitalized since Jan. 1. Here’s more information to help you understand the disease and protect yourself and your family [and prfoessionals]. [Continue reading ...]

Trellis Supportive Care to host day of support for caregiversThe Chronicle, Winston-Salem, NC; by WS Chronicle; 3/22/25 Trellis Supportive Care is hosting a day of support for caregivers, free of charge and open to the public.  The program, “Caring for You: A Day of Support for Family Caregivers,” is set for Friday, April 4, from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness in Winston-Salem. This full-day program is both a retreat and educational day for caregivers. “We understand that caregivers are often unable to attend events such as this, therefore, we are removing that barrier,” shared Jacob Gordon, director of community programming with Trellis Supportive Care. For those responsible for caring for an adult family member, Trellis is arranging respite care in coordination with local partner agencies so that caregivers can attend.   ... “We hope this provides an opportunity for people to regroup, rejuvenate, and leave with valuable tips for moving forward as a caregiver,” shared Gordon.   

10 things hospice doesn’t tell you, shared by a Cleveland Clinic doctor The Healthy; by Patricia Varacallo, DO (author) with Laura Hoeksema, MD, MPH, FAAHPM (medical director for Cleveland Clinic Hospice); 3/19/25 ... Dr. Hoeksema shares key insights about hospice care and reminds patients and families that the hospice team is always available to answer questions and provide support when things feel uncertain.What hospice does not tell you, but you should know:

Dr. Sean O’Mahony aims to expand UTMB’s Division of Palliative Care UTMB Health - The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston;  3/18/25 Palliative care should be more accessible, bridge gaps in health care environment. ... Dr. Sean O’Mahony, director of the Palliative Medicine division, came to UTMB in June, having served as professor and Director of Supportive Oncology and Section Chief at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and in key roles at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. ... O’Mahony said, “I was attracted to UTMB’s commitment to underserved patients, its prison health population, and its large population of underinsured patients. I’m also interested in the opportunity to develop palliative medicine from the ground up in the mainland hospitals.” ... 

The 1 truly difficult part about being a caregiver that often gets overlooked HuffPost; by Kimberley Richards; 3/13/25 Emma Heming Willis, wife of actor Bruce Willis, recently talked about the needs of caregivers on social media. Experts share what to know about the vital role. ... Among the different ways society may overlook the various caregiving experiences, there’s one aspect of it that isn’t often talked about: Many times it’s an “invisible” job. ... Hemings Willis’ post sparked conversations online about caregivers and the many struggles that come with it. And experts say perhaps one of the most isolating is the issue of “invisibility. ... She said that caregiving is often seen as a “family duty,” which prevents it from “being recognized as a broader issue requiring systemic attention.” “This view is often compounded by gendered expectations, where women are traditionally expected to take on caregiving roles, leading to feelings of guilt and pressure when they seek assistance,” she said. “The lack of formal policies ... only deepens the invisibility of this vital role, making it even harder for caregivers to balance their responsibilities with their own well-being.”

Partners In Care hosts A Year to Live book discussion group starting April 5 Cascasde Business News; by CBN; 3/11/25 The Bereavement Department in conjunction with leadership at Partners In Care is hosting a community group to explore messaging in Stephen Levine’s book A Year to Live through a series of monthly sessions in 2025 and early 2026. In A Year to Live, Stephen Levine, author of the perennial bestseller Who Dies? teaches us how to live each moment, each hour, and each day mindfully—as if it were all that was left. On his deathbed, Socrates exhorted his followers to practice dying as the highest form of wisdom. Levine decided to live this way himself for an entire year, and now he shares with us how such immediacy radically changes our view of the world and forces us to examine our priorities.