Literature Review

Healing hearts: How palliative care staff reunited a father with his daughters after nearly 40 years apart The Daily Scan - Cancer; by Sondi Bruner; 11/25/24, published in our newsletter 11/25/24Leah Duval and Tanya Ellis don’t have many childhood memories of their father. They recall fragments, like his bright smile and building snowmen in the backyard. And then one day, when they were three and five years old, Glenn Ellis disappeared completely. ​As the girls grew up, they learned their father had schizophrenia, which they guessed played a large role in his disappearance. ... The family searched for years in the 1980s and never found him. The sisters had no choice but to move forward with their lives, though they never gave up hope that their father was still out there. ... Then, on May 14th 2024, nearly 40 years after their father vanished from their hometown in Ontario, Tanya received an unexpected phone call from across the country. It was from Siobhan Gallagher, a social worker at May’s Place Hospice in Vancouver, BC. She had a patient named Glenn Ellis, and he was looking for his daughters. [Click on the title's link to read this story.] ... “People can hold onto grudges for their entire life and they don’t allow healing to happen,” says Tanya. “Have an open heart and an open mind. Just let things go, because we’re just all humans trying to do the best we can in this world.”

Celebrating Father’s Day when Dad is on hospice Roze Room Hospice, Culver City, CA; retrieved from www.rozeroom.org on 6/12/25Father’s Day is often synonymous with backyard cookouts, gifts, cards and large family gatherings. Honoring your father or a father figure means celebrating the role this important person has played in your life. It can be a sentimental day where we slow down and consider the gift this person has been in our lives. But if your father is in hospice care, Father’s Day can take on even more significance. You may believe the day will be filled with sadness and unease. But truly capturing this day will be a gift to your dad and all those who love him. Here are five ways to celebrate Father’s Day when your dad is on hospice.

Father keeping a promise to son to 'never miss a baseball game' despite entering hospice Fox 13 - Tampa Bay, FL; by Briona Arradondo; 1/30/25 A father diagnosed with cancer left hospice Thursday to spend the evening making final memories with his family on a baseball diamond in Tampa. Family and friends surrounded Steve Uhal and his wife Amy with love and support as he arrived to see his 9-year-old son Charlie play one last game.  ... 

Caring for Gladine: A Las Cruces man's account of caregiving for his wife with dementia Las Cruces Sun News; by Leah Romero; 6/10/25 When Gladine Lindly was diagnosed with dementia in 2018, she and her husband Steve Gaskell decided to manage at home. But as Lindly’s dementia progressed, Gaskell quickly realized he needed help taking care of her. ... “She said, ‘I want you to be my caregiver. ... I don’t want to go into a home or facility,’” Glaskell recalled. “I proceeded to walk into the doors of Home Instead to apply for a job because I wanted to learn how to be a caregiver. Never done anything like that before.” ...  By September 2024, Lindly ... was placed on hospice care. By December, the hospice nurse told Gaskell it was time for family and friends to start saying their goodbyes.  ... [Gaskell described her death,] "And it was as peaceful as you can imagine. And that was…this sounds crazy to say, but that was probably the easiest part of the whole process.” Lindly passed on Jan. 7, 2025 at the age of 77. [Go to the source article for more of this inspiring story about caregiving through dementia.]

92-year-old veteran takes to the skies on flight down memory lane TCPalm, part of the USA TODAY Network; by Mary Ann Ketcham, Treasure Coast Hospice; 6/8/25 At 92 years old, Korean War Air Force veteran and Treasure Coast Hospice patient Joseph Vespo recently took to the skies in a Cessna 172 airplane for a flight down memory lane. An ear-to-ear smile lit up his face as the aircraft taxied down the runway and took off from the Treasure Coast International Airport in Fort Pierce. During his time in the Air Force, Vespo monitored aircraft systems from the cockpit. ... For 40 years, he owned and flew Bonanza planes but had been unable to fly in recent years. ... "This fantastic opportunity to fly again came about because we get to know our patients and their families," said Treasure Coast Hospice Community Outreach Representative Jenny Fee. ... The Treasure Coast Hospice Veteran Care Fund and local pilot Jim Howard of Clearflight Aviation helped make his dream a reality.

Sister Grace spent her life helping the homeless. Now in hospice, she reflects on legacy and lessons WXXI News NPR, Rochester, NY; by Gino Fanelli; 6/6/25Sister Grace Miller smiles as she props herself up in her hospice bed and gently teases her strands of chestnut brown hair. “How does my hair look?” she asks. It’s the type of remark one would expect from Miller. Sister Grace is many things: a radical compassionate, a devout follower of the Catholic faith, a civil disruptor, and a wielder of a sharp, slightly sardonic wit. ... The 89-year-old champion for the homeless and destitute is dying, in hospice care at a congregation home on Carter Street. But her spirit is alive and well. “I would fight with them over whatever, whatever the people needed,” Miller said, referring to the county and city administrations she often tangled with over the years. “I would fight for the people. ... She said it was, ultimately, an undying, uncompromising commitment to the work she does as a fierce and fearless advocate for the poor.

[United Kingdom] Group treks Great Wall of China to raise £85k BBC News; by Emma Petrie; 5/31/25 A group of people who trekked along the Great Wall of China have raised more than £85,000 in support of a hospice. The team took on the challenge to fundraise for Dove House Hospice, which is a charity that provides respite and end-of-life care for people in Hull and East Yorkshire. The hospice warned they were facing a funding shortfall in April due to rising costs. ... Twenty people signed up for the site's latest fundraising challenge and set off for China 17 May, walking a 31-mile (50km) route along the Great Wall. Upon her return, Ms. [Ruth] Scott said: "It's not an easy walk, incredibly steep in places, ... The views are just unbelievable. You can't comprehend."

The importance of humanity in internal medicine I.M. Matters from the American College of Physicians; President's Message by Jason M. Goldman, MD, MACP; June 2025I recently attended the funeral of one of my long-time patients, who had required hospice care after a long battle with heart disease. Many of us have had the experience of telling a patient and their family that their disease has progressed and we have reached the limits of medical science. In training, we are taught to be compassionate but professional, maintaining a certain level of emotional detachment ... As internal medicine specialists, we have the awesome responsibility and privilege to be the doctor for our patients through decades of their life experiences and to offer them not just medical science, but also humanity and comfort. ... One of the greatest acts of charity a person can perform is to attend someone's funeral, as it is the only act of kindness that cannot be reciprocated. This patient had been in my practice for almost two decades, and I had the privilege of taking care of both her and her husband.Editor's note: Re-read this powerful statement, "One of the greatest acts of charity a person can perform is to attend someone's funeral, as it is the only act of kindness that cannot be reciprocated." 

A student film explores an end-of-life story: How Jingyi Li created the documentary that swept the Redstone Film Festival Boston University, College of Communication, Boston, MA; by Mike De Socio; 5/27/25 When Jingyi Li set out to create a documentary about healthcare for elders, she struggled to find a family willing to sit in front of her camera. Li (’25) was inspired by the power of filmmaking to create social impacts, and wanted to explore hospice care in Chinese culture. The interest stemmed from Li’s experience interning at a local hospice care center in Yunnan Province, China, where she witnessed the complexities and cultural sensitivities involved in providing care for terminally ill patients within Chinese families. With the help of a hospice and palliative care service in Boston, Li started reaching out to Chinese families about filming the end-of-life process, but many rejected her request. ... She eventually found a “brave family” whose roots in the US date back to the mid-20th century. Li says the family’s “mix of Chinese and Western culture” made them more amenable to being filmed.  ... The resulting short documentary, named Pópo for the elder at its center, went on to win a bevy of awards at this year’s Redstone Film Festival, including best film and best documentary. 

All You Need is Love The Republic; by Sharon Mangas; 5/28/25The call came in at 4:00 a.m., waking me from a deep sleep. It was the kind of call that puts you on high alert; like when you have a teenage driver at home, or a mother-in-law on hospice care. ... “Hello. Is this Sharon Mangas? I’m calling from the hospice center. I wasn’t able to reach Mike. I’m sorry to share this news…your mother-in-law, Carmen, passed away a few minutes ago.” ... To the best of my knowledge, I was privy to her last spoken words to family. After Mike and I helped Carmen settle in at the Hospice Center near midnight Saturday, May 3—barely 24 hours before she passed—I bent over to tell her we’d see her in the morning. She looked deeply into my eyes and said, “I love you, Sharon.” I took her hand gently and said, “I love you, too.” ... As the first daughter-in-law in Carmen’s orbit, the two of us had occasional dust-ups and misunderstandings that challenged our family bond. But we shared a lot of love, too, and love is healing. 

Lanterns light up the sky in east Wichita to remember lost loved ones on Memorial Day ABC KAKE, Wichita, KS; by Jocelyn Schifferdecker; 5/26/25 About a hundred lanterns lit up the sky Monday night at the Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice memory garden in East Wichita. Each lantern floating on the water told its own special story. [Candace] Dudley says [her husband] Ricky died about a year and a half ago from colon cancer. ... She says she misses him every day and she's thankful for Lanterns of Life because it gave her an opportunity to remember him. "My heart is full tonight. Making his lanyard, I made it very special ... I did all four sides with a lot of thought and put a lot of love into it because he was the love of my life," she said while holding back tears.The event is arranged by Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice. Organizers say they hope lighting a lantern for their lost loved one will bring them peace in some way. ... The event also featured food trucks, music, and more. This was the first year the hospice held it but it says it doesn't plan for it to be the last.

Hospice volunteer donates 10,000 gift cards to cancer patients AZ Family - CBS-5, Phoenix, AZ; by Tianna Morimoto; 5/20/25 One Valley man has made a difference in times of need for those who may be losing hope by donating thousands of gift cards, and that’s Something Good. Jeff Lewis volunteers with Hospice of the Valley and was recently recognized for donating 10,000 grocery gift cards to help cancer patients in need. Jeff is a cancer survivor and has made it his mission to help those going through treatments with no family or support. He created a nonprofit called the Froth and Bubble Foundation. Every month, the foundation provides gift cards to more than 100 people in the Valley who are struggling financially. Often, these patients have to decide between paying for food, medicine or doctor bills, and these gift cards can help them with their bills or other necessities to survive. ... “These gift cards help families bridge the gap when they need food and are juggling bills and feeling stressed,” said Hospice of the Valley Executive Director Debbie Shumway. “He is a servant leader who quietly gives back and makes a huge difference, one person at a time.” Thank you, Jeff, for all you do to help others!