Hospice News and Research

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If I have cancer, dementia or MS, should i get the covid vaccine?

As public demand grows for limited supplies of covid-19 vaccines, questions remain about the vaccines' appropriateness for older adults with various illnesses.

27 Jan 2021

Study: Satisfaction with end-of-life care was highest when individuals died at home

Where people die can affect the quality of their deaths and the end-of-life care that they receive. A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that satisfaction with end-of-life care was rated highest when individuals died at home.

21 Jan 2021

Researchers develop FLASH ultra-high-dose rate radiation therapy beam for cancer treatment

A joint team of researchers from Radiation Oncology at Dartmouth's and Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Dartmouth Engineering, and Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Department of Surgery have developed a method to convert a standard linear accelerator, used for delivery of radiation therapy cancer treatment, to a FLASH ultra-high-dose rate radiation therapy beam.

19 Jan 2021

D-HH and West Health bring geriatric emergency care and telehealth services to rural hospitals

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, New Hampshire's only academic health system serving nearly 2 million patients across northern New England, and West Health, a family of nonprofit and nonpartisan organizations working to lower health care costs to enable successful aging, are bringing accredited geriatric emergency care and, for the first time, providing older adults in the region with specialized telehealth services from an accredited emergency department.

6 Jan 2021

Study highlights differing perceptions of “do-not-resuscitate” orders

When patients have a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order, it means they have chosen not to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

24 Dec 2020

Community burden of COVID-19 linked to survival rates of hospitalized patients

High rates of COVID-19 in the county where a hospital is located appears to reduce survival rates among hospitalized patients with the virus, according to a new study from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and at UnitedHealth Group.

22 Dec 2020

Black patients hospitalized with COVID-19 less likely to have severe illness, die compared to Whites

While multiple research studies show that Black and Hispanic patients are more likely to test positive for COVID-19, a team of investigators at NYU Langone Health has found that once hospitalized, Black patients (after controlling for other serious health conditions and neighborhood income) were less likely to have severe illness, die, or be discharged to hospice compared to White patients.

5 Dec 2020

Review highlights huge inconsistencies in palliative care provision across the globe

A major review of palliative care services around the world has highlighted huge inconsistencies in provision, with patients in some countries receiving a fraction of the support provided elsewhere.

30 Nov 2020

Re-thinking advance care planning during COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers in the UK have warned that healthcare professionals and providers need to consider how Advance Care Planning (ACP) can be resourced and normalized as part of standard care during the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), ahead of recurrent or future waves.

3 Nov 2020

Study examines link between SARS-CoV-2 genomic load and COVID-19 patient outcomes

A new study published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society examines whether the amount of RNA, or genomic load, of SARS-CoV-2 detected in swab tests of patients being admitted to the hospital with viral pneumonia is associated with more severe COVID-19.

30 Oct 2020

Study analyzes racial disparities in end-of-life care

In a new medical records analysis of racial disparities in end-of-life care, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and three collaborating institutions report that Black patients voluntarily seek substantially more intensive treatment.

29 Oct 2020

Researchers find an increasing need for palliative care across Greater China

Palliative care should extend across China and pay more attention to managing non-malignant disease - integrated within the country's healthcare system and available to everyone who needs it, according to a new study.

21 Oct 2020

Study points out key variations in hospice transitions and experiences

Terminally ill patients referred to hospice care from a hospital setting tend to be on hospice for shorter periods than those who enter hospice while living at home or in a residential care facility.

19 Oct 2020

Waterbirths as safe as traditional births, study shows

A new U.S. study of waterbirths found that hospital-based births involving water immersion had no higher risk of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or special care nursery admission than comparable deliveries in the control group without water immersion.

14 Oct 2020

Epigenetic changes in the brain drive late-onset Alzheimer's disease

New findings suggest that late-onset Alzheimer's Disease is driven by epigenetic changes -- how and when certain genes are turned on and off -- in the brain. Results were published today in Nature Genetics.

28 Sep 2020

Research uncovers potential cause of neurotoxicity due to immunotherapy

New research has uncovered the previously unknown presence of CD19 -- a B cell molecule targeted by chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy to treat leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma -- in brain cells that protect the blood brain barrier (BBB).

21 Sep 2020

Scientists solve decades old mystery of key molecule that fuels mitochondria

Penn Medicine researchers have solved a decades old mystery around a key molecule fueling the power plant of cells that could be exploited to find new ways to treat diseases, from neurodegenerative disorders to cancer.

10 Sep 2020

Researchers receive funding to develop a model for delivering palliative care in nursing homes

Research scientists from Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine and University of Maryland are working to develop a model for delivering palliative care to people living in nursing homes to improve their quality of life.

17 Aug 2020

Bereaved families are ‘the secondary victims of COVID-19’

Every day, the nation is reminded of COVID-19's ongoing impact as new death counts are published. What is not well documented is the toll on family members.

12 Aug 2020

ASH publishes new guidelines to help tailor treatment for older adults with acute myeloid leukemia

Today, ASH published new guidelines to help older adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and their health care providers make critical care decisions, including if and how to proceed with cancer treatment and the need for blood transfusions for those in hospice care.

6 Aug 2020