FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lisa Veglahn, Sr. VP for Education | [email protected]
Four Out of 10 Americans Will Die With Dementia,
Now One of the Leading Diagnoses in Hospice Care
Washington—Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) will present its 33rd annual Living with Grief® educational program, Best Practices in Hospice Care for Advanced Dementia, addressing optimal care for the fastest growing segment of the hospice population. The program will be held live via Zoom on April 14, 2026, from noon—2 pm ET.
According to the National Institutes of Health, researchers estimate that 42% of Americans over the age of 55 will at some point develop a form of dementia, all of which are terminal illnesses.
While ADRD is now among the leading reasons for hospice admission in the United States, the Medicare Hospice Benefit, which regulates the vast majority of hospice care nationwide, is modeled on a 6-month trajectory of death due to terminal cancer. As a result, the benefit’s regulatory constraints can delay timely admission to hospice care, limiting essential care for people living with dementia and their care partners. Many are unaware of the opportunity to access hospice care and services, and are left to struggle with the impact of dementia in isolation longer than necessary.
Best Practices in Hospice Care for Advanced Dementia will address the challenges and opportunities facing hospice and other end-of-life care providers while caring for this rapidly growing population. The program will explore strategies for hospice interdisciplinary teams to best support patients, their care partners, and staff and volunteers, while also identifying ways to increase public awareness about the benefits of hospice care and improve access for people living with dementia. Continuing education will be available for a wide range of professional boards.
Award-winning journalist Frank Sesno will moderate the program, which will feature case studies presented by professionals who care for people living with dementia and their care partners, in discussion with experts:
- Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, MDiv, Senior Vice President of Grief Programs at HFA and an internationally-recognized scholar in the field of death, dying, and bereavement. He has written and lectured extensively on the impact of grief related to dementia, both on the person living with dementia and those providing care.
- Karen O. Moss, PhD, RN, CNL, FNAP, FGSA, faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Nursing and lead researcher on Pair 2 Care@, a co-created peer support intervention to support Black American family caregivers of people living with dementia.
- Deanna Rymaszewski, DSW, APSW, APHSW, Clinical Educator and Social Worker for Agrace Hospice Care, whose extensive bedside work with the dementia population includes communication with families and other caregivers.
- Katherine Supiano, PhD, LCSW, F-GSA, FT, APHSW-C, clinical social worker and psychotherapist who served as a lead researcher for The LEAD (Life Planning in Early Alzheimer’s And Dementia) Guide, an innovative dementia-focused end-of-life planning tool.
In addition to the upcoming program, HFA has published a new volume of scholarly and personal work, Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia: A Guide for Hospice Clinicians, edited by Kenneth J. Doka and Amy S. Tucci. The book offers valuable insights and practical approaches to delivering compassionate, person-centered end-of-life care to individuals with dementia and their loved ones. The information and insights offered serve as a resource for clinicians, clergy, hospice volunteers, death doulas, and families and caregivers.
Contributions from renowned clinicians and researchers address critical topics such as:
- the clinical features of ADRD and approaches to management of the various types of dementia in hospice settings;
- advance care planning and its role in end-of-life dementia care;
- the challenges of live discharge and other complex Medicare compliance issues;
- common ethical dilemmas in dementia caregiving and care at the end of life;
- effective communication strategies for supporting families through difficult patient situations and decisions;
- cultural considerations in dementia care; and
- the impact of grief, including anticipatory grief, on the dementia experience and its influence on the decision-making process for patients and families.
View the full table of contents here.
Dr. Pauline Boss, principal theorist of the concept of ambiguous loss and author of Loving Someone Who Has Dementia: How to Find Hope While Coping With Stress and Grief and Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Live With Unresolved Grief, writes in the book’s foreword that it “is a treasure trove of information that will aid clinicians, clergy, and millions of people who are caring every day for family members, and hopefully, themselves. Toward that end, we are fortunate that hospice care—and this book—are available to us now.”
The Living with Grief® program and book are signature components of HFA’s ongoing educational initiatives to increase awareness of grief and bereavement and the hospice philosophy of care. Registration and ordering information are available on HFA’s website or by calling 800-854-3402.
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