One in four people in the UK die without the care and support they need at the end of life. Yet less than 1% of the money spent on health-related research projects is spent on end of life research. 

This means there are many unanswered questions about the best ways of supporting people towards the end of their lives.

That’s why we’re working with people living with a serious life-limiting illness and those closest to them to find out what research could help them most.

Over 1000 responses

We were delighted to hit the milestone of 1000 responses to our survey to understand the priorities for palliative and end of life care research, as part of the Palliative and End of Life Care Research Priorities Project with the James Lind Alliance and many other organisations.

A big thank you to everyone who responded to and shared the survey. Over the next couple of months we will be reviewing the responses and compiling a long list of possible priorities for palliative and end of life care research with the support of our steering group and our lived experience group. Once we have a long list of priorities, we will check whether there is already evidence out there to help us answer those questions.

Next steps

In May 2024 we will launch a second survey to ask people with serious life-limiting illness, those close to them and health and social care professionals which of these priorities are most important.

The final step in the project will be a prioritisation workshop with representatives from the same groups where the top 10 priorities will be decided.