Palliative care is a critical component of healthcare, yet its integration into Nigeria’s health system remains limited. Despite the growing burden of life-limiting illnesses, palliative care is underdeveloped, primarily restricted to tertiary institutions. This review examines the evolution of palliative care in Nigeria, key milestones, persistent challenges, and future directions for strengthening its implementation.

This narrative review synthesized historical records, policy documents, and literature on palliative care in Nigeria. It examined leadership roles, institutional efforts, and government policies influencing Palliative care growth, while highlighting implementation gaps and opportunities.

Palliative care in Nigeria has evolved from early grassroots efforts to structured institutional services. Key milestones include the establishment of the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of Nigeria (HPCAN), and policy advancements such as the National Policy and Strategic Plan for Hospice and Palliative Care. Despite these developments, challenges persist, including inadequate funding, workforce shortages, limited opioid access, policy implementation gaps, and socio-cultural barriers. Leadership engagement, targeted policy advocacy, and comprehensive capacity-building are essential to overcoming these barriers.

Sustained efforts are needed to fully integrate palliative care into Nigeria’s healthcare system. Strategic interventions, including enhanced policy implementation, funding mechanisms, workforce development, and community engagement, are critical for ensuring equitable access to PC services. Strengthening collaborations between the government, healthcare institutions, and international partners will accelerate progress, ultimately improving the quality of life for patients with life-limiting illnesses.

To examine the challenges and practical realities of providing end-of-life care in welfare evacuation centers following the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Japan, and to identify lessons for improving disaster preparedness in similar settings.

Case 1: A man in his late 90s was transferred to a welfare evacuation center after contracting COVID-19 in a general shelter. He arrived with fever and marked physical decline. Acetaminophen was administered to relieve his fever and provide comfort. His condition gradually worsened, and eight days after arriving at the evacuation shelter, he died peacefully while being closely observed by medical staff. Case 2: A man in his 60s with a history of smoking and alcohol use was found bedridden and incontinent at home and was subsequently moved to a welfare evacuation center. Two days after evacuation, he complained of leg and back pain, which was suspected to be due to arterial occlusion. He was monitored and provided with supportive care at the center, however, pain control remained inadequate. Four days after evacuation, he was found in respiratory arrest and was confirmed dead.

These cases underscore the need for establishing unified guidelines and external support frameworks for end-of-life care in disaster settings. In a disaster-prone country like Japan, scenario-based training and the integration of trained volunteers are essential to ensuring dignified care for vulnerable evacuees.

Children with life-limiting conditions (LLC) are exposed to frequent hospitalizations, with their parents as indispensable supporters, even in inpatient care. Data on the experiences of parents in a hospital setting are scarce. This study aims to identify the burdens and needs of parents of children with LLC in an inpatient setting to promote family-centered care and thereby strengthen parents as effective partners in care.

Descriptive qualitative interview study with purposeful sampling and analysis conducted according to the coding method of Kuckartz. A total of 10 interviews with parents (7 mothers, 3 fathers) were included in the analysis.

Main topics reported by parents were (1) structural conditions, (2) commitment and competence of health care professionals, and (3) cooperation between parents and professionals. Parents acquire medical expertise during their child’s illness and learn complex medical procedures to be able to competently care for their child at home. However, their competence is often denied in the inpatient setting. Parents felt that the professionals were overburdened by the complexity of the disease and the fate of the child. They perceived a lack of communication and psychosocial care as burdensome and wished for more psychosocial support and specialized inpatient palliative care structures for their child’s care.

Parents should be supported as equal partners in care to improve the quality of their children’s care. Sole medical care is not enough for children with LLC; therefore, a specialized multidisciplinary palliative care team is highly recommended.

Timely integration of palliative care (PC) into standard oncology hospital care offers significant benefits to patients with incurable cancer and their families. International recognition of the importance of timely PC has shifted the focus from integration to determining the optimal timing for introducing PC. The specific care responsibilities of oncology clinicians acting as generalists in PC and the optimal timing for involving PC specialists remain uncertain.

This study aimed to (1) explore how the concept of “timely PC” is understood by oncology clinicians and patients with incurable cancer and (2) investigate how PC is provided in a timely manner in daily clinical practice.

An interview study was conducted with 18 oncology clinicians (7 physicians, 1 physician assistant, and 10 nurses/nurse practitioners) and 12 patients with incurable cancer. The interviews were conducted between October 2022 and June 2023 and a thematic analysis of the interviews was performed.

Three main themes emerged regarding “timely PC”: (1) timely PC is individual and situational, (2) identification of the right time is an ongoing challenge, and (3) proactive care is essential. Regarding the provision of timely PC, 3 themes were identified: (1) having a strong collaboration among various clinicians, (2) having the courage to start a clear and sincere conversation, and (3) being sensitive and personal.

Being timely is not a fixed point in time, but depends on the individual patient and their situation. Clinicians should be proactive and gradual in bringing up PC-related topics and be careful to use the right words. Tools such as the surprise question can support in timely integrating PC but being timely PC highly depends on a patient’s individual context. Therefore, clinicians should be aware that timely PC is a constant search for the most fitting moment.

To develop an effective, targeted educational intervention that can serve as a teaching tool to educate African American (AA) populations, especially the elderly, on end-of-life (EOL) options prior to critical care.

A survey was used to assess the level of preparation and determine deficits in knowledge regarding EOL choices in the AA community of Saginaw, Michigan, before and after educational intervention. We used a paired-sample t-test to assess changes in understanding about EOL planning options, McNemar’s to test changes in intention to use hospice and palliative care, and Spearman correlations to identify demographics influencing change of outcomes. Outcome scores associated with multiple demographic variables were regressed on these demographics.

Our data indicated that the intervention was an effective teaching tool in educating the AA population on EOL choices. Significant changes were observed in understanding of EOL options, concerns about palliative and hospice care, and intention to use palliative and hospice care. Age and education were also associated with selected outcome changes.

AA patients are more likely than other ethnic groups to choose life-sustaining measures at the end of their lives, leading to patients not receiving care to help them die peacefully. This decision is partly based on lack of knowledge of the available EOL care options. This study provides evidence needed for physicians to increase their educational efforts with the AA population regarding EOL options. An educational tool like the one developed in this study may be helpful and lessen the time of education so that physicians can answer questions at the end of the session and empower individuals and communities to take an active role in creating a culture of wellness at the EOL and decreasing morbidity.

Family caregivers play a critical yet often overlooked role in healthcare, facing the dual challenge of providing clinical care while managing their emotional well-being. Although several studies have investigated the supportive care needs and services for caregivers of advanced cancer patients integrated into specialized palliative care inpatient units, little is known about cancer caregiver integration and support structures in German outpatient cancer care. This qualitative study addresses this gap by exploring the experiences of family caregivers in Germany, using a dyadic approach to assess their needs, identify referral strategies, and evaluate oncologists’ perspectives on improving caregiver integration and support.

Thematic analysis was conducted on semi-structured interviews with 14 advanced cancer patients, 15 family caregivers, and 3 oncologists. MAXQDA software facilitated the identification of key themes and codes.

Three interconnected themes emerged: (1) The Impact of Illness on the Dyadic Relationship, (2) Communication with Physicians and Understanding of Healthcare Information, and (3) Challenges and Preferences in Navigating Healthcare Services and Psychosocial Support.

The findings highlight the need for enhanced support in caregiving to improve cancer care quality, emphasizing that early palliative care integration is vital for addressing caregiver needs as a core component of comprehensive cancer care. Healthcare practices should adopt personalized, proactive support strategies from diagnosis, implement regular needs assessments, and leverage digital healthcare tools to enhance the efficacy and efficiency of caregiver support.