Palliative care aims to provide comprehensive care for people who have incurable diseases. The aim is to provide these people and their families with the best possible quality of life and life satisfaction. Unlike active euthanasia, death is not accelerated. The patient should experience the most advantageous treatment, both physical and mental, in a self-determined manner until the time of death.

The licensing regulations for physicians have included palliative care as a compulsory subject in medical studies in Germany since July 2009. This was done by a corresponding passage  in a law regulating the need for nursing assistance in hospitals, which came into force on 07/10/2009. The law is intended to ensure "that medical students in their later professional lives are able to meet the demands of caring for the most gravely ill and dying and that comprehensive and competent care for these patients is guaranteed".

In addition, the Hospice and Palliative Care Act (HPG) has been in force since December 8, 2015. This law expressly made palliative care part of the standard care provided by the statutory health insurance system.