Society guideline links: Palliative care

Introduction — 

This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

Links to related guidelines are provided separately:

●(See "Society guideline links: Bowel obstruction".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Cancer pain".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Colorectal cancer".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Constipation".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Dyspnea".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Hepatocellular carcinoma".)

●(See "Society guideline links: HIV treatment in nonpregnant adults".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Neuropathic pain".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancer".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Pancreatic cancer".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Cognitive impairment and dementia".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Heart failure in adults".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Parkinson disease".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Management of bone metastases in solid tumors".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Palliative care for advanced lung disease".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Intensive care unit ethics".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Metastatic disease of the central nervous system".)

●(See "Society guideline links: Parkinsonian syndromes".)

International

●Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (2024)

●MASCC: Expert opinion/guidance on the use of clinically assisted nutrition in patients with advanced cancer (2021)

●International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC): The manual of palliative care, 3rd edition (2013)

Canada

●British Columbia Guidelines and Protocols and Advisory Committee (GPAC): Guidelines on palliative care

●Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS): Position statement on goals of care conversations and advance care planning for paediatric patients living with serious illness (2024)

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't delay palliative care for a patient with serious illness who has physical, psychological, social or spiritual distress because they are pursuing disease-directed treatment (2024)

●North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS): Practical considerations when providing palliative care to patients with neuroendocrine tumors in the context of routine disease management or hospice care – Guidelines and guidance (2023)

●Ontario Provincial Pediatric Palliative Care Steering Committee (PPPC-SC): Resources for healthcare providers – Pediatric palliative, end-of-life care (2023)

•Expert opinion guidance for symptom management for children near/at end-of-life, update

•Expert opinion guidance on approaching the end-of-life – Pediatric palliative care information for healthcare providers, update

United States

●National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance): Palliative care hub

●National Cancer Institute (NCI): Cancer information summaries – Supportive and palliative care: Health professional versions

●American Heart Association (AHA): Palliative and end-of-life care in stroke – A scientific statement (2025)

●AHA: Palliative care and advanced cardiovascular disease in adults – Not just end-of-life care: A scientific statement (2025)

●American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Committee opinion on perinatal palliative care (2019, reaffirmed 2024)

●American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO): Palliative care for patients with cancer – Guideline, update (2024)

●AHA: Palliative pharmacotherapy for cardiovascular disease – A scientific statement (2024)

●AHA: Palliative care across the life span for children with heart disease – A scientific statement (2023)

●North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (NANETS): Practical considerations when providing palliative care to patients with neuroendocrine tumors in the context of routine disease management or hospice care – Guidelines and guidance (2023)

●American Academy of Neurology (AAN): Clinical guidance in neuropalliative care – Position statement (2022)

●American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Guidance for pediatric end-of-life care – Clinical report (2022)

●American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD): Practice guidance – Palliative care and symptom‐based management in decompensated cirrhosis (2022)

●American Thoracic Society (ATS)/American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM)/Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA)/Social Work Hospice and Palliative Care Network (SWHPN): Palliative care early in the care continuum among patients with serious respiratory illness – An official policy statement (2022)

●American Gastroenterological Association (AGA): Clinical practice update on palliative care management in cirrhosis – Expert review (2021)

●United States best practice guidelines for primary palliative care in the emergency department (2021)

●ACOG: Committee opinion on end-of-life decision making (2015, reaffirmed 2018)

●ASCO: Palliative care in the global setting – Resource-stratified practice guideline (2018)

●Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) Clinicians' Network: Adapting your practice – Recommendations for end-of-life care for people experiencing homelessness (2018)

●National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care (NCHPC): Clinical practice guidelines for quality palliative care, 4th edition (2018)

●AAP: Guidance on forgoing life-sustaining medical treatment – Policy statement (2017)

●AHA/American Stroke Association (ASA): Palliative care and cardiovascular disease and stroke – A policy statement (2016)

Europe

●European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC): Revised recommended framework on palliative sedation – An international Delphi study (2024)

●European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM): Guidelines on end of life and palliative care in the intensive care unit (2024)

●European Respiratory Society (ERS): Clinical practice guideline – Palliative care for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or interstitial lung disease (2023)

●EAPC: Revised recommendations on standards and norms for palliative care in Europe – A Delphi study (2022)

●European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO): Care of the adult cancer patient at the end of life – Clinical practice guidelines (2021)

●European Association for Neuro-Oncology (EANO): Guidelines for palliative care in adults with glioma (2017)

United Kingdom

●National Health Service Scotland (NHS Scotland): Scottish palliative care guidelines

●British Association for the Study of the Liver (BASL)/British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG): Palliative long-term abdominal drains for the management of refractory ascites due to cirrhosis – A consensus document (2022)

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Quality standard on end of life care for adults (2011, updated 2021)

●NICE: Guideline on end of life care for adults – Service delivery (2019)

●NICE: Guideline on end of life care for infants, children, and young people with life-limiting conditions – Planning and management (2016, updated 2019)

●NICE: Quality standard on end of life care for infants, children, and young people (2017)

●NICE: Clinical guideline on palliative care for adults – Strong opioids for pain relief (2012, updated 2016)

●NICE: Guideline on care of dying adults in the last days of life (2015)

India

●Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP): Consensus statement on end-of-life care (2017)

Australia–New Zealand

●Palliative Care Australia (PCA): National palliative care standards

●Choosing Wisely Australia: Do not delay discussion of and referral to palliative care for a patient with serious illness just because they are pursuing disease-directed treatment (2016)

●Choosing Wisely Australia: Don't initiate and continue medicines for primary prevention in individuals who have a limited life expectancy (2016)

●Choosing Wisely Australia: For emergency department patients approaching end-of-life, ensure clinicians, patients, and families have a common understanding of the goals of care (2015)

Japan

●[In Japanese] Japanese Society of Palliative Medicine (JSPM): Guidelines

●[In English] JSPM: The principles of revised clinical guidelines about palliative sedation therapy (2020)

●[In Japanese] Choosing Wisely Japan: Palliative care support during serious illness (2015)