Palliative care and end-of-life care are approaches to care that aim to improve the quality of life of patients with life-threatening illnesses and their families. This is achieved by preventing and alleviating physical, psychosocial, and spiritual suffering. Patients should be enabled to live actively until death. Family members are supported through the period of bereavement. To achieve this, care services must be provided early and tailored to the life situation and disease phases of those affected. Both specialized and general palliative care are needed for this purpose. This ensures that seriously ill people come into contact with the palliative care team early in the course of their illness, so that they can receive increasingly intensive support as needed. In the direct interaction between those affected and professional as well as volunteer helpers, it becomes apparent that various burdens and losses raise existential questions.