Physical comfort
Relief from pain, breathlessness, nausea, fatigue and other distressing symptoms while a person continues to receive appropriate medical care.
Palliative Care
Comprehensive care that manages total pain and improves quality of life for people with life-threatening illness and those who love them.
Care that starts long before the final days
Palliative care is comprehensive care that manages total pain and improves quality of life. It is recognised by the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and other bodies as a human right for people living with life-threatening illnesses.
It is not the same as giving up treatment. Good palliative care can be introduced from diagnosis, can sit alongside disease-directed treatment, and should support the person as well as their family and caregivers.
DignitySA supports broader access to high-quality palliative care while also advocating for clear, compassionate choices at the end of life. These are not competing commitments. People should be able to receive excellent care and have their values respected.
Whole-person care
What palliative care includes
Palliative care responds to physical, psychological, social and spiritual suffering, often through an interdisciplinary team.
Emotional support
Space for fear, uncertainty, grief, family conflict and difficult decisions to be held with honesty and professional care.
Family and caregiver support
Guidance for loved ones, practical planning, respite where available, and bereavement support when it is needed.
Spiritual and social care
Attention to meaning, culture, relationships, values and the social realities that shape a person's experience of serious illness.
Lives we walk alongside
Palliative care is for living, not for leaving
Good palliative care holds the whole person and the people they love. It makes room for connection, comfort and ordinary joy alongside serious illness.
Palliative care is not giving up
Many people delay asking for palliative care because they associate it only with death, hospice admission or the withdrawal of treatment. APCC guidance makes the opposite point: palliative care is a way of adding support, comfort and clarity earlier in serious illness.
Read DignitySA on APCC's position Myth
Palliative care is only for the final days of life.
Truth: It should ideally be introduced from the point of diagnosis with a life-threatening illness and can be provided alongside active treatment.
Myth
You have to be admitted to a hospice to receive it.
Truth: Most hospice care in South Africa is delivered in the comfort of a patient's home. Some hospices have inpatient units, but many do not.
Myth
Palliative care is only for the patient.
Truth: It is holistic care for the patient and their loved ones, addressing physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions of illness.
Myth
It is unaffordable.
Truth: Some medical schemes cover palliative care, some people pay privately, and many hospices subsidise care through donations depending on capacity.
Myth
Hospices cannot provide high levels of care.
Truth: The Association of Palliative Care Centres maintains standards for palliative healthcare services that are internationally recognised.
How to access care
Practical routes into palliative care
Access varies by province, service capacity and funding route. These are the clearest starting points for patients, families and clinicians.
Ask early for a referral
A doctor or nurse can refer you to palliative care. It is worth asking from diagnosis, not only when treatment options have narrowed.
Find a palliative care centre
The APCC directory lists hospices and palliative care centres across South Africa, including services in all nine provinces.
Search APCC directoryFind a trained practitioner
PALPRAC helps people locate healthcare professionals with palliative care training in their area.
Search PALPRAC providersAsk your medical scheme
Some medical schemes fund advanced illness or palliative care benefits. Ask what is covered and what referral paperwork is needed.
Guidance by audience
Find the guidance that fits your situation
Choose the pathway that best matches your role. Each page brings together care directories, planning templates, support organisations and practical next steps.
For patients
Find care directories, support organisations and practical guidance for people facing serious illness.
For families and carers
Support for caregiving, grief, conversations and family decision-making around serious illness.
For medical professionals
Training, eligibility guidance and interdisciplinary support for clinicians caring for patients with advanced illness.
Advance care planning
Prepare treatment preferences and appoint a trusted person through a Section 7 Mandate.
Join the campaign
Help normalise asking for palliative care
DignitySA supports the Association of Palliative Care Centres' campaign, Through the Palliative Care Lens, which shines a light on palliative care centres across the country and on World Hospice and Palliative Care Day each October.
Myths still prevent people from getting help. You can assist by sharing accurate information, encouraging early referrals, supporting a local hospice or thrift shop, and helping families know that palliative care is a source of support, not a signal that care has ended.
Need Support?
We can help point you in the right direction.
If you are looking for palliative care, planning resources or end-of-life support, contact DignitySA and we will do our best to connect you with appropriate information.