We’re the UK’s leading charitable funder of palliative and end of life care research. All our research investments have one key aim: to improve the care and support that people affected by any terminal illness and their families receive − now and in the future.
Why we do research
We need to find better ways to care for people at the end of their lives
Right now, about 90% of people who die in the UK are estimated to need palliative care. By 2048, it’s estimated that more than 730,000 people will die with palliative care needs each year. As more people are living longer and have increasingly complex care needs, we urgently need more research-based knowledge and expertise to help us design and deliver the best possible care and support for everyone.
End of life and palliative care research is still significantly underfunded
Analysis of research spend in the UK shows the amount spent on this area of care in 2022 is only 0.23% of the total amount spent on all health-related research in the UK.
There’s a very limited pool of research evidence on palliative and end of life care
This makes it challenging for us, and others, to completely understand what excellent care looks like for people with terminal illnesses, and how we can improve on what we’re doing now. Read our report on the under-researched areas of end of life care.
Research into palliative and end of life care can help us:
- understand who is currently not getting the care they need and what the needs in the future will be
- gauge how end of life care services are working now and how they can be improved
- provide evidence that can be used to create necessary changes to services.
How we support palliative and end of life care research
We fund research
Marie Curie is the largest UK charitable funder of palliative and end of life care research. We offer a range of funding to support the highest quality, most impact-driven research projects and programmes aligned to our strategic objectives.
We do research ourselves
Marie Curie has a dedicated internal team who are experts in their field, as well as Senior Research Fellows and Research Nurses, to conduct research to support our services and ensure Marie Curie's work is supported by evidence.
We enable research
We fund research and work in partnership with other organisations to deliver research across the wider palliative and end of life sector, helping to provide the best care and improve the care system across the UK.
We involve people to shape research
Our Research Voices Group offers people affected by dying, death and bereavement the opportunity to use their voice to improve end of life care. Members of the group share their views and lived experience to inform Marie Curie’s research priorities and help shape our research programmes.
We use research to drive change
Our research offers the strongest possible evidence base to inform decisions across the organisation and achieve change in policy and practice across the UK. Over the course of 2023/24, our Research and Policy team contributed to 27 changes to policy and practice, which delivered approximately 280,000 positive impacts on people affected by dying, death and bereavement.
Our annual research conference invites researchers and health and social care professionals to hear about the latest research and innovation in palliative and end of life care. Last year 1700 people registered from 46 countries.
