Messaging to the public regarding advance care planning, palliative care and hospice is inconsistent and confusing. Hospice and palliative care specialists are often asked to talk to the public about care for people with serious illness, but most have received little or no training in public messaging or media engagement. This activity reviews the need for improving public messaging about advance care planning, palliative care, and hospice along with the empirical evidence for public attitudes and awareness of these aspects of care for serious illness.

Substance use disorders (SUD), and especially opioid abuse disorder (OUD) with resulting overdose-related deaths, constitute one of the most significant health crises of modern times.

Hospice and palliative care providers recognize the value of effective communication to facilitate exploration of patients' and families' values and goals; however, many providers struggle to perform these key tasks when patients cannot communicate in English or have cultural norms which differ significantly from their own. Concepts such as autonomy and patient self-determination, 'truth telling'/disclosure of difficult news, shared decision making, as well as the acceptability of various treatments and communication techniques may present invisible barriers for palliative care providers working across cultures.