Dear Colleagues,

The global demand for palliative and end-of-life care continues to rise as populations age, with a concurrent increase in the burden of non-communicable—as well as some communicable—diseases. Access to palliative care is limited worldwide, with only a minority of those in need receiving timely access to palliative and end-of-life care, particularly in low-resource settings. This is due to factors such as financial pressures, underdeveloped infrastructure, geographical constraints (e.g., rural settings), and environmental factors. Access to effective palliative care is a critical component of universal health coverage and needs to be achieved in ways that mitigate, circumvent, or overcome such inhibiting factors.

Many people nearing the end of their lives face challenges related to life-threatening illnesses, including but not limited to their physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and communication needs. With the early integration of the person-centered approach to palliative care, the quality of life of patients and their families can be improved.

Innovative models of palliative care delivery continue to be developed globally to increase access to care for people with life-threatening illnesses. One approach, further catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, is the use of digital health capabilities and technological innovation. If developed and implemented well, digitally enabled models of care could strengthen progress towards a more equitable state of universal health coverage. However, it is critical to ensure digitally enabled models of care are implemented optimally to meet the needs of service users, their caregivers, and their healthcare providers.

This Special Issue seeks to draw together much-needed evidence to guide the development of palliative care and end-of-life care services globally, particularly with a focus on the application of digital technologies.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in IJERPH.

Dr. Matthew Allsop
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nursing Reports is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• palliative care
• end-of-life care
• digital technology
• health research
• user involvement
• global health