BMC Palliative Care is calling for submissions to our new Collection, Death and grief literacy. Death and grief literacy encompasses the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that individuals and communities need to navigate conversations and decisions about death, dying, and bereavement. This Collection aims to explore the various dimensions of death and grief literacy in the context of palliative care, examining its impact on individuals, families, and healthcare professionals in facilitating meaningful dialogues about the dying process and bereavement.

Death and grief literacy is crucial for empowering individuals to make informed choices that promote dignity and quality in the final stages of life and beyond. Recent advances in research highlight the effectiveness of educational interventions and community-based programs that aim to improve understanding and attitudes toward death and bereavement. Death and grief literacy can also play an important role in addressing cultural diversity and individual preferences in palliative and hospice care, enabling quality care and personalized support.

We welcome multidisciplinary, community and health services research on death and grief literacy that fosters more compassionate and holistic approaches to palliative care and bereavement support. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Understanding death and grief literacy in palliative care and bereavement support
• The role of communication and conversations about death and bereavement in end-of-life care
• Educational and social interventions for death and grief literacy
• Cultural considerations in death and grief literacy

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being.

BMC Palliative Care is calling for submissions to our new Collection, Optimizing communication in palliative care. Communication is a clinical practice in palliative care but is complicated by personal and structural barriers including emotional distress, cultural and language differences, lack of training among healthcare providers, time constraints, and patients’ or families’ reluctance to discuss end-of-life issues. Strengthening communication between the team, patient, and family can optimize care coordination, reduce misunderstandings, and improve the overall quality of care.

Navigating communication barriers is key to building trust and honoring patients' needs and preferences. Emerging research is shedding light on these challenges and demonstrating how tailored strategies can improve the patient and family experience. For example, training in communication skills, across all interdisciplinary groups, can facilitate goals of care communication and shared decision-making. Communication research will shape how healthcare professionals approach palliative care communication, ultimately benefiting clinicians, patients, families, as well as the healthcare system.

We welcome research on optimizing communication in palliative care, with topics of interest including, but not limited to:

• Communication challenges when specialty palliative care is not available

• Palliative care conversations with family caregivers

• Communication interventions to address equity-centered palliative care

• Communication training for diagnosis and prognosis conversations

• Telehealth and palliative care communication

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being.