Chronic lung diseases are a devastating reality for many people all around the world. One particularly concerning disease in this category is COPD, which is responsible for 2.9 million deaths annually and is the third leading cause of death worldwide. While palliative care, a specialised medical approach for those with life-threatening conditions, has traditionally been associated with cancer care in Europe, there is a growing recognition of its benefits for individuals with non-malignant diseases like COPD. This type of care seeks to improve physical and psycho-social well-being, ultimately enhancing the quality of life for patients and their families. Recent systematic reviews highlight the positive outcomes of palliative care interventions for non-cancer diseases, including reduced symptom burden and hospitalisations. Despite the benefits, the implementation of palliative care in non-cancer settings within the European Union has been limited.

The symptom burden of people with COPD is severe and burdensome. Palliative care and good end-of-life care for people with COPD are not well integrated into their treatment by respiratory hospital teams in Europe. In addition, the delivery of palliative care to patients with it presents various challenges. One of the main issues is the unpredictable nature of the disease and how it progresses. And the added burden of sudden deaths among patients with COPD only adds to the difficulty of planning and managing this disease. But what makes matters even worse is the lack of information and involvement in decision-making for patients. Furthermore, the social and cultural norms are often neglected in the current treatment of advanced COPD patients. Limited access to palliative care services and inadequate training and education of healthcare providers only compounds the problem, making current COPD interventions not optimal.