Philosophical Practice in Palliative Care and Hospice Work

The declared goal of palliative care and hospice work is to improve the quality of life for the dying and their relatives. In the specific situation before death or existential losses, however, questions of a philosophical nature also emerge—often with great existential urgency and clarity. It is therefore only natural that, according to a definition by Karl Jaspers, the experience of such boundary situations is the deepest origin of philosophy itself. This direct engagement with death shows that philosophizing is not an elitist affair. The movement of "Philosophical Practice" also draws attention to this.

Philosophical Practice evolved from the idea that theoretical philosophy is more than relevant for everyday life and, furthermore, philosophy itself can benefit from personal life experiences. Death and dealing with it are one of the main themes of philosophy. It is therefore surprising how little Philosophical Practice is already integrated into hospice work and palliative care.

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SAVE THE DATE! October 10 -12, 2025

Conference at the University of Graz, Austria

Autumn Colloquium of the International Society of Philosophical Practice (IGPP) in cooperation with the Professional Association of Philosophical Practice (BV-PP) and concluding conference of the research project "Philosophical Practice in Palliative Care and Hospice Work. The role of philosophical reflection in the development of a culture of care and knowledge about dying" (University of Graz)

Learn more about our conference.

International conference presentation by the research team

At the 8th Public Health Palliative Care International Conference in Bern (Switzerland), Dr. Patrick Schuchter, Sandra Radinger and Stefanie Rieger gave a joint presentation entitled "To philosophize means learning to die" Developing death literacy in communities of philosophical and palliative care practice.
They developed the complementarities that palliative care and philosophical practice can offer each other and explained how philosophical practice can address dimensions that are difficult to measure. They also emphasized the importance of experiential learning for the development of death literacy.

To the conference website

Online-Conference "On the edge of life"

What is the significance of philosophical practice for care at the end of life?

This is one of the central questions of the FWF-funded research project "Philosophical Practice in Palliative Care and Hospice Work. The role of philosophical reflection in the development of a culture of care and knowledge about dying". We conducted interviews with people in the field of palliative care and hospice as well as with philosophical practitioners. We organized philosophical discussion evenings, worked in workshops with teams from mobile and stationary palliative care, and accompanied philosophers in their individual discussions.

We shared the first results of our research and entered into a (philosophical) discussion.

Click here to learn more about events.

You can download the flyer for the event here.

Project lead Dr. Patrick Schuchter delivers keynote address

The ethics of care and the political philosophy of care are important reference discourses in our research project. Project lead Patrick Schuchter had the opportunity to formulate his thoughts on questions of the good life in the 21st century and on the connection between "Palliative Care" and "Green Care" in a keynote speech, fed by the results of our research, in a special place as part of a special initiative: in the barn of Barbara Enk's Auszeithof in St. Aegyd am Neuwalde on the occasion of the farm's Green Care certification.

With "Last Questions - How Philosophical Practice Contributes to Developing Death Literacy" in "Palliative Care - Current Practice and Future Perspectives" the research team of the project "Philosophical Practice in Palliative Care and Hospice Work. The role of philosophical reflection in the development of a culture of care and knowledge about dying".

The authors develop concrete models of philosophical practice for palliative care.

To the book chapter.

New website for project events

Our research project now has a website specifically for upcoming events.

Since December 2022, we have been researching dying, death and grief in the context of philosophical practice and palliative care. Finally, we would like to share our findings with you and look forward to hearing your thoughts.

We have therefore developed three events that we would like to present to you on a separate website:

- A two-hour online event to provide an initial overview of our project findings.

- An online workshop series of presentations.

- A final conference in Graz.

We look forward to your participation.

Go to the website.

Philosophical practice for the (nascent) caring community Eningen unter Achalm

In close cooperation with the community of Eningen unter Achalm, the members of our research project developed a program to support them on their way to becoming a caring community - with formats from philosophical practice. From 27-29.6.24 Sandra Radinger and Stefanie Rieger conducted the workshop "Encouraging Thinking - Living Community. Philosophical impulses for the Caring Community Eningen: With each other for each other" and were able to inspire 9 enthusiastic caring people for philosophical practice.
The participants were empowered to identify and articulate fundamental themes and philosophical questions in their daily lives. Accompanied by our philosophical practitioners they develop philosophical mini-activities and give philosophical impulses to the Caring Community Eningen. In this way, fundamental questions of the community become visible and a space for encounter and exchange is created - not only on the level of experience, but also on the level of joint articulation of concerns.
The insights gained can then be translated into content and practice - for the Caring Community Eningen as well as for research.

Take a look at the PowerPoint presentation of the event here.

Research with the mobile palliative team

Sandra Radinger and Stefanie Rieger accepted the generous invitation from the Mobile Palliative Care Team Graz to test the effectiveness of philosophical practice formats for the profession on site. This resulted in three assignments on the premises of the Mobile Palliative Care Team in November 2023, May 2024 and June 2024.

Formats such as philosophical cafés, philosophical walks, contemplative elements and much more were offered. Between two dates, the participants were also accompanied with philosophical questions via their work cell phones.

The feedback from the participants and their team leaders was overwhelming.

Participation in the first research colloquium of the IGPP.

The motivating question that preceded the research colloquium of the International Society for Philosophical Practice (IGPP) was how philosophical practice can bridge the gap to academic philosophy. With the first official gathering in the academic realm of researchers and the collaborative reflection on their scholarly work, this goal has been achieved.

Patrick Schuchter was appointed to the scientific expert team, and Stefanie Rieger presented a section of her doctoral thesis with the presentation "What significance does trust have in the context of philosophical practice in existential crises?".

Klaus Wegleitner presented a poster at the 8th Austrian Interprofessional Palliative Care Congress

"Existential Communication and the Art of the Philosophical Question in Palliative Care" was the title of the poster, which was developed as a result of the collaboration with Petra Poier, a graduate of the Master's course in Palliative Care (PMU Salzburg) from the research project "Philosophical Practice in Palliative Care and Hospice Work." The poster was based on a joint interview study followed by a philosophical discussion on existential questions in the context of palliative care and hospice with full-time staff and volunteers from the Styrian region.

The poster can be viewed here (in German).