[Framework of palliative care in Germany and development of public health targets. Study design and methods].

To provide adequate end-of-life care is a substantial task of the health care system. However, it has been largely disregarded. For public health research, important activities include analysing the societal requirements as well as the health system-related possibilities and framework. Therefore, a study, funded by the German Research Foundation, for the first time (1) examines the viewpoints of a wide range of stakeholders that operate on different levels of the German health system, and (2) develops broadly based public health targets for palliative care in Germany. This article presents the conceptual framework, design and methods of the study.