[Doctor's role and communication with the dying]

In palliative medicine, the doctor's role towards the patient changes from curing to looking after and depends on the different organizational forms. A key topic for the doctor remains the decision, how far medical treatment should be extended - according to patient's will. Studies for palliative medicine have also showed considerable communication deficits. This leads to the following aims of communication with the dying: Recording of somatic, psychic, social and spiritual problems of the patients, informing about illness and prognosis, responding to the patient's emotional situation and to the existential dimension of dying as well as involving relatives in communication. "Active listening" is proposed as a communication form to be learned by doctors. Training programs and possibilities of improving the emotional situation of doctors are described.