The project was developed by a group of graduates and focuses on the attention given to those patients ‘‘with no therapeutic possibility’’. The practice of Palliative Care is incipient in Brazil and the project aims to analyze the experiences with the poor, by combining the contributions made by the Clinic and Social Sciences. The objective is the analysis of experiences which are alternative to the prevailing hospital model. It used a qualitative methodology by analyzing two case studies. The first was carried out in one of the few clinics that adopt the hospice philosophy and treat the poor; the second was carried out within the service of home care, linked to a general public hospital. Interviews and direct observation were the techniques used. Nine patients were followed at the clinic during the period of one year. In the case of home care, visits were made to 10 patients during the period of 5 months. Results show that the clinic has a much less strict structure than that of the hospital. In addition to the basic palliative care, they tried to recreate the domestic environment by using cheap resources: common clothes, the patients’ involvement in simple tasks and their ongoing interaction with the clinic staff, family and friends. The analysis of home care demonstrates that the quality of treatment is linked to the family structure and to the assistant’s availability. On the other hand, it has been noticed a big effort made by the family members in order to assure the patient’s well being. The main advantage observed was the access to specialized services, a problem experienced by the population assisted at the public health services. It has been concluded that the above care provided not only leads to better social interaction situations than those created at hospitals, but also meet the needs resulting form the bad conditions under which the patients live.