Palliative care aims to improve the individual quality of life and to relieve physical, psychosocial and spiritual distress (WHO definition 2002). This comprehensive approach requires reflection in everyday life as well as theoretical and scientific effort. Modern medicine owes its achievements mainly to strictly scientifically oriented research. At the same time, the comprehension of health and decease was reduced to biomedical aspects. Thus, research in palliative care needs to integrate both scientific theories as well as models and approaches of the humanities into a general concept. Above all, philosophy, theology and social sciences should be consulted when the focus is not only on physical distress, but also on psychosocial and spiritual needs of patients, relatives and medical staff. Considering the history of sciences, the required cooperation needs to be newly established. During the workshop, methods and results of an interdisciplinary project of theologians, social scientists and doctors at Jena University about ‘‘Pain and Meaning’’ will be presented and discussed. First results of the carried out survey show measurable spiritual and/or psychosocial meaning dimensions of pain, that are highly relevant for the comprehension of patients. Those results should be considered when dealing with people in distress. In future, research on spiritual and existential distress should not only focus on pain, but also on more comprehensive issues like the question of a good death. Furthermore, theories, models and methods of the humanities should be considered.