Nizhny Novgorod region is one of the five areas, where demographic aging level is among the highest in Russia. Our sociological research was carried out by a method of interview of the terminally ill persons 60 years and over, living in Nizhny Novgorod. The purpose of interrogation was to study the need of the elderly in palliative care and the kinds and amount of care, which they really receive. Our questionnaire has been made on the base of the questionnaire developed in Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Sociology on the international sample. The interrogation was carried out at patients' homes and in the outpatient medico-social department of a city polyclinic. It contains questions on medical and hospital care, nursing care, social services provision and symptom control, patients' satisfaction with his or her communications with a doctor and a nurse, availability of different services and the need to pay for investigations and medical interventions which must be made free of charge. Besides we examined the availability of strong opioids and other essential drugs for cancer patients. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS-program. The data received reflect the general unsatisfactory condition of palliative care services for the elderly with life threatening diseases. The findings will be presented at the conference. The results of our study have been submitted to the City Public Health Minister in order to make some positive decisions on palliative care promotion, including palliative care for the elderly people. After that we managed to organize the first home palliative care team in our city. The comparative analysis of the quality of medical and social care for the elderly in this district before and after the beginning of the team's work is the subject for further investigation.