Websites for Hospice and Palliative Services That Build Trust and Move People
A hospice service accompanies people in the most vulnerable phase of their lives. We create websites that reach those affected, their families and referring professionals in difficult times, invite volunteers to join and attract specialist palliative care professionals.
No other segment of care places such high demands on attitude, language and credibility as hospice and palliative care. People who search online for a hospice service, an inpatient hospice or a community palliative team are often in an acute crisis: the diagnosis has been made, home care has reached its limits or discharge from hospital is imminent. Your website must speak with humanity at this moment, provide clear information and at the same time appear to referring professionals, GPs and clinics as a reliable specialist organisation. And it must attract the two most important groups your service needs to function: volunteers, without whom a community hospice cannot exist, and specialist palliative care professionals. On our foundation pages about the care website and the recruiting page, you will find what we put into practice specifically for hospice and palliative care.
low-barrier
readable for seniors
330+
community hospice services in Germany (German Society for Palliative Medicine)
80%
of people wish to die at home (Forsa)
BFSG
accessibility mandatory from 2025
Price range · net, plus VAT
- A fixed price instead of open time sheets
- Dedicated paths for those affected, referrers and volunteers
- Accessible per BFSG and privacy-compliant included
- Volunteer and specialist recruiting on request
Starter website 1,490 €, a multi-page hospice website with dedicated areas for those affected, referrers, volunteering and vacancies 2,480 € — each a one-off fixed price. Ongoing care optional from 49 € per month, care marketing (local SEO) from 490 € per month. Every project begins with a free, no-obligation initial talk.
What Makes a Hospice Website Fundamentally Different
While care service websites often argue with speed and availability, a hospice website requires a completely different tone. People researching a hospice service are facing one of the hardest situations of their lives. They are not looking for promises or advertising, but for the feeling that the people behind the service understand what it means to accompany rather than cure. This attitude must be reflected in every element of the website: in the texts, in the visual language, in the structure and in the navigation.
A hospice service must address not one but at least three completely different audiences simultaneously. Those affected and their relatives, who in a crisis situation are searching for orientation and reassurance. Professional referrers such as GPs, hospital social services, oncology practices and care advisory centres, who want information about the range of services, the catchment area and availability. And people who wish to volunteer or work professionally in palliative care. Each of these groups needs its own pathways, content and tone. A website that fails to deliver this loses potential supporters, specialists and referrers every single day.
Community hospice service: a distinctive structure
Three Audiences, One Website — How It Works
Those Affected and Relatives
Calm, dignified language without euphemisms. Clear answers to the questions that truly matter in this situation: who comes, how often, what does it cost and how do I make contact?
Referrers and Partners
A factual presentation of the range of services, the catchment area, referral pathways and availability for GPs, hospitals, oncology practices and care advisory centres.
Volunteers and Professionals
An inviting, honest description of voluntary accompaniment and employed positions in coordination and palliative care, with a low-threshold application process.
Privacy for Sensitive Enquiries
Enquiries about hospice accompaniment and palliative care contain highly sensitive information about diagnosis and life situation. Encrypted transmission and hosting in Germany are mandatory.
Accessible for All Generations
Older relatives, people with visual impairment and people under severe emotional stress need a clear, readable and easy-to-use website. WCAG 2.2 AA is our standard.
Locally Found, Regionally Known
Hospice services are mostly searched for regionally. We ensure local visibility in the catchment area and help regional palliative networks make your work visible beyond the local community.
Content That Reaches Those Affected and Their Relatives in Difficult Times
People who contact a hospice service rarely do so in a calm moment. Usually a call to the GP is imminent, a hospital discharge has been arranged, or home care has reached a point where it becomes clear that professional accompaniment is needed. At this moment, the website must not create additional barriers. It must load quickly, work well on a smartphone and show within seconds how contact can be made. At the same time it needs depth: texts that explain what hospice accompaniment really means, what services are included and how the first contact works.
It is especially important to explain clearly the difference between community hospice accompaniment and SAPV (Specialised Outpatient Palliative Care). Many relatives do not know these terms and are unsure which form of support applies to them. A website that provides this orientation without overwhelming creates trust and at the same time relieves the coordination team, which would otherwise have to explain everything again from scratch at every initial conversation. Read more about how we structure care website content on the care website page.
Providing Orientation in the Hardest Times, Clearly and with Dignity
What those affected must find on the website immediately
In a crisis situation, seconds decide whether someone stays or leaves. The home page of a hospice service must achieve three things immediately: show the contact path, explain the nature of accompaniment and convey the feeling that there are people waiting here who understand. Information about costs, the provider and the catchment area should be visible clearly but not intrusively.
- Phone number and contact form permanently visible and prominent
- Plain-language explanation of hospice accompaniment and SAPV
- Clear information about cost coverage by health insurers
- Calm, dignified design with no advertising character
Winning Referrers: GPs, Clinics and Oncology Practices
Many hospice services reach those affected not directly but through professional referrers. GPs accompanying patients with a life-limiting illness are often the first to point to a hospice service. Oncology practices, hospital social services, care advisory centres and SAPV teams are further important partners. These professionals want to recognise within seconds whether your service is suitable for their patients: exactly what is offered, in which catchment area, who is responsible, how referrals are handled and how quickly an accompaniment can begin.
A dedicated, factual section for referrers on the website is therefore not a luxury but a prerequisite for a strong referral structure. This section can include a downloadable referral form, a clear service description and a direct contact route to the employed coordination team. Referrers who quickly find the information they need choose your service more often than one whose website hides this information. We show how such structures are built on the local visibility for care services page; what a referrer section looks like in detail is described in our article on addressing referral partners via the website.
Referral Form and Process
A downloadable referral form, a clear description of the referral process and a typical timeframe until the start of accompaniment. GPs and social services immediately know what steps to take.
Show the Catchment Area Clearly
A map or list of the postcodes or localities served. Referrers check first whether your service covers the patient in question.
Direct Coordination Contact
A named employed contact person with phone and email for professional referrers. Personal contact is decisive in palliative care.
Recruiting Volunteers: the Heart of the Community Hospice Service
Without volunteers, there is no community hospice service. This is not an exaggeration but a legal reality: under § 39a SGB V, community hospice services must be carried to a significant extent by voluntary workers. Anyone wishing to attract new volunteers needs a website that answers honestly and warmly the questions of people considering whether this commitment is right for them. What does it actually mean to accompany a dying person? What training is provided? Who supports the volunteers? How much time is required? These questions always come first, and a page that answers them clearly and without false comfort builds trust.
The pathways to volunteering must be as clearly signposted on the website as the contact route for those seeking care. A dedicated section describing the qualification course, listing upcoming dates and showing voices from active volunteers can substantially increase the number of enquiries (project experience). Many people think about hospice work but do not take the first step because they do not know what to expect. A clear, inviting website removes this barrier. Read about how we build recruiting pages in the care sector on the recruiting page.
Opening the Path to Volunteering Clearly and Invitingly
What interested people need to know before they call
People thinking about hospice work have concrete questions and diffuse concerns. A dedicated volunteering page addresses both: factually, what the qualification course covers and when it starts, and personally, what accompaniment means and what the volunteer community looks like. Voices from people already volunteering are more effective here than any promotional text.
- Dedicated page describing the qualification course with upcoming dates
- Honest answers to common questions and concerns
- Voices from active volunteers within the service
- Simple contact form for prospective volunteers
Filling Employed Positions in Palliative Care
Alongside volunteers, hospice services and palliative care teams need employed professionals: coordinators who often have a nursing background and an additional qualification in palliative care, and in SAPV teams qualified nurses with a palliative care advanced training. These professionals are not easy to find, because palliative care is a specialist field and the emotional burden of the work is high. At the same time, they are often people who have consciously chosen this area and expect good working conditions, professional support and supervision as a matter of course.
The recruiting page for employed positions must therefore sound different from a standard job advert. It must show how your service handles the emotional weight of this work: whether supervision is provided, how the team carries the burden together, how continued education in palliative care is supported and what values guide the service. People who want to work in palliative care choose their employer based on the why and how, not just salary and shift patterns. An honest, reflective recruiting page speaks directly to these people. Further details about our approach are on the recruiting page; how credible insights are created is shown in our article on authentic photos instead of stock images.
Show Values and Ethos
What drives your service? What understanding of accompaniment underpins the work? People wanting to work professionally in palliative care choose based on these values above all else.
Supervision and Team Culture
Regular supervision, case discussions in the team and a culture of mutual support are not extras in hospice work but foundations. Show how this looks in practice at your service.
Palliative Care Continued Education
Support for continued education through the Palliative Care curriculum or courses run by the German Society for Palliative Medicine is a strong argument for professionals who wish to develop further.
Describe Tasks Transparently
What does coordination work really involve? Which cases does the SAPV team accompany, in what setting? An honest, concrete glimpse into daily work is more convincing than any glossy description.
Privacy in hospice work: particularly sensitive
Accessibility: in Hospice Work Not Optional but Essential
The people who visit a hospice website belong to the most vulnerable user groups in existence. Older relatives with impaired vision, people under extreme emotional stress and people with physical limitations. Accessibility to WCAG 2.2 Level AA is therefore not only a requirement of the Accessibility Strengthening Act, which applies to private service providers from 2025. It is a question of values: those who genuinely wish to accompany ensure their website excludes no one. Details about our implementation are on the accessibility in care page.
Typical Content and Functions of a Hospice Website
- Home page with dignified communication, prominently displayed phone number and clear pathways for those affected, referrers and prospective volunteers
- Page about hospice accompaniment explaining what a companionship includes, how it begins and what it costs
- Information about SAPV (Specialised Outpatient Palliative Care) and its distinction from community hospice accompaniment
- Section for GPs, hospitals and social services with referral form, catchment area map and direct contact to coordination
- Volunteering page with qualification course description, upcoming dates, voices from active volunteers and a contact form
- Recruiting page for employed positions with values, supervision, continued education and an honest insight into daily work
- Contact page with phone, email and a form designed for minimum data collection and encrypted transmission
- Imprint, privacy policy and accessibility statement complete and up to date
How Your Hospice Service Website Is Created
Initial consultation and goal definition
In the free initial consultation we get to know your service: who are your audiences, how is your provider structure organised, where does volunteer recruitment fall short and what message should the website primarily send? We listen before we plan.
Develop structure and content
We plan a page structure that guides all three audiences clearly and develop texts in dignified, human language that neither glosses over nor overwhelms. Dedicated, clear areas are created for referrers, volunteers and applicants.
Design and accessible implementation
We design a calm, professional website that combines warmth and expertise, and implement it accessibly to WCAG 2.2 AA and in compliance with data protection requirements. Forms for care enquiries, referrals and applications are integrated securely.
Launch, visibility and ongoing care
After testing we go live, set up local visibility and relevant directory listings and, if required, accompany the ongoing maintenance of the website so that course dates, vacancies and contact details are always current.
Your Hospice Website at a Glance
- One website guides those affected, referrers, volunteers and professionals along clearly separate paths.
- Dignified language and calm design instead of a promotional tone.
- Volunteer recruitment as the heart under § 39a SGB V — with a dedicated, inviting area.
- Accessible to WCAG 2.2 AA and privacy-compliant with hosting in Germany.
- Website from 1,490 € net, multi-page hospice website 2,480 € — a fixed price, not an hourly sheet.
Let's Talk Calmly About Your Hospice Service
In a free initial consultation we listen and show how a website supports your work: offering accompaniment, gaining volunteers and reaching referrers. With no sales pressure.