To understand the impact of initiation of palliative care in this low-resource setting, and whether palliative care is a cost-reducing intervention that will improve patient-reported outcomes and quality of life.

The investigators overall goal is to understand the impact of initiation of early palliative care in an oncology population in a low-resource setting in order to provide guidance for future public health policies surrounding the provision of palliative care in Ethiopia. Hypothesis: The investigators hypothesize that initiation of palliative care in this low-resource setting is a cost-reducing intervention that will improve patient-reported outcomes and quality of life. Preliminary data: This research will focus on adult patients with oncologic diagnoses as preliminary research in this setting revealed that this patient population had the highest depression and anxiety scores, the lowest palliative outcome scores, and reported the highest costs of medical care.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with any newly diagnosed cancer who are ambulatory and able to respond verbally to questions, are eligible for inclusion.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who have not been diagnosed with cancer.
• Patients with diagnoses made more than 4 weeks ago, who are non-ambulatory, or are already receiving palliative care, are ineligible to participate in the study.

blinded