Caring for patients with progressive illness who need symptomatic and palliative care involves professionals as well as non-professionals. Within the variety of settings that may exist around a patient, education will be constantly needed. A limited systematic review was therefore conducted in order to highlight factors that influence informal adult education. Methods: Eight databases (covering all the years each database covered up to present date), the internet and twenty-two journals were searched. If not available on line, the journals were hand searched. Keywords were "professional-instruction-evidence", combined. The search was augmented by contacting researchers and authors. We included studies describing any adult education setting outside the formally established educational setting (such as classroom/school/university). Outcomes were related to individual responses, not to groups as a whole. We excluded studies including children or those carried out in classroom settings, as well as studies where the outcome referred to the group as a whole. Data were extracted into tables and contrasted, drawing particularly on studies from health care settings. Studies were graded according to their: 1) relevance by using an adjusted Signal score and 2) level of evidence. Results: A total of 81 articles and reviews were found. From these, 28 studies and 5 Cochrane reviews were included. The studies and reviews reflect a spread in design, settings as well as origin. All continents except South America were represented. Many studies indicated that a multi-faceted, personally tailored educational approach gives the best results. This finding was corroborated by the Cochrane reviews. A common finding was that transport (to the educational arena) emerged as an important factor. Conclusions: Multifaceted education, which includes the use of various media, and which is personally tailored is most effective. Examples are such as a combination of verbal and written presentations including information forms, leaflets, alongside a demonstration of practical skills in a real life situation. (Contains 3 tables.)