Health-related suffering generated by life-limiting or life-threatening conditions is a complex phenomenon inextricably linked with human experience. Most of this suffering can be ameliorated with access to quality palliative care that is not available in most parts of the world, especially low-resource settings. Some exploration of the definitional boundaries of and needs pertaining to health-related suffering suggests that patients and families assign importance to the compassionate and supportive aspects of palliative care. However, the value of alleviating health-related suffering to patients and caregivers has not been systematically studied and limited to high-income contexts. Comprehensive evidence can support the overall investment case for expanding access to palliative care worldwide. The SAVE (Suffering Alleviation and the Value of Experiential knowledge) Toolkit provides a protocol and qualitative instrument to examine the value assigned to suffering alleviation based on lived experience. Informed by literature reviews, deliberation of a global expert group on limitations of quantitative measurement of suffering, and piloting in two countries – Barbados and Mexico – the SAVE Toolkit can contribute to a body of evidence that is anchored by experiential knowledge of the illness trajectory to advance people-centered health policy and systems research. The Toolkit, a part of broader work in follow-up to the Lancet Commission on Global Access to Palliative Care and Pain Relief, incorporates guidance on qualitative evidence generation and its importance to understanding lived experience. Finally, implications for health systems responsiveness and high-value healthcare are discussed alongside opportunities for future research.