Implications for practice and research

• The paper has significant implications for policy and practice given the increasing mention of ‘dignity’ as a preferred outcome for healthcare, particularly within a palliative and end-of-life care context.

• The findings point clearly to a need for future research to develop a more nuanced understanding of dignity which takes into account cultural differences in how the term is understood.

Context

A key aim of palliative care is to provide patient-centred care that encompasses both the person at their end of life and those they are emotionally close to. In this frame the purpose of palliative care …