This certainly implies that the discussions, despite not being structured, were very much of a collegial nature, which in theory leads to a decision with the agreement of participants in institutions admitting people suffering from very advanced dementia.

The participants were not, however, compelled to mention their feelings in relation to a case, and it is significant that the anonymity which we tried to maintain so that each person could feel “listened to” without value judgement was very often discarded by the individuals themselves. The card sorting method in groups was adopted after the study by several gerontology teams for their ordinary Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical decisions [21]. CCI-779 nmr Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions LP, CV, DFC, JLB, PP and RA developed the study concept. RA coordinated the study. LP and CV conducted the statistical analysis and developed the study design. SG and FS conducted the interviews. DFC, SG, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical FS, EC, JLB, PP and RA carried out the interpretation of the data. LP and RA Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical supervised the interviews. LP and CV wrote the manuscript and all authors reviewed and approved it. Pre-publication history The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-684X/10/4/prepub

Acknowledgements The authors are indebted to Miss Frances Sheppard (CIC-Biotherapy 506, Besançon, France) for her help in preparing the manuscript. Funding This work was supported by the hospital clinical research programme from the French Ministry of Health.
Although palliative care is meant

to “provide… spiritual and psychosocial support from diagnosis to the end of life and bereavement”, there are few tested, systematic interventions Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical available to address psychosocial and existential sources of distress among cancer patients admitted to palliative care [1]. Interventions targeting end-of-life distress are therefore highly relevant, to help patients live as fully as possible and to support the bereaved. Dignity Therapy (DT) was developed by Chochinov and colleagues based on their previous research on the concept Olopatadine of dignity [2-4]. DT is based on an empirical model of dignity in the terminally ill, which delineates what influences an individual’s sense of dignity. The purpose of DT is “to decrease suffering, enhance quality of life, and bolster a sense of meaning, purpose and dignity” [5]. Dignity Therapy employs a narrative approach and contains elements similar to Life Review and reminiscence, with its focus on letting the patient find meaning and reconciliation through examining past experiences and achievements, and making amends with or carry out unfinished business [6-9]. It also contains elements from meaning-centered therapies, in terms of creating legacy [10-14]. Further, DT focuses on meaning-making, by inviting patients to reflect on what is important to them.