Dignity and Quality of Life

What can I do?

Using a tool such as the Patient Dignity Inventory and the The Patient Dignity Question (PDQ) can help you become more sensitive and aware of the person.

To measure symptoms and support needs of a person in your care, you can use The Palliative care Outcome Scale (POS) - available in 11 languages.

You may want to use the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL questionnaire to assess the quality of life of someone in palliative cancer care.

Pain can compromise quality of life. You can use the following tools to assess pain:

• Pain scales in multiple languages (from the British Pain Society)
• Faces pain scale (A new validation, from the International Association for the Study of Pain)
• Advice for managing pain in residential aged care is available for both nurses and careworkers.
• Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia Scale (PAINAD) is recommended to assess pain in residents with severe dementia or cognitive impairment - See Pain in Residential Aged Care Facilities: Management strategies (requires payment but Executive summary is free)
• Remember that equipment services and support can enable people to engage and remain independent, and this will support their dignity
• Refer to the RACGP Silverbook section on Person-centred care.

What can I learn?

Rodríguez-Prat A, Monforte-Royo C, Porta-Sales J, Escribano X, Balaguer A. Patient perspectives of dignity, autonomy and control at the end of life: Systematic review and meta-ethnography. PLoS One. 2016 Mar 24;11(3):e0151435.
This review examines how dignity contributes to a person's identity.

Watch Harvey Chochinov talk about Dignity Therapy, Canadian Virtual Hospice.

What can my organisation do?

Providing a homely or personalised physical environment may be of great comfort particularly if it allows family or friends to stay close to an older person receiving palliative care.