'Thank you for loving me': A qualitative study on perceptions of gratitude and their effects in palliative care patients and relatives.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Empirical studies suggest that gratitude positively influence the quality of life of palliative patients and relatives. However, the literature is marked by a lack of conceptual clarity about what gratitude is and whether it can bring about individual and social benefits.

Aim

This paper explores how palliative care patients and relatives understand gratitude, how discursive representations of gratitude may affect their positions, perceptions and relations, and how to conceptualise gratitude in the palliative context.

Design

We examine 33 gratitude letters written by patients and relatives and 25 semi-structured interviews conducted as part of a pilot gratitude intervention study. We use a qualitative approach, thematic analysis, within a conceptual framewor

SUBMITTER: Poncin E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10798025 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature