This study explored the experiences of terminally ill patients taking part in an exhibition of their creative arts work. It took place in St Christopher's Hospice day centre, London, UK, which aims to facilitate an environment in which a range of social and creative opportunities is offered following the theoretical background of Maslow's and Rogers' theories of personal growth and creativity. A phenomenological study explored the views of 10 patients and eleven facilitators using in-depth, semi-structured, audiotaped interviews. A content analysis identified the main themes as enjoyment, enthusiasm, excitement, pride, achievement, satisfaction, sense of purpose, mutual support and permanence. These themes were interpreted as positive expressions of self-esteem, autonomy, social integration and hope. It is suggested that it was possible to identify hope as the essence of the phenomenon, and that this is important in palliative care where traditionally continuation of active medical intervention has been equated with provision of hope.

This study analyzed patients' accounts of how living with terminal illness affects their quality of life and their experiences of attending S1. Christopher's Hospice, which operates a psychosocial model of day care. Thirty-four patients took part in six audiotape recorded "goldfish bowl" teaching sessions for medical students. The tapes were transcribed and analyzed and the following themes were identified. Firstly, terminal illness causes multiple losses to quality of life; specific examples of physical limitations, loss of social interaction, low mood, and changed family dynamics were commonly experienced. Secondly, attending the day centre brought about beneficial changes. Patients described change of mood; enjoyment; achievement; sense of community, belonging, and mutual support; and were able to address problems with their relationships. It is concluded that attending day care improved these patients' quality of life. This study, which attends to patients' experiences of day care, builds on data acquired from studies using existing quality of life scales. Resume I Cette etude analyse les reclts des patients en phase terminale qui expliquent comment la maladie a attecte leur quallte de vie. C'est lors de sessions a l'unlte psychosociale des solns de jour du St. Christopher's Hospice que les patients ont pu en parler sans restrictions tout en exprimant leur satisfaction au sujet de ces sessions qui, selon eux, les ont aides a amellorer leur quallte de vie. Trente-quatre patients ont partlclpe a 6 sessions, enreqlstrees pour I'enseignement aux etudtants en rnedeclne. Les principaux themes suivants sont ressortis de la transcription et de I'analyse des sessions. Tout d'abord, la maladie en phase terminale a pour consequence de causer de multiples pertesdans la qualite de vie, soit: les Iimites physiques, la perte des relations soclales, la mauvaise humeur et Ie changement de la dynamique familiale. Ensuite, les patients ont mentionne que leur participation a ces sessions au centre de jour leur avait apporte beaucoup de changements beneflques dans leur vie. On mentionne entre autre un changement de I'humeur, la notion d'accomplissement, Ie sens d'appartenance et I'encouragement mutuel, ainsi que la capacite de regler les problemes survenus dans les relations personnelles. On conclut donc que la frequentation d'un centre de jour a arneliore la qualite de vie de ces patients. Cette etude qui rapporte l'experience des patients dans un centre de jour, se base sur des etudes precedentes qui ont utilise les actuels instruments de mesure de la quatlte de vie.

Kennett C, Payne M. Palliative care patients' experiences of healthcare treatment Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 262–271 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This article reports on a thematic analysis of the opinions of 34 palliative care patients about medical and healthcare treatment expressed in comments, narratives and discussions during a series of facilitated group discussions undertaken as part of training events for medical students. Palliative care patients often have long healthcare careers, which enables them to compare different professionals and services, thus offering a more powerful and complex analysis of patient experience than that obtainable from analysis of complaints or satisfaction surveys, and permits some understanding to be obtained of the attitudes that condition evaluations of services. The patients balanced negative views with positive experiences. They appreciated open, listening, equal and friendly relationships with professionals in which careful explanation fostered their confidence in the overall service. They criticised inflexible services that did not consider their broad needs, and in which relationships with professionals were characterised by busy‐ness and professional distance.

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