Dignity in care: the views of patients and relatives

There have been concerns about a lack of dignity in health care over recent years, particularly in relation to the care of older people. Efforts to ensure that dignity has a central place in health care discourse and practice continue, but what appears to be lacking in the literature is the perspective of older people and their relatives on what this means and how dignity is maintained or diminished during health care provision. This article reports on a small pilot study that explores dignity in health care and the circumstances that may influence it.