Table 1 Case vignettes A-D^a

A

• 83-year-old female, widowed, living with her youngest mental handicapped son at home

• Multiple chronic diseases (e.g. coronary heart disease, hypertension, morbid obesity, chronic ulcus cruris, polyarthrosis, discopathy), multiple problems in the activities of daily living, mobility-impaired

• (General) palliative care indicated

• Pretest

B

• 78-year-old female, widowed, living with the family of her granddaughter at home

• Multiple chronic diseases (e.g. chronic obstructive lung disease, coronary heart disease with condition after bypass surgery, cardiac arrhythmias, gastric ulcer with anemia and cachexia), advanced frailty, mobility-impaired

• (General) palliative care indicated

• Pretest

• Focus groups

C

• 76-year-old male, living with his spouse at home

• Multiple chronic diseases (chronic heart failure, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, osteoporosis, urinary incontinence, polyneuropathy), multiple problems in the activities of daily and social living, mobility-impaired, beginning caregiver overload

• Spouse affected by Parkinson’s disease

• (General) palliative care indicated

• Pretest

• Focus groups

D

• 65-year-old male, living with his spouse at home

• Non-small-cell lung cancer with cerebellar metastases, several co-morbidities (e.g. coronary heart disease, cardiac arrhythmias, condition after stroke, chronic kidney failure, depression), multiple symptoms (e.g. pain, dyspnea, coughing, dizziness)

• (Specialist) palliative care indicated

• Pretest