Fig. 1

Dignity Therapy intervention procedures. Patients who gave their written informed consent to participate went through the pre-intervention assessment by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Within the following 5 days, they were phoned by a DT-trained nurse to schedule a vis-a-vis encounter, which took place 3 to 7 days later. During this encounter, they were provided with further information about the intervention, and the DT interview was administered. In contrast to the original protocol, DT questions were not delivered in advanced to subjects. DT interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim within 4 days. In the next 3 weeks, the transcription was read and discussed together with the subject, who could suggest any modification or integration. The implementation process, which could include subsequent encounters, ended when the final version of the Generativity Document was finalized and delivered to the patient. Finally, 2 or 3 weeks later, subjects were phoned by another nurse to perform the post-intervention evaluation by means of two self-administered questionnaires