Development of the 6S Dialogue Tool to facilitate person-centred palliative care

Aims To develop and psychometrically test the 6S Dialogue Tool. Background The 6S Dialogue Tool was elaborated to provide knowledge to nurses about patients' preferences in congruence with the 6S person-centred palliative care model, which includes the S-concepts of self-image, symptom relief, self-determination, social relationships, synthesis and strategies. The tool needs to be scrutinized for appropriateness. Design A qualitative study investigating construct validity of the 6S Dialogue Tool. Methods Forty-six patients in palliative care services in Sweden responded to 15 questions from May 2015 - August 2016. Responses were analysed with qualitative content analysis. Results Six categories, capturing the meaning of the 6S-concepts, were formulated: Maintaining everyday life; Challenges in everyday life; Maintaining control; Maintaining selected relationships; Appraisal of life; and Appraisal of the future. Conclusion The responses to the 6S Dialogue Tool questions reflect the intent of the 6S-concepts. Nurses should integrate the 6S-concepts and the questions in their approach to facilitate to co-create meaningful palliative care in dialogue with the patient. Impact Patients' preferences must be explored to co-create palliative care in accordance with their own needs and beliefs. The 6S Dialogue Tool questions are suitable for obtaining patients' preferences and could be used as an approach in palliative care. Patients, families and nurses will have the potential to co-create palliative care and to improve possibilities for patients to have an appropriate death.