Rosted, Elizabeth
Aabom, Birgit
Hølge-Hazelton, Bibi
Raunkiær, Mette
Article History
Received: 27 November 2020
Accepted: 10 February 2021
First Online: 18 February 2021
Ethics approval and consent to participate
: The Regional Ethical Committee of the Zealand Region confirmed that approval for the study was not required according to Danish law, given the non-biomedical character of the study (j. nr. 16–000014). The Regional Ethical Committee is organised under the Danish Council on Ethics, which is a parliamentary and governmental council. The study was registered with the Danish Data Protection Agency, (j.nr. REG-112-2016).All participants were given both written and verbal information about the study. All adult patients registered to one of the two outpatient SPC sections during 2017 received written information about the study at their first consultation. Those who consented received a telephone call from the first author within the next week informing them about the study and asking them to participate in the questionnaire. Those who consented were included and returned a written consent form. It was emphasized that participants’ anonymity would be maintained in the reporting of the results. A fundamental ethical principle in research is beneficence, meaning that the research must not do any harm because of the way in which it is conducted. Patients who receive SPC are often seriously ill and vulnerable, which is why there may be objections to their inclusion in research. However, studies show that participation makes sense to palliative care patients, and that they wish to contribute with their experiences [CitationRef removed]. An SPC nurse conducted the interviews, and during the interviews, she showed empathy and respect and took time to listen to the participants’ stories.
: Not applicable.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.