The practice of pilgrimage in palliative care: a case study of Lourdes

Aim To understand why healthcare professionals working in palliative care felt that pilgrimage to Lourdes could be a beneficial activity for the terminally ill. Design A qualitative study using a phenomenological framework. Methods Nine semistructured interviews with a purposive sample of hospice staff. Results The reasons given for accompanying the terminally ill to Lourdes reflected the general aims of palliative care. They included improving the quality of life through the provision of a holiday, maintaining patient choice and autonomy and enabling inner-transformations. The communitas, or altered relationships, formed during the pilgrimage were also seen as beneficial.