Hope in palliative care: from narcissism to self-transcendence in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Introduction: The concept of hope in palliative care is an important and neglected area of research. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive degenerative motor neuron disease, offers an excellent opportunity to study this construct as the illness is virtually always fatal. Our research explored the meaning of hope in individuals with ALS.