Top 10 palliative care research priorities in France: a 3-step, mixed-methods protocol (AXEPRO study).

Introduction: As one means to avoid waste in research investment, involving patients as full partners in research has become increasingly frequent. There is clearly a low level of investment in palliative care research. Following the guidance from the James Lind Alliance and the UK public consultation ('Palliative and End of Life Care Research Priorities Project'), we developed a 3-step protocol aimed at prioritising 10 unanswered questions in palliative care (PC) research in France, from the viewpoint of patients, volunteers, healthcare professionals and family caregivers.