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.