Abstract: Maintaining the dignity of patients is a basic tenet of palliative care. A series of studies on dignity in palliative care were synthesized in this paper. The concept of dying with dignity and its influencing factors were summarized; levels of loss of dignity in Chinese patients with cancer and the predictive factors were reported; the model of dignity in terminally ill was introduced; the developments of two dignity psychotherapeutic interventions, dignity therapy and dignity talk, based on the model of dignity, were introduced; and finally, the preliminary model of dignity management in hospice and the A, B, C, and D of dignity conserving care were introduced, aiming to guide healthcare providers to provide dignity conserving care in palliative care clinical practice.

Key words: cancer, palliative care, dignity, dignity-related distress, dignity model, dignity therapy, dignity talk, dignity conserving care