Table 2.

Questions guiding the semi-structured interview.

Palliative care professional
• I would like to know how you approach the initial encounter (the first, or first and second appointments) with patients and their family carers. Could you say something about how you go about it?
• How do patients react to this? Do they expect you to ask them these things?
• What for you is the most important thing to achieve in this initial encounter?
• At the end of the interview, what does the patient’s expression tell you about the impact it has had on them?
• Do you think they are surprised by any of your questions or the topics you raise?
Patient/family carer
• What did you think or feel when you were told about the referral to palliative care? (Did it make you think or feel anything in particular?)
• Do you remember what your main problems were, the things that most made you suffer at the time you first met with the palliative care team?
• Could you tell me something about how you felt during and after that first meeting?
• What did they ask you about in the first meeting? Was there anything that surprised you?
• Based on what you as the patient/family carer would expect or hope for from the first meeting, what recommendations would you give to the palliative care team?