Table 2.

Themes Identified.

Category/theme	Definition	Example comment
Patient and Caregiver Barriers
Lack of Knowledge and Understanding of Palliative Care	Patient’s and caregiver’s lack of knowledge about palliative care	“Because they’ve probably never heard of it before. They’re not familiar with it, I wasn’t, and then sometimes they don’t feel like fooling with it.” (PT5)
Misconceptions about Palliative Care	Patient’s and caregiver’s incorrect view of palliative care	“Yeah, the name of the program, I think … palliative care gives me the impression that it’s someone … you know, at the end of their life … and they’re preparing … for death. You’re making someone comfortable … until they pass.” (PT12)
Patient’s Self-Perceived Health Condition	Patients’ belief that they are too healthy to receive or qualify for this service	“ … I don’t know if I felt like I was not the target group … when in reality I probably was, but at that time I think I didn’t feel like that.” (PT22)
Timing	Belief that enrollment call was during a bad time or should have happened earlier	“I don’t think I would dislike [palliative care]. I’m not [home] all the time, so that’s the problem.” (PT4)
Home Visits	Participant’s attitudes toward home visits by health care providers	“… the reason I can think of anybody not wanting to have [palliative care] would be they don’t like people in their house … the person doesn’t want anybody coming … taking care of them, they want to be left alone” (PT2)
Recommendations
Referral from Healthcare Providers	Primary care doctors should recommend palliative care to their patients.	“I guess through doctors’ offices that the doctor would say ‘hey, there’s this service I’d like you to participate in.’ So, I would think the doctor would be a good starter-outer … ” (PT1)
Referral from Insurance Provider	Insurance providers should inform patients about the service and whether it is covered.	“Well, if you work with your insurance company, you know, saying that … they can also offer this.” (PT2)
Better Presentation of Palliative Care	The need to differentiate palliative care from hospice and/or use a different name to describe the service	“… I don’t know if you could find a different name for it. I think … I associate palliative care with hospice, that’s just kind of been my experience with dealing with family members.” (PT12)