Life stories for life-limited patient care

Biography programs are now a feature of many palliative care organisations in Australia. They are offered as a complementary service, typically coordinated by managers of the organisations’ voluntary programs. Volunteers are trained to visit patients at home, residential facilities, hospices or hospitals to listen and record the life stories they wish to tell. Over several hour-long meetings volunteers record, write, edit and rewrite using patients’ feedback. The tangible outcome is a printed story for the patient and their loved ones. The intangible outcome is the opportunity for patients to recall the depth and richness of their personal journey, to affirm identity, meaning and purpose in their lives by revisiting their previous selves through the lens and learning of experience