“Dignity as a Small Candle Flame That Doesn’t Go Out!”: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study with Patients Living with Advanced Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

Long-term illness, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), can expose people to existential suffering that threatens their dignity. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of patients with advanced COPD in relation to dignity. An interpretative phenomenological approach based on lifeworld existentials was conducted to explore and understand the world of the lived experience. Twenty individuals with advanced COPD (GOLD [Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease] stages III and IV) were selected using a purposive sampling strategy. In-depth interviews were used to collect data, which were then analysed using Van Manen’s phenomenology of practice. The existential experience of dignity was understood, in essence, as “a small candle flame that doesn’t go out!”. Four intertwined constituents illuminated the phenomenon: “Lived body–balancing between sick body and willingness to continue”; “Lived relations–balancing between self-control and belongingness”; “Lived Time–balancing between past, present and a limited future”; and “Lived space–balancing between safe places and non-compassionate places”. This study explains how existential life phenomena are experienced during the final phases of the COPD trajectory and provides ethical awareness of how dignity is lived. More research is needed to investigate innovative approaches to manage complex care in advanced COPD, in order to assist patients in discovering their inner resources to develop and promote dignity.