New Interactive PDF on Gratitude and Palliative Care available in English and Spanish

From the ATLANTES research group, we have approached gratitude as a deeply human experience that emerges with particular strength in interactions between people in palliative care contexts. It arises in moments of vulnerability and at the end of life, where care, presence, and accompaniment take on existential value.

Discover the key findings from the project Gratitude and Palliative Care. Access the interactive PDF in English and Spanish.

Gratitude

We have explored how gratitude is expressed and experienced in the context of serious illness, listening to the voices of patients, families, and healthcare professionals. We have asked, for example:

What is appreciated in these situations?
Who expresses gratitude and how?
What effects does this experience have on those who live it and on their relationships?

Contents
This document gathers the fruits of that research journey. It brings together scientific articles, quantitative and qualitative studies, theoretical reflections, testimonies, and multimedia resources. All of this forms an accessible and structured repository that allows understanding the richness and complexity of gratitude as a human and clinical phenomenon.

Key Findings
Gratitude is born from humility: only when we are capable of sincerely recognizing a good received does the desire to give thanks spring forth within us. Likewise, it is from humility that we can truly welcome the gratitude of others, receiving it as a gift rather than a merit. Expressed in multiple ways—a word, a gesture, a look, or even shared silence—gratitude in palliative care goes beyond the emotional. It is an intentional experience that consciously directs itself both to the good received and to the person who offered it. In that direction, it transforms the caring relationship into a space of shared humanity, where both the caregiver and the cared-for can experience comfort, recognition, and hope.

Value of the Interactive PDF
In short, this highlights that gratitude in palliative care is a universal, deeply human reality that deserves to be understood, made visible, and valued as an essential part of the human experience at the end of life. With its editions in two languages it is intended to reach a wider global audience.