BACKGROUND: How patients preserve their sense of dignity in life is an important area of palliative care that remains to be explored.

AIMS: To describe patients' perspectives of what constitutes a dignified life within a palliative care context.

METHODS: Twelve palliative care patients were interviewed about their views on living with dignity. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS: What constitutes a dignified life during end-of-life care was captured by the theme 'I may be ill but I am still a human being' and presented under the categories 'preserving my everyday life and personhood', 'having my human value maintained by others through 'coherence' and 'being supported by society at large'.

CONCLUSION: Patients' sense of dignity can be preserved by their own attitudes and behaviours, by others and through public support. Health professionals need to adopt a dignity-conserving approach, for which awareness of their own attitudes and behaviours is crucial.