Digital legacy in palliative care and end-of-life care planning: a scoping review.

Stanley, S ORCID: 0000-0002-7120-8680, Hayes, JA, Mogan, C, Lloyd-Williams, M, Nwosu, AC ORCID: 0000-0003-0014-3741, Vasilica, CM and Higginbotham, K ORCID: 0000-0003-0795-7473 (2026) Digital legacy in palliative care and end-of-life care planning: a scoping review. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. ISSN 2045-435X

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: The need for palliative care is increasing, and it is essential to consider emerging technologies that have the potential to enhance care for palliative patients and their carers. The creation of online content and digital media stored on devices is often described as a digital legacy. There is limited knowledge about how digital legacy is included in planning for the end of life.

AIMS: To conduct a scoping review of the literature to describe healthcare professionals, patients receiving palliative care, caregivers and bereaved people's experience of including digital legacy in planning for the end of life.

METHODS: A scoping review of the literature was carried out. The question was formulated using the Population, Exposure, Outcome format as follows: 'What is known from the existing literature about healthcare professionals, patients receiving palliative care, caregivers, and bereaved people's experience of including digital legacy in planning for the end-of-life?'

RESULTS: 506 records were screened and 11 were included in the review. A number of examples of the use of digital legacy were identified. Themes identified from the literature include digital legacy showing the authentic person, digital legacy evoking emotion, digital legacy to maintain a connection and preparing digital legacy.

CONCLUSION: People receiving palliative care use digital legacy to make memories and capture the essence of their character, often finding time for reflection and creating a sense of empowerment. A person's digital legacy could be discussed with healthcare professionals and others who are important to support in planning for the end of life.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Advance Care Planning; Digital Media; End of life care; Palliative Care; 1110 Nursing; 1117 Public Health and Health Services; 4203 Health services and systems; 4205 Nursing
Subjects:	R Medicine > RT Nursing
Divisions:	Nursing and Advanced Practice
Publisher:	BMJ Publishing
Date of acceptance:	30 March 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	29 April 2026
Date Deposited:	29 Apr 2026 12:20
Last Modified:	29 Apr 2026 12:20
DOI or ID number:	10.1136/spcare-2026-006205
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28490

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