Table 1 Guiding questions utilized in semi-structured interviews

1. What are the things that you have found to be important to your wellbeing during your illness? Particularly as it relates to the care you have received?

2. In terms of your own illness experience, what does compassion mean to you?

3 .Can you give me an example of when you experienced care that was compassionate?

4. How do you know when a healthcare professional is being compassionate?

5. Since you have had cancer, has compassionate care always been helpful? Have been there times when health providers’ efforts to be compassionate missed the mark?

6. What advice would you give health care providers on being compassionate? [Do you think we can train people to be compassionate? If so, how]?

7. We have talked about compassion, another word that might be related to compassion is sympathy. In your experience are compassion and sympathy related? [Tell me how they are the same or different].

8. We have talked about compassion and sympathy, another word that might be related to compassion is empathy. In your experience are compassion and empathy related? [Tell me how they are the same or different].

9. How does what you have told me about compassion relate to your experience of spirituality?

10. Is there anything that that we have not talked about today that we have missed or you were hoping to talk about?