Measuring patients' health and suffering - the first stages of instrument development.

The dimensions, domains and items of the instrument 'Existential signs of health and suffering' are well represented in caring science theories. Further clinical implementation and evaluation of the instrument, including psychometric properties, will allow for greater diversity in terms of context generalisability and patient characteristics. The instrument is anticipated to be of value for evaluations in research, development of healthcare practice and theory development in caring science.