Hospital meals are existential asylums to hospitalized people with a neurological disease: A phenomenological-hermeneutical explorative study of the meaningfulness of mealtimes.

Four themes were identified: (a) A lonely ride together with others; (b) Letting the chaotic setting fade into the background; (c) Mechanical activity with great personal significance; and (d) Humanizing the setting when eating in the hospital. Mealtimes were supporting existential moments to patients. Offering a calm mealtime setting was experienced by the patients as an asylum where uplifting and comforting feelings were raised.