If a person with a terminal disease wishes to end their life, let them! It is their decision and their life, not yours!

Be kind at all times. Treat them as human at all times. Protect them from less understanding people and situations that might embarass them.

(Long answer) Right at the start, thank you for the way you linked DIGNITY with the RESPECT category. They are linked for me as well. In my mind, if the two words don't both come up together, that's a sign of trouble. Some thoughts ... 1) Think any action or example comes first from an ATTITUDE of respect .. and a firm belief that "dignity" is or should be .. "a given" .. for any human being. No matter the specifics, the WAY of things is as important or perhaps more important than the things themselves. What's key is not what we choose to do, but HOW we choose to do them. 2) Example. If the other person is "limited" in any way due to disability or age, don't just do things for them .. quickly .. WITHOUT ASKING .. treating them "as kids" vs fully realized human beings who deserve the right to CHOOSE in their lives. Simple things like cutting up food so it's easier to handle - or opening the door because it's hard to open - or clicking through the stations on the remote because you can do it faster - on and on it goes. You might end up doing ANY of those things. BUT .. here's the difference. You verbalize the situation and ASK if they want to do it or if they want you to. They choose based on not only ability, but possibly even degree of energy that day. Might want to be "independent" even if it takes 10 minutes vs your 30 seconds. Could just as easily say it's not worth it and want to use their energy to write a letter or take a bath instead. DIGNITY means keeping CHOICE in the hands of anyone and not rushing in - even to "help". Making choices is sometimes all a person "has". It's a precious thing. 3) Lots more examples for "the elderly", but already running long here. A lot of that is attitudinal too. If that's in place, then the specifics in daily actions follow naturally. It's a "way of being" with others. 4) Think of any "dehumanizing" experience. Uh oh. Odds are, dignity just got squashed. What can you do to NOT do that .. to anyone? And if turned around, how do WE keep a sense of dignity? How do we want to be treated? What's worked and what was awful in that regard? Repeat or avoid with others given our lessons learned. 5) Preserving another person's dignity? YES On a soap box about it? Especially seeing how "the elderly" and "disabled" are often treated? Yup. But we can turn the tide ... in tiny little steps .. every day. And we can speak out when we see dignity being stripped away from anyone - no matter if family, friend or perfect stranger.