VOICES was first developed in the mid-1990s by Professor Julia Addington-Hall following large scale face-to-face interview surveys of end of life care carried out in the 1960s, 70s and 90s. Although face-to-face interviews have many benefits, they require considerable resources and expertise and there is evidence to suggest that people prefer to answer questions about end of life care and experiences in their own time, rather than in an interview setting. VOICES was therefore designed as a self-completion questionnaire.

There are several versions of VOICES including a version designed specifically for hospice and specialist palliative care services, developed in conjunction with St Christopher’s Hospice (VOICES-SCH), a stroke version, a heart disease version and a VOICES short-form. These are available for download on the Sample Questionnaires page.