Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Perspectives on Neuroscience
Published on: July 31, 2007
Compassion from a palliative care perspective
Antonio Fernando1, Conor Rea2, Phillipa J Malpas3
1Department of Psychological Medicine, The University of Auckland, Auckland.
Background:
Compassion is a core virtue in medicine and lies at the heart of good medical care. It connects us to each other and reflects our need for relationships with others.
Aim:
Our aim is to explore how palliative care patients perceive, understand and experience compassion from health professionals, and to inform clinical practice.
Methods:
Seven hospice managers in the North Island of New Zealand were contacted and invited to join the study. Twenty participants expressed a desire to participate and were involved in semi-structured face-to-face interviews. A set of questions guided the interviewers with interviews lasting between 15-60 minutes.
Results:
In regards to the question, what is your understanding of compassion?, four central themes emerged: connection, presence and warmth, respect and caring. When asked, what advice can you give to trainee health professionals?, participants articulated four themes: connecting with patients and talking in a way they can understand, treating the person with respect, showing interest in them and being a positive presence for them.
Conclusions:
Compassion was seen as a connection between the carer and the patient. Compassion is having a positive presence and warmth; an attitude of respect and caring. The main advice given by research participants to enhance compassion is for doctors and nurses to connect, to talk in a way that can be understood, and show interest and respect to patients facing the end of their lives.
Related Concept Videos
Compass
Design Example: Marking Boundaries of a Site Using a Compass
Psychodynamic Perspectives on Personality
Psychodynamic theorists argue that unconscious...
Social Cognitive Perspective on Personality
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
The Behavioral Perspective on Personality

