Compassion in palliative care: a review.

Area of Science:

• Palliative Care Medicine
• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Medical Ethics

Background:

• Compassion is recognized as a cornerstone of high-quality healthcare, especially in palliative care settings.
• There is a perceived deficit in compassionate care within existing healthcare systems.
• Both patients and healthcare professionals highly value compassion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current understanding of compassion in palliative care.
• To summarize emerging compassionate initiatives across three levels: patients, professionals, and communities.
• To explore methods for enhancing compassion in end-of-life care.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of compassion in palliative care.
• Analysis of compassionate initiatives at organizational, professional, and community levels.
• Synthesis of current research on compassion training and compassionate communities.

Main Results:

• Compassion positively impacts treatment outcomes, patient dignity, and provider self-care.
• Compassion can be fostered through top-down policies and bottom-up training.
• The 'compassionate communities' movement offers a community-level approach to end-of-life care.

Conclusions:

• Enhancing compassion through organizational, professional, and community strategies can improve palliative care quality.
• Increased compassion has the potential to boost healthcare provider satisfaction.
• Implementing compassionate care initiatives may lead to reduced healthcare costs.