Cultivating a Therapeutic Compassionate Relationship: The 3S Approach

In the last decade, a plethora of healthcare research and literature was produced and, indeed, confirms the absolute need to cultivate a therapeutic and compassionate relationship between carer and patient/family, especially in the face of a long-term and /or life-threatening condition. We introduce the 3S model as an approach to cultivate a therapeutic relationship between the carer and the patient/family. It is based on some fundamental traditional skills which may be innate for some but may need to be awakened and cultivated for others, all for the benefit of each of the members of the involved triad: patients, family, and healthcare professionals. The 3S approach aids in developing a therapeutic relationship that involves compassion and can be easily applied with significant results, especially in the context of chronic disease management. However, more research is needed to quantify the impact of this 3S approach on the therapeutic relationship and chronic disease management.