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Cited by 507Empathy and Medical EducationPatient-Provider Communication in HealthcarePalliative Care and End-of-Life Issues

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 111 of the 111 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Compassion: a scoping review of the healthcare literature

Open access
Sinclair, Shane, Norris, Jill M., McConnell, Shelagh J., Chochinov, Harvey Max, Hack, Thomas F., Hagen, Neil A., McClement, Susan, Bouchal, Shelley Raffin·2016·BMC Palliative Care
DOI 10.1186/s12904-016-0080-0PMC PMC4717626
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recent concerns about suboptimal patient care and a lack of compassion have prompted policymakers to question the preparedness of clinicians for the challenging environment in which they practice. Compassionate care is expected by patients and is a professional obligation of clinicians; however, little is known about the state of research on clinical compassion. The purpose of this scoping review was to map the literature on compassion in clinical healthcare. METHODS: Searches of eight electronic databases and the grey literature were conducted to identify empirical studies published over the last 25 years. Eligible studies explored perceptions or interventions of compassionate care in clinical populations, healthcare professionals, and healthcare students. Following the title and abstract review, two reviewers independently screened full-texts articles, and extracted study data. A narrative approach to synthesizing and mapping the literature was used. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Of 36,637 records, 648 studies were retrieved and 44 studies were included in the review. Less than one third of studies included patients. Six themes emerged from studies that explored perceptions of compassionate care: nature of compassion, development of compassion, interpersonal factors related to compassion, action and practical compassion, barriers and enablers of compassion, and outcomes of compassion. Intervention studies included two compassionate care trials with patients and eight educational programs that aimed to improve compassionate care in clinicians and students. CONCLUSIONS: This review identifies the limited empirical understanding of compassion in healthcare, highlighting the lack of patient and family voices in compassion research. A deeper understanding of the key behaviors and attitudes that lead to improved patient-reported outcomes through compassionate care is necessary.

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Fig. 1 Flow diagram of search strategyCC BY · PubMed Central
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Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. American Medical Association. Code of medical ethics: Principle 1. 2001. http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-ethics/code-medical-ethics/principles-medical-ethics.page . Accessed on 14 Jan 2016
  2. Department of Health. Confidence in caring: A framework for best practice. London, England: Department of Health; 2008.
  3. Francis R. Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust public inquiry. The Stationary Office: London, England; 2013.
  4. Soanes C, Stevenson A. Empathy. In: Stevenson A, editor. Oxford English dictionary of English. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2010.
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  6. Hoad T, editor. Oxford concise dictionary of English etymology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 1996.

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Metadata

Authors
Sinclair, S., Norris, J. M., McConnell, S. J., Chochinov, H. M., Hack, T. F., Hagen, N. A., McClement, S., & Bouchal, S. R.
Affiliations
  • University of Calgary (CA)
  • CancerCare Manitoba (CA)
Corresponding author
Sinclair, Shane
ORCID
Venue
BMC Palliative Care
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2016-01-19
Volume
15
Issue
1
Pages
6-6
ISSN
1472-684X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s12904-016-0080-0
PMC
PMC4717626
OpenAlex
W2252958645
Cited by
507
References
110
Citations by year
2026: 56 · 2025: 65 · 2024: 61 · 2023: 53 · 2022: 50 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 8
FWCI
31.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • BMC Palliative Care (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Libraries and Cultural Resources (University of Calgary) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Libraries and Cultural Resources (University of Calgary) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Empathy and Medical Education
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
Keywords
compassion, compassionate care, healthcare workers, health professions students, compassion education, patient-reported outcomes, patient and family perspectives, clinician attitudes
MeSH terms
Compassion Fatigue, Attitude of Health Personnel, Delivery of Health Care, Empathy, Health Personnel, Humans, Learning, Nurse-Patient Relations, Perception

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