To cite: Heron J, Barry E, Duncan F, et al. Med Humanit 2016;42:63–64. To be ‘compassionate’ is to share the passion— etymologically, to suffer together. For some clinicians, there is an understandable tension between this compassion (to feel pity) and the imperative of diagnosis (to know thoroughly). This tension became an explicit concern of the 2013 ‘Beckett on the Wards’ medical humanities ...

Technology has provided means to sustain life and provide care regardless of whether the treatment is appropriate and compassionate given the condition of the patient. This study presents two case histories, compiled from historical patient charts, staff notes and observations, that illustrate the variety of ethical issues involved and the role culture plays in the decision making process relat...

BACKGROUND Healthcare providers are considered the primary conduit of compassion in healthcare. Although most healthcare providers desire to provide compassion, and patients and families expect to receive it, an evidence-based understanding of the construct and its associated dimensions from the perspective of healthcare providers is needed. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate...

We sought to understand patient perceptions of the emergency department/urgent care (ED/UC) HIV diagnosis experience as well as factors that may promote or discourage linkage to HIV care. We conducted in-depth interviews with patients (n=24) whose HIV infection was diagnosed in the ED/UC of a public hospital in San Francisco at least six months prior and who linked to HIV care at the hospital H...

Objectives Compassion is central to the aim of improving patient care and staff well-being within healthcare systems. To inform service development, explorations experiences meanings compassion are needed. This study explored cognitive behavioural therapists' understandings their work environment. Design A qualitative was conducted using semistructured interviews interpretative phenomenological...

Self-compassion is a self-regulation strategy for countering negative self-directed feelings and emotions. High self-compassionate people treat themselves with kindness, care, and concern when facing negative life experience. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of self-compassion on the use of two self-esteem protecting strategies, self-handicapping and sandbagging. Both stra...

The health benefits associated with marriage are disproportionately large in older adulthood, due in part to the powerful role spouses play in promoting each other’s well-being. What remains unclear is what motivates this caretaking. To determine whether compassionate love plays a role, the current study used an Actor–Partner Interdependence Model to examine how 64 older couples’ compassionate ...