What Is the State of Compassion Education? A Systematic Review of Compassion Training in Health Care

Abstract

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

What works for whom in compassion training programs offered to practicing healthcare providers: a realist review

“…These limitations should be considered in perspective, as this review extends the results from our recent systematic review [ 52 ] and aligns with the findings from a thematic analysis of surveys and one-on one qualitative interviews with leaders and educators of compassion training programs that aimed to determine the tangible and intangible factors that affect the operationalization of compassion training programs in the healthcare setting, and was conducted in parallel (Sinclair S, Harris D, Kondejewski J, Roze des Ordons AL, Jaggi P, Hack TF: Program leaders' and educators' perspectives on the factors impacting the implementation and sustainment of compassion training programs: a qualitative study, submitted). Together, these comprehensive contributions to the compassion literature will inform the development of compassion training programs in healthcare organizations.…”

“…Teaching methods associated with successful compassion training adhered to current education theory and practice, and recommendations for professional development programs, such as embedding curricula in an empirical framework, adopting workplace learning and ensuring transfer of learning to practice, implementing programs that extend over time, fostering community development, and establishing support within the larger organizational context [ 111 ]. A previous systematic review described a diverse array of compassion training programs in healthcare [ 52 ]. These included leadership and team compassion training based mainly in the workplace and a variety of participatory programs for individual healthcare providers.…”

“…These included leadership and team compassion training based mainly in the workplace and a variety of participatory programs for individual healthcare providers. The programs were feasible to implement and learners reported benefits to personal well-being, self-care, and perceived improvements in the quality of their interactions with patients [ 52 ]. This realist review demonstrated that the most effective compassion training programs for practicing healthcare providers involved contemplative practices, group discussion, and experiential learning conducted in a psychologically safe group setting with highly qualified program leaders and facilitators who had knowledge of the clinical context within which the learners practiced [ 85 ].…”

“…The review began with a sample of studies (hereafter referred to as the index articles) included in a recent systematic review of the content, methods and quality of compassion training in healthcare [ 52 ]. These studies had been identified through systematic searching of the following databases: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Sociological Abstracts, Web of Science, ERIC, and Education Research Complete from inception to May 2020.…”

“…This resulted in an influx of training programs designed to enhance and sustain healthcare providers’ attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behaviors related to compassion. A recent systematic review, detailing the content, methods, and quality of compassion training in healthcare, revealed that these compassion training programs faced significant barriers [ 52 ], including, but not limited to, curricula that did not address the multiple domains of the complex construct of compassion [ 1 , 53 ], challenges associated with implementation, long-term clinical application and sustainability, and inadequate inclusion of patient perspectives.…”