Abstract
In the 21st century, the notion of compassion is often seen as somewhat vague and, along with the notions of patient dignity and suffering, is sometimes considered "soft" and not very clinically relevant. However, the importance of compassion in patient care is generally acknowledged and is receiving increasing attention from researchers.
Yet there is still no consensus on its definition. This review study attempts to bring readers up to speed on the differences between compassion and its related terms: sympathy, empathy, pity, transference.
The focus of the interpretation is on compassion in health care. Scholars suggest that it takes four forms in this setting: compassion as a manifestation of the competence of the health care professional; compassion as an interaction between the health care professional and the patient; compassion of health care professionals as a manifestation of their virtues; and compassion of health care professionals as a manifestation of their efforts to help patients cope with the suffering they experience.
The study also reminds us of a specific problem in the health care system, which is referred to as compassion fatigue among health professionals. From an epidemiological perspective, six factors influence compassion for patients: the demographic characteristics of healthcare professionals, their personality characteristics, their life experiences, the way healthcare professionals behave when showing compassion, contextual factors and factors related to the specificities of the healthcare institution.
The study also provides an overview of questionnaires that can be used to measure compassion for others or for oneself. The study concludes with a summary of international experiences on how to develop compassionate behaviour towards patients in healthcare professionals.