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What is compassion? Although a fundamental value in healthcare, this concept is often misunderstood and difficult to navigate. The authors of this book aim to answer this fundamental question, as well as offer a practical approach to how to use it in medicine. Comprised of two parts, the first part of this book explores the background to compassionate healthcare, examines how it differs from other concepts and outlines its relationship to medical professionalism. The second part offers a practical guide full of strategies and exercises to assist healthcare workers in practicing compassion by cultivating mindfulness and awareness, deepening compassion in care. This book is essential reading for medical professionals and trainees across healthcare, providing a guide to incorporating compassion into daily practice to deliver better, more compassionate care for the benefit of all. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
List of contents
Acknowledgements; Introduction: why we wrote this book; Part I. Compassion in Healthcare: 1. What is compassion?; 2. Background to compassionate healthcare; 3. What compassion is not; 4. Medical professionalism and compassion; 5. Compassion in healthcare; 6. Neuroscience and compassion; 7. Resilience and compassion; 8. Self-compassion; 9. Compassion-based therapies Part II. Practicing Compassion: 10. Cultivating mindfulness and awareness; 11. Deepening compassion; 12. Developing resilience; 13. Building compassionate health systems; 14. Conclusions: compassionate healthcare; Index.
About the author
Dr Caragh Behan is a Consultant Psychiatrist and a Senior Clinical Lecturer with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She has a doctorate in Health Economics and a diploma in medical education. She is also a trained mindfulness and meditation teacher and trainer.Brendan Kelly is Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin and Consultant Psychiatrist at Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin. In addition to his medical degree, he holds masters degrees in epidemiology, healthcare management, Buddhist studies, and mindfulness-based interventions; doctorates in medicine, history, governance, and law; and a higher doctorate in history.
