ABSTRACT
Oindrila Dutta and Paul Patinadan share first authorship for this chapter Compassion is most salient within the health ecosystem of loss, grief, and palliation, being a core concept, a call-to-action, and a mandated moral attribute for care professionals. The value, and its constituent elements, however, continue to be nebulous in clinical and academic definition. This chapter discusses the findings of a rigorous scoping review of five major academic databases, investigating qualitative studies dating back four decades. Of the 678 studies identifies, 11 were extracted for analysis via thematic synthesis. Six themes were revealed: (a) Micro-compassionate action, (b) discernable humanity, (c) patient connectedness, (d) patient dissension, (e) institutional compassion facilitators, and (f) institutional compassion deterrents, which were consolidated into the Relational Model of Micro-Compassionate Agency. The model is discussed along with clinical implications for facilitating micro-compassionate behaviors; though the actions are simple, the value judgments and moral fortitude required to perform them instinctively and intrinsically require supportive training and sustained practice.
