Hey - Do I Look Like I Care?

This was the catchy title of a recent educational forum about compassionate caregiving. The forum, sponsored by the Schwartz Center, was held at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS). Greg Fenton, MD and Barbara Moscowitz, MSW, LICSW along with two students, led a panel discussion attended by nearly 200 MCPHS students. (Dr. Fenton and Ms. Moscowitz are recipients of the Schwartz Center Compassionate Caregiver Award: Dr. Fenton was a finalist in 2009 and Ms. Moscowitz was the winner of the award in 2007.)

These gifted clinicians shared the following insights about the art of compassionate caregiving:

• Compassion is about understanding what your patients are experiencing, not just saying the right thing
• Don't delay: show compassion by asking a patient or family member what you can do right now
• Everyone has the capacity to be compassionate and empathic
• Compassionate care is not judgmental
• Moments of compassion are not heroic, they're found in our daily actions

To reinforce these lessons, students were asked to share their own "compassionate moments." One student related a memorable encounter while working as an emergency medical technician (EMT). The student and two others were assigned to transport an elderly patient from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility. The hospital staff warned them that this woman was a "feisty curmudgeon." To his dismay, the student was stuck making the trip in the back of the transport vehicle with the patient. He recalls repeatedly trying to break the ice with the difficult woman. Eventually, by getting her talk about herself and her family, he was able to bond with her--even getting her to smile and hold his hand! I'd say this student earned an A+ in Compassionate Caregiving 101.

Do you have a compassionate moment to share?