Just back from facilitating ‘Can compassionate care be guaranteed?’ seminar with 17 passionate and thoughtful women in Oxford. I am noticing that women are often at the forefront of making deep changes which place compassion at the heart of the caring relationships. I guess this is unsurprising as women are very often the homemakers who embody love and compassion as mothers.

We explored the question:-

What can be done to create and sustain consistently compassionate cultures in care?

….and this was the output from the wise women:-

Take personal responsibility and stop blaming others

Create a less task focused environment

Bring the best out of people

Ask the residents what they would like to see happen

Keep myself healthy

Support team

Listen to each other

Make the vision happen

Stop assuming that people think the way they do

Challenge people’s thinking

Appreciate the little things

Do as you say

Find out about the person behind the resident

Join forces

Explain what you are thanking somebody for

Include families

We worked using the ‘thinking differently’ method which meant the women exchanged undivided attention, explored the transformative question and practiced giving explicit and heart felt appreciation.

My friend and colleague Jackie Hume Richardson should have been there to facilitate, making it a room full of compassionate women but very unfortunately Jackie had a nasty accident yesterday so I had to step in at short notice. Jackie is recovering well so look out for opportunities to meet her at future seminars.

We imagine joining forces with these wise women to bring a more consitently compassionate approach to caring environments in and around Oxford.

We love to receive your comments about compassion or any aspect of care.

with thanks

Andy