The World Health Organization has released a new report and primary healthcare. This explores the important role that compassion plays in primary health care (PHC). This document combines findings from five years of exploration.
Compassion – characterized by recognition, empathy and behavior – has been identified as a changeable force for primary health care, quality care, and transformation of health systems. This document links compassion to the WHO-UNICEF operational framework for primary health care and explains its association in both strategic and operational levers. Drawn from insights gathered through 12 global health compassion rounds, it highlights the relationship between compassion and a variety of healthcare themes.
This basic resource provides practical insights to health leaders and practitioners on how to use compassion to improve population health. The report argues that compassion is not only essential at the core of primary healthcare, but also serves as a catalyst for systematic change. We outline three strategic approaches to ensure that compassion remains embedded at the heart of PHC's efforts.
This document emphasizes that compassion arises from shared universal human experiences. The release of this document is particularly timely and reinforces the importance of compassionate leads as part of a new Global Capacity Building Course to strengthen primary healthcare leadership offered through the WHO Academy. Matches the release of the learning module.
