Compasión en salud: Una mirada a su pasado, presente y futuro

Abstract

Compassion is valued within the central elements of health care, existing in recent years a progressive increase in interest in its research, at least in part by the perception that it has decreased in health systems. For centuries it has been found universally in different cultures and disciplines but presenting variations according to different cultures in terms of its understanding and expression, and being its approach from scientific point of view relatively recent in history. It could be distinguished from similar concepts such as empathy, altruism and pity. Evolutionarily, it would have arisen within the framework of care and breeding behaviors of mammals, and neurobiologically it would be related to changes at autonomic activation levels, neurotransmitters, cortical and subcortical structures, similar to other prosocial emotions. It has been associated with multiple benefits in physical and mental health, and in health care. Multiple instruments have been designed to evaluate it and interventions in relation to it, which would require further studies to be able to be generalized. Barriers to compassion have also been described, and that it could be fatigued, the latter being currently under discussion. In the future there would be challenges for its development in conjunction with technology, political, sociological, clinical and educational changes, existing orientations on how to overcome them to move towards more compassionate health systems.