Evaluating Opportunities to Improve Healthcare Delivery and Outcomes Part 2: The Impact of Mindfulness and Compassion on Patient Perceptions of Care

Target Audience
This activity is intended for healthcare providers (physicians, allied healthcare professionals) who are on the front-lines of patient care and directly manage patients on a daily basis.

Program Overview
The overarching goal of this innovative initiative is to address healthcare provider knowledge and practice gaps as they relate to the delivery of optimal care from the aspects of the patient/provider relationship, communication, and mindfulness. These fundamental factors of the clinical encounter can have a significant impact on perceptions of care, patient satisfaction, and subsequent health management and outcomes. As such, this program will provide a dynamic educational initiative for practicing healthcare providers on the rationale for, and real-world, practice-based strategies to, improve communication and collaboration with patients, including awareness of mindfulness, and interpersonal interactions.

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be better able to:

Examine the relationship between empathy, mindfulness, and compassion
Evaluate the potential impact of mindfulness and compassion on patient perceptions of care and, subsequently, health outcomes
Discuss evidence-based approaches to improving mindfulness for both healthcare providers and their patients
Identify opportunities to improve mindfulness, and the delivery of compassionate care, in the practice setting