On-Demand Schwartz Compassion In Action Webinars

Leading and Caring With Compassion: New Ways for Us All

The best healthcare systems in the world have something in common: they lead with compassion. Hear from Maureen Bisognano, president emerita and senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, to learn how a culture of caring and compassion directly shapes patient experience, outcomes, and staff engagement in health systems around the world.

Drawing on her global improvement work, Maureen shared practical examples illustrating how compassionate cultures are intentionally built, sustained, and modeled by leaders at every level. This session delivered concrete ideas and tools that can be integrated into your daily work, leadership practice, and life beyond the workplace.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How compassionate cultures are deliberately built and sustained, and what gets in the way
  • Lessons from healthcare systems around the world on linking caring cultures to patient outcomes and staff engagement
  • How leaders at every level can model and reinforce compassion in daily practice
  • Key insights from the “Kindness in Healthcare” and “What Matters to You” movements
  • Actionable tools and approaches you can integrate into your work and beyond

Presenters:

  • Maureen Bisognano
    President Emerita and Senior Fellow
    Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Seeing Kindness: Using Images of Caring to Foster Compassion in Healthcare

Stress impacts everyone in healthcare, eroding compassion, straining relationships, and contributing to burnout and error. Yet research shows that simply seeing acts of kindness can reduce stress, promote calm, and foster a sense of shared humanity.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How curated visual media in patient care, clinician, and staff spaces can create moments of emotional restoration
  • The science behind how images that portray kindness can counteract chronic stress and burnout
  • Practical examples of how it can be used in different healthcare settings
  • Direct experience of kindness media’s effects through a live demonstration

Presenters:
David Fryburg, MD
President, Envision Kindness

Additional Resources

Making Compassion Actionable: A Model for Healthcare Today

Join the Schwartz Center for the official launch of the Schwartz Compassionate Care Model, a practical framework that defines the essential domains needed to deliver compassionate, collaborative, and person-centered care.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How this model was developed and why it matters now more than ever
  • The model’s relevance in complex healthcare systems around the world
  • Real-world applications from senior healthcare leaders in a fireside conversation

Designed for leaders, managers, and frontline caregivers, the session will highlight how compassionate care can be intentionally designed, supported, and sustained, and what the future holds for this shared framework.

Presenters:

  • Robyn Begley, DNP, RN, FAAN
    CEO Emeritus, American Organization for Nursing Leadership
  • Read Pierce, MD
    Chief Medical Officer, Denver Health
    Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine
  • Beth Lown, MD
    Chief Medical Officer, Emeritus, The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare
  • Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA
    CEO, The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare

 

The Evidence Explained: Why The Schwartz Rounds® Program Works

Join us for a webinar exploring the research behind the Schwartz Rounds program – a proven model for supporting healthcare staff and enhancing compassionate patient care. But what does the evidence actually show?

Jill Maben, PhD, RN, professor of health services research and nursing at the University of Surrey and National Institute for Health Research senior investigator, with her colleague Jeremy Dawson, professor of health management at the University of Sheffield, will discuss:

  • The first national evaluation of the Schwartz Rounds program in the UK
  • The evidence of the program’s impact on patients and caregivers
  • How key findings have been adopted in healthcare education

This session provides the compelling data healthcare leaders need to understand why the Schwartz Rounds program isn’t just a “nice to have” – it’s essential. Discover the evidence that’s transforming how leaders can support healthcare professionals and improve patient care.

Additional Resources

Tapping Into Patient Feedback to Optimize Compassionate Communication

Meaningful communication is essential for compassionate care, and our patients may be our best teachers.

In this free webinar, Ann King, MA, former senior measurement scientist at the National Board of Medical Examiners, and Andrew White, MD, SFHM, professor of medicine at University of Washington and assistant chief clinical information officer for UW Medicine, will cover how to:

  • Apply evidence-based approaches to enhance communication between patients and their care teams.
  • Leverage emerging technologies to integrate direct patient feedback for improved dialogue.
  • Enrich communication during high-stakes interactions, including disclosure of adverse events.

You will leave this program equipped with new insights to deepen how you connect with patients.

Additional Resources

The Neuroscience of Compassion: Tools to Tap Into Its Power for Good

Advances in brain imaging and the neurosciences allow previously unimaginable insights into the workings of the human mind, but not necessarily how to translate that knowledge into a benefit for patients or providers. This is the root of the T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion’s research. Join us for this expert panel hosted by Schwartz Center CEO Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA to learn from several Sanford Institute leaders how they are leveraging the neurobiology of empathy and compassion to create initiatives that are game-changing for medical education and patient care.

Learn from the institute’s experts:

William Mobley, MD, PhD, Director, Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion

Lisa Eyler, PhD, Clinical Research Psychologist and Director, Center for Empathy and Compassion Training in Medical Education

Evonne Kaplan-Liss, MD, MPH, Director, Center for Compassionate Communication

Val (Valerie) Lantz-Gefroh, MFA, Director of Communication Education, Center for Compassionate Communication

 

Additional Resources

Compassion and Safety: A Trauma-Informed Approach for Patients and Providers

Patient safety events impact not just patients, but also the healthcare team members who care for them. Clinicians can experience emotional distress, guilt, and loss of confidence — which can be compounded by legal consequences and professional repercussions. The emotional aftermath of these events may contribute to a culture of fear in healthcare settings, making it harder to learn from mistakes and improve patient care.

Join us for a webinar to learn how grounding patient safety improvement efforts in compassion science benefits both patients and providers. Our panelists will share real-world successes and challenges in integrating trauma-informed approaches into patient safety, risk, and legal processes. You’ll learn practical strategies that you can bring to your own organization.

Learn from leading experts:

  • Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA – CEO, The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare and webinar host
  • Read Pierce, MD – Chief Quality, Safety and Transformation Officer, Denver Health
  • Maria Gonsalves Schimpf, MA, MT-BC – Worklife Well-being Leader, Boulder Community Health
Additional Resources

A Decade of Schwartz Center Programming with Cincinnati Children’s: Positively Impacting Patients & Employees

U.S. News and World Report has named Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center one of the best pediatric hospitals in the U.S. for more than 15 years. Children’s has partnered with the Schwartz Center for 10 years to advance compassion for patients, care teams, and their healing relationships. Schwartz Center CEO Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA, will moderate a discussion with Anna Sheets, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, senior director of wellness, and Rachel Thienprayoon, MD, MSCS, chief clinical wellness officer. They will discuss how Schwartz Center programs have positively impacted employee well-being and patient care, detailing their implementation process, their plans for growth, and their positive outcomes.  Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions about their successes and challenges.

Inclusive Healthcare: Caring for Vulnerable Populations

Please join us for a special celebration of the 2024 National Compassionate Caregivers of the Year® Award recipients. As we mark the 25th anniversary of this distinguished recognition program, we celebrate healthcare professionals whose deep commitment to compassionate care has transformed countless lives. This group of remarkable honorees works tirelessly with our most vulnerable populations, bringing dignity and healing to patients facing spinal cord injuries, substance abuse disorders, end-of-life care, and homelessness, among many other challenging scenarios. Don’t miss this panel discussion moderated by Schwartz Center Chief Executive Officer Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA, where our recipients will share their powerful stories of connection, care, and human resilience. The 2024 NCCY recipients are:

Erik Garcia, MD, Physician, University of Massachusetts Medical Center

Sylvia K. Parker, NP, Nurse Practitioner, Optum

Dinh H. To, MSW, LSW, Worker’s Compensation Care Manager, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

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