Identifying physicians’ views on compassionate care in daily clinical practice: a multicentre Q-methodology study in Belgium

The findings of our study and the approach taken contribute to further clarifying the differences in physicians' views on compassionate care in daily clinical practice. Physicians loading on the task-oriented view worked mostly in highly technical or acute care environments. In the system-oriented view, they were active in paediatrics and primary, palliative and mental healthcare. And in the relationship-oriented view, physicians often worked with oncology patients or patients with chronic diseases. These findings may have an impact on a better understanding of compassionate care in different clinical settings, facilitate the design of compassion training and ultimately improve patient care and satisfaction.