Compassionate Cites and Compassionate Communities: A Critical Interpretative Review

The emergence of ‘compassionate cities’ and ‘compassionate communities’ (CCC) as social movements has become a pronounced development in public health approaches to the end-of-life. Drawing on the World Health Organisations’ Ottawa Charter, it contends that end-of-life care has become individualised and medicalised and promotes the ‘rediscovery’ of community approaches. Drawing on a range of sociological theory insights, it deploys a ‘critical interpretative’ analytic approach to literature identified in a narrative review. The paper aims to question the affirmative consensus that exists around CCC by building on the emergence of critical themes have recently emerged in various meta-reviews. This analysis identifies tensions and inconsistencies between the ideals of The Ottawa Charter, CCC practice and a relatively superficial and uncritical deployment of theory, particularly in relation to its status as a conservative or radical movement. The paper concludes by suggesting constructive ways forward.