| The growing pressures on the American healthcare system, stress in the healthcare workplace, and increasing demand for patient-centered care are associated with high rates of compassion fatigue and burnout among healthcare professionals. The need for self-care and stress resilience in the healthcare workplace is urgent.;The polyvagal theory asserts that creating calm states and exercising the neural regulation of the heart may foster prosocial emotion such as compassion, thus promoting both prosocial behavior and physical health (Porges, 2001). The implication for medicine is twofold: Interventions that increase self- and other-compassion may benefit healthcare professionals by reducing empathetic distress and burnout and enhancing well-being. Furthermore, compassionate care optimizes regulation of the patient's physiological state and thus promotes healing.;The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to examine the relationship between physiological self-regulation and the outcomes of compassion and heart rate variability (HRV) in rehabilitation professionals (N = 18).;The 4-week training protocol compared the two control conditions of mental focus on the breath (n = 7) and mental focus plus heartfelt emotion (n = 4), to the condition of mental focus plus paced breathing (n = 7), a technique designed to optimize vagal modulation of the heart. The combination of active mental focus and optimization of respiratory sinus arrhythmia were hypothesized to foster the physiological substrate for the prosocial emotion of compassion.;Self-compassion, compassion satisfaction, and short term resting-condition SDNN, RMSSD, pNN50, HFnu, LFnu, and peak power were measured before and after the training. Compassion indices were also measured at 3-month follow-up. Results of between and within-group ANOVAs partially supported hypotheses. Both compassion indices increased significantly, and HRV measures demonstrated a modest but non-significant trend in the hypothesized direction across groups. Compassion measures were largely maintained at 3-month follow-up. Participants reported elements of enhanced patient care in addition to improvements in their own self-awareness, self-care, and emotional regulation. Among this study's contributions is an application of neurocardiology theory to a practical need in healthcare, suggesting promising directions for future research. |
