TY - JOUR
T1 - Towards a Theory of Compassion Fatigue in Palliative Care and Oncology
T2 - A Systematic Scoping Review
AU - Sinnathamby, Annushkha
AU - Ibrahim, Halah
AU - Ong, Yun Ting
AU - Ravindran, Nila
AU - Wan, Darius Wei Jun
AU - Tan, Jun Hao
AU - Abdul Hamid, Nur Amira Binte
AU - Somasundaram, Nagavalli
AU - Ong, Simon Yew Kuang
AU - Krishna, Lalit Kumar Radha
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
PY - 2026/2
Y1 - 2026/2
N2 - Background: In their care of terminally ill patients, palliative care physicians and oncologists are increasingly predisposed to physical and emotional exhaustion, or compassion fatigue (CF). Challenges faced by physicians include complex care needs; changing practice demands, and sociocultural contextual factors. Efforts to better understand CF have, however, been limited. We propose a systematic scoping review (SSR) to determine “What is known about theories of CF in physicians?”. Methods: Guided by the PRISMA-based Systematic Evidence-based Approach (SEBA) methodology, our SSR comprised searches for articles published between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2023 on MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Wiley, CINAHL and Google Scholar databases. Both thematic and content analyses were carried out. Results: Of the 10 505 titles identified, 80 articles were included. 15 current theories of CF were evaluated, leading to two key domains: theories of CF and theories related to the costs of caring. Overall, theories of CF evolved from Figley’s model with gradual encompassing of moral distress, vicarious trauma and burnout, alongside the inclusion of individual characteristics, decisioning and nous in later theories. Conclusion: CF was found to be part of a wider cost of caring that links clinical experiences with self-concepts of personhood and identity. The Ring Theory of Personhood has been able to shed light on how physicians will respond to such experiences and is key to guiding physician support and the creation of nurturing working environments.
AB - Background: In their care of terminally ill patients, palliative care physicians and oncologists are increasingly predisposed to physical and emotional exhaustion, or compassion fatigue (CF). Challenges faced by physicians include complex care needs; changing practice demands, and sociocultural contextual factors. Efforts to better understand CF have, however, been limited. We propose a systematic scoping review (SSR) to determine “What is known about theories of CF in physicians?”. Methods: Guided by the PRISMA-based Systematic Evidence-based Approach (SEBA) methodology, our SSR comprised searches for articles published between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2023 on MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Wiley, CINAHL and Google Scholar databases. Both thematic and content analyses were carried out. Results: Of the 10 505 titles identified, 80 articles were included. 15 current theories of CF were evaluated, leading to two key domains: theories of CF and theories related to the costs of caring. Overall, theories of CF evolved from Figley’s model with gradual encompassing of moral distress, vicarious trauma and burnout, alongside the inclusion of individual characteristics, decisioning and nous in later theories. Conclusion: CF was found to be part of a wider cost of caring that links clinical experiences with self-concepts of personhood and identity. The Ring Theory of Personhood has been able to shed light on how physicians will respond to such experiences and is key to guiding physician support and the creation of nurturing working environments.
KW - burnout
KW - compassion fatigue
KW - costs of caring
KW - oncology
KW - palliative care
KW - secondary traumatic stress
KW - vicarious trauma
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85215540839
U2 - 10.1177/10499091251315183
DO - 10.1177/10499091251315183
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85215540839
SN - 1049-9091
VL - 43
SP - 193
EP - 205
JO - American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
JF - American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
IS - 2
ER -