Shane Sinclair: Beyond Empathy, What Compassion Looks Like in Health Care

Dr. Shane Sinclair is a professor with the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary and director of the Compassion Research Lab. In addition to overviewing the power that compassion holds, He shares his journey from clinical chaplaincy to groundbreaking research in oncology and palliative care on the topic of compassion. Sinclair unpacks what compassion really means, beyond pity or empathy, as a relational and often holistic response to suffering. He explains why compassion is hard to define, harder to measure, and yet essential for meaningful patient care. He also highlights how the EnACT program from the Compassion Research Lab, is a groundbreaking training tool designed for real-world clinical impact while being informed by science.