Introducing Schwartz Rounds

Schwartz Rounds are named after Kenneth Schwartz, an American lawyer who recognised the importance of compassionate care and acts of kindness while he underwent treatment for cancer. His experiences inspired the introduction of Schwartz Rounds, which provide an opportunity for healthcare practitioners to share their experiences, thoughts and feelings on issues arising from patients’ individual cases. This not only helps practitioners improve the quality of their personal connections, with both patients and colleagues, but also to gain more insight into their own responses and feelings.

Schwartz Rounds are now running in many acute and community-based healthcare organisations in several countries. For practitioners, identified benefits of Schwartz Rounds include improved personal relationships, wellbeing and job performance (Robert et al., 2017).

Participation has also been found to aid reflection, compassion and collaboration, and to increase trust, reduce isolation and enhance a sense of shared purpose (Reed et al., 2015). Research has also highlighted indirect benefits for the quality of patient care (George, 2016).

It is increasingly recognised that Schwartz Rounds can also be effective for people working in social care, by reducing the risk of stress, isolation and burnout (Minford et al. 2020).

Schwartz Rounds can help build a learning organisation across the health and social care sectors by providing a structured forum for multi-disciplinary groups to discuss the emotional and social aspects of their work.

A study that evaluated the effects of Schwartz Rounds on the mental health of practitioners working in ten local authority social care services in England found some evidence of effectiveness for wellbeing, personal relationships and direct practice; for more information, see here.

More information on Schwartz Rounds, including resources, can be found on The Point of Care Foundation’s website here.