Defining the Concept and Functions of a Compassionate Community in the Health Care Domain: A Scoping Review

In the context of a globally aging society, the concept of a compassionate community—which links societal frameworks with palliative care—has gained increasing attention. We posited that compassionate community initiatives should be perceived as sustainable efforts that extend from healthy stages of life. This study is a scoping review designed to define and elucidate how compassionate communities are utilized and practiced IN the health care domain. A systematic search of Medline, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane, and PsycINFO was conducted using the keyword “Compassionate Community.” Articles were limited to those in English and published between 2015 and 2025. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews guided data extraction and synthesis. A total of 27 articles were included. From these 27 articles, the concept of compassionate community in the health care domain was redefined. Additionally, eight functional aspects of a compassionate community were identified: Supporting, Connecting, Educating, Empowering, Empathizing, Cultivating, Surveying, and Lobbying. In this study, we restructured the concept of a compassionate community in the health care domain and categorized specific initiatives into eight functional aspects. Although the notion of compassionate community as an initiative that integrates society and palliative care aligns with previous research, this study clarified the specific activities required from a more practical approach. The results of our study may provide valuable insights for future research aimed at utilizing compassionate communities as a strategy for primary health care practice.