Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Culturally Competent Compassion

The Research Centre for Transcultural Studies in Health has launched its Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Culturally Competent Compassion, and is now taking enrolments.

This is an open access, free course beginning 20 October 2014 and lasting three weeks, plus one week for assessments for those who wish to obtain a certificate of attendance. 

This taster MOOC will explore the following questions: 

• What is compassion?
• Is it an inborn characteristic or do we learn this as we go through life?
• If compassion is inborn, does this mean that everyone understands it and expresses it in the same way?
• If we learn compassion as we go through life, how does our family, our cultural group, our education, our gender, etc influence the way we understand and express compassion?
• Are nurses and other health professionals being encouraged to cultivate and apply compassion? If yes, how is this done? If no, why is it not done?

The course will provide the opportunity for attendees to network, share experiences and discuss aspects of compassion from different cultural perspectives, as well as meet experts who focus on compassion in healthcare. The course will stimulate the need for reflection and contemplation on personal values and practices and a desire to continue to learn how to reach deeper levels of compassion.

The MOOC is open to nurses and other health professionals, as well as anyone interested in compassion. For more information and how to register. follow the link: https://openeducation.blackboard.com/middlesexuniversity