In 2003 the MGH Institute became the first school in the country to initiate Kenneth B. Schwartz Center Educational Rounds, a multidisciplinary forum where the next generation of caregivers discuss difficult emotional and social issues that arise in caring for patients. In 2007 as part of a conference on compassionate care at the Institute, a companion book for families experiencing the uncertainty of a serious and prolonged illness: Maintaining Compassionate Care was published.
The Kenneth B. Schwartz Center promotes pioneering programs to educate, train and support caregivers in the art of compassionate care. The Center was created in 1995 by health care attorney Kenneth Schwartz shortly before he died of lung cancer at the age of 40.
The educational "Rounds" format at the Institute provide students, faculty, alumni, and staff with an opportunity to engage in interprofessional dialogue on important issues that advance a compassionate approach to patient care. Participants are invited to engage in self-reflections and reflective dialogue with their peers. These rounds are held four times a year.
Panelists Suzanne Pennington, MS, CCC-SLP, and CSD alum Kate Boi, MS, CCC-SLP, reflected on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted compassionate long-term care practices.