Educating and Enhancing Compassion, Emotion and Reflective Professional Practice through Contemporary Filmmaking

The use of artistic and contemporary digital filmmaking is explored as a educational tool for enhancing compassion, emotion and reflective professional practice in a healthcare environment. The case study film, The Golden Window, was produced specifically for this research and captures a unique insight into an advanced life saving technique for premature babies. The research shows that the artistic use of filmmaking and sound design brings an immersive audience experience that has caused practitioners to reflect on their professional practice in new ways, and specifically with respect to the compassion they show to patients and other staff. Furthermore, this method of filmmaking has been seen to engage new audiences and to inspire and educate the general public in a complex field of healthcare and science.