By Kathleen Doheny HealthDay Reporter Latest Prevention & Wellness News

MONDAY, Nov. 24, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Want to give health care a boost? Try a little kindness, experts say.

Various studies suggest that when health care workers approach patients with compassion, patients often heal faster, have less pain and anxiety, and even bounce back faster from common colds.

"When health care is delivered with kindness and compassion, it has a significantly greater effect than when it is given in a dispassionate fashion that assumes that the human connection has no benefit," said Dr. James Doty, founder and director of Stanford University School of Medicine's Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education.

While medicine holds the power to cure, he said, how it is delivered can make a huge difference -- not just for patients but for health care providers, too.

Doty based his comments on a review of the published research on kindness and compassion in medical care. He presented the findings earlier this month at the Compassion and Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.

According to Doty, human evolution may be key to explaining why kindness matters in health care. That's because humans evolved to include the nurturing of offspring. So, when someone nurtures someone in need, Doty said, the "feel-good" hormone, oxytocin, is released in the patient's brain. That may help patients feel less anxious and tense, translating to lowered perceptions of pain.

Displaying compassionate care is simple, Doty said. For example, "those who practice this [know to] lean toward the patient," he said, sending the patient the message that their doctor or other provider is interested.

"We know you can express concern by simple touch," said Doty, who is also a professor of neurosurgery at Stanford.

Staff can also help a patient feel cared for when they avoid the impression that they are rushed, Doty said.

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Rx for Better Health Care: Kindness and Compassion