Center for Appreciative Practice logo

Established in 2007 by University of Virginia's Schools of Medicine and Nursing, its top-ranked Medical Center and University Physicians Group (UPG), the Center for Appreciative Practice purposefully nurtures a collaborative culture that "moves as one."

 

We begin our conversations with a single, deceptively simple question: What do we look like when we're at our best?

 

This means approaching challenging, high-stakes environments by encouraging positive energy, dialogue, inquiry, and reflection to promote change, rather than by issuing mandates. 

 

As consultants, we work with a variety of groups, both in and outside of the university, to facilitate improvements in clinical care, education, and interprofessional collaboration, seamlessly interfacing with experts across disciplines, including the Compassionate Care Initiative and Center for Interprofessional Collaborations. 

 

Our appreciative practice publication, Appreciative Inquiry in Healthcare: Positive Questions to Bring out the Best, is an encyclopedia designed to guide readers through the positive change process.

 

Regardless of the group or area of focus, we are guided by these principles:

 

  • We engage and empower people at all levels
  • We foster and grow curiosity and creativity, individually and institutionally
  • We value input from all levels, and consider the impact of change on all levels
  • We are conscious and committed members of our community

Think your organization could benefit from Center for Appreciative Practice consultants? Please contact us today.

About our logo

The Center for Appreciative Practice's logoa collage of the University of Virginia Rotundawas created by Lucia Cushman, an 87-year old woman, nearly blind from macular degeneration, who constructed her art with paint peeled from the oft-adorned Beta Bridge on Rugby Road near the main grounds of the University. The original of this piece was given as a gift to Ms. Cushman’s physician, Danny Becker who, in turn, allowed us to use it.

We immediately felt a kinship with this paint chip collage. Appreciative Inquiry is about reframing and transformation. What could be more transformative than turning old paint chips into a thing of beauty and joy?