Clinical Empathy

(HOWICK + 2015)

Effects of changing practitioner empathy and patient expectations in healthcare consultations

Jeremy Howick+

"Empathy has been conceptualised in diverse ways including as a behaviour, a personality trait, an affect and a cognition (Mercer 2002). In this review we will take a broader perspective that acknowledges clinical empathy as complex and multidimensional (Coulehan 2000; Decety 2014; Hojat 2009; Mercer 2002; Morse 1992; Neumann 2009). The broader definition of empathy is guided by Mercer 2002, and views empathy as an ability to

• understand the patient’s situation, perspective and feelings (and their attached meanings);

• communicate that understanding and check its accuracy; and

• act on that understanding with the patient in a helpful (therapeutic) way."

Benefits

• "For example, empathy and positive expectations are suspected to reduce anxiety and stress (Everly 2002) which in turn could reduce pain, depression, and various other conditions (Grossman 2004)."

  • - anxiety

  • - stress

  • - pain,

  • - depression,

• Improving practitioner empathy and inducing positive patient expectations can also affect overall wellbeing (Thomas 1987).

  • + overall wellbeing

Interventions

• practitioner empathy

  • "More complex interventions involve more extensive training programs such as three 60 minute empathy and relational skills training sessions (Riess "2012),"

  • or a semi-structured interview with a patient designed to empathetically induce positive expectations (Vangronsveld 2012). "

  • "We have listed several examples of the types of interventions on which this review will focus in Table 1 and Table 2."

• patient expectations