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. 2022 Apr 4;22(1):245.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-022-03312-y.

The development of empathy in the healthcare setting: a qualitative approach

Chou Chuen Yu  1 , Laurence Tan  1   2 , Mai Khanh LE  1 , Bernard Tang  3 , Sok Ying Liaw  4 , Tanya Tierney  5 , Yun Ying Ho  6 , Beng Eng Evelyn Lim  7 , Daphne Lim  7 , Reuben Ng  8 , Siew Chin Chia  9 , James Alvin Low  1   2
Affiliations

The development of empathy in the healthcare setting: a qualitative approach

Chou Chuen Yu et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: Healthcare professionals' empathetic behaviors have been known to lead to higher satisfaction levels and produce better health outcomes for patients. However, empathy could decrease over time especially during training and clinical practice. This study explored factors that contributed to the development of empathy in the healthcare setting. Findings could be used to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of empathy training.

Method: A qualitative approach, informed by aspects of grounded theory, was utilized to identify factors that enabled the development of empathy from the perspectives of doctors, nurses, allied healthcare workers and students. Twelve sessions of focus group discussions were conducted with 60 participants from two hospitals, a medical school, and a nursing school. Data was analyzed independently by three investigators who later corroborated to refine the codes, subthemes, and themes. Factors which influence the development of empathy were identified and categorized. This formed the basis of the creation of a tentative theory of empathy development for the healthcare setting.

Results: The authors identified various personal (e.g. inherent characteristics, physiological and mental states, professional identity) and external (e.g. work environment, life experience, situational stressors) factors that affected the development of empathy. These could be further categorized into three groups based on the stability of their impact on the individuals' empathy state, contributed by high, medium, or low stability factors. Findings suggest empathy is more trait-like and stable in nature but is also susceptible to fluctuation depending on the circumstances faced by healthcare professionals. Interventions targeting medium and low stability factors could potentially promote the development of empathy in the clinical setting.

Conclusions: Understanding factors that impact the development of empathy allows us to develop measures that could be implemented during training or at the workplace leading to improve the quality of care and higher clinical work satisfaction.

Keywords: Empathy; Empathy assessment; Empathy definition; Empathy development; Medical education.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Empathy development model in healthcare setting
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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