Empathy and the process of learning communication skills in clinical settings

• Type: Poster in an International Conference
• Date: 2010

Authors

IP Carvalho (Author) FMUP; Susana Almeida (Author) FMUP; LM Correia (Author) FMUP; Vanessa G. Pais (Author) FMUP; FR Silva (Author) FMUP; R Pedrosa (Author) FMUP; Raquel Ribeiro- Silva (Author) FMUP; M Figueiredo- Braga (Author) FMUP; Ivone Castro Vale (Author) FMUP; R Martins (Author) FMUP; A Teles (Author) FMUP; R Mota-Cardoso (Author) FMUP

Conference International

International Conference on Communication in Healthcare AACH – American Academy on Communication in Healthcare.

Verona, Italy, Setembro de 2010

Scientific classification

FOS: Medical and Health sciences > Other medical sciences

Other information

Abstract (EN): Empathy has been described by many authors but no consensus has emerged regarding its nature or definition. In its broadest understanding, it encompasses social, emotional and cognitive components, difficult to ascribe or quantify in a clinical setting. Neuroscientists have proposed a narrower concept set on basic components or requirements. Nevertheless, most would agree that it implies a shared emotional state and the ability to understand another person’s affective state. Clinical practitioner’s empathy has been associated with positive medical outcomes as well as with patient satisfaction. Accordingly, many clinical communication teaching programs include the practice of particular skills perceived as useful to creating an empathetic relationship with the goal of improving the use of this attitude among practitioners. However, to what extent does learning such specific skills translate into an empathic attitude? The current study addresses this question by inquiring into two issues: (1) Does individual empathy improve with participation in a program teaching communication skills in the clinical setting? (2) Do more empathetic professionals at the program’s onset learn and use clinical communication skills more easily? This study presents the results of an analysis based on the procedures of SPSS’s (now PASW) General Linear Model for repeated measures. Data were gathered from an empathy questionnaire (the Interpersonal Reactivity Index) and from instruments evaluating performances in clinical encounters (the SEGUE framework and the Interpersonal and Communication Skills Checklist – ICSC) applied to professional practitioners attending a 279-hour (9-months) program on communication skills (in the beginning and in the end of the program). This analysis provides insight into: (1) whether empathy is a relatively stable attitude of the person and whether it can be taught, as well as (2) whether empathy is related with the learned communication skills.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific