Defining clinical empathy : a grounded theory approach from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients in a multicultural setting

Objective To define clinical empathy from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients from a multicultural setting. Design Grounded theory approach using focus group discussions. Setting A health cluster in Singapore consisting of an acute hospital, a community hospital, ambulatory care team...

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Main Authors: Tan, Laurence, Le, Mai Khanh, Yu, Chou Chuen, Liaw, Sok Ying, Tierney, Tanya, Ho, Yun Ying, Lim, Evelyn, Lim, Daphne, Ng, Reuben, Ngeow, Colin, Low, James
Other Authors: Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/153766
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1537662023-03-05T16:45:46Z Defining clinical empathy : a grounded theory approach from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients in a multicultural setting Tan, Laurence Le, Mai Khanh Yu, Chou Chuen Liaw, Sok Ying Tierney, Tanya Ho, Yun Ying Lim, Evelyn Lim, Daphne Ng, Reuben Ngeow, Colin Low, James Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) Science::Medicine Education & Training Quality in Health Care Objective To define clinical empathy from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients from a multicultural setting. Design Grounded theory approach using focus group discussions. Setting A health cluster in Singapore consisting of an acute hospital, a community hospital, ambulatory care teams, a medical school and a nursing school. Participants 69 participants including doctors, nurses, medical students, nursing students, patients and allied health workers. Main outcome measures A robust definition of clinical empathy. Results The construct of clinical empathy is consistent across doctors, nurses, students, allied health and students. Medical empathy consists of an inner sense of empathy (imaginative, affective and cognitive), empathy behaviour (genuine concern and empathic communication) and a sense of connection (trust and rapport). This construct of clinical empathy is similar to definitions by neuroscientists but challenges a common definition of clinical empathy as a cognitive process with emotional detachment. Conclusions This paper has defined clinical empathy as ‘a sense of connection between the healthcare worker and the patient as a result of perspective taking arising from imaginative, affective and cognitive processes, which are expressed through behaviours and good communication skills that convey genuine concern’. A clear and multidimensional definition of clinical empathy will improve future education and research efforts in the application and impact of clinical empathy. Published version This work was supported by Geriatric Education & Research Institute’s intramural fund (reference number GERI1616). All authors had full access to all of the data (including statistical reports and tables) in the study and can take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. 2021-12-27T04:02:42Z 2021-12-27T04:02:42Z 2021 Journal Article Tan, L., Le, M. K., Yu, C. C., Liaw, S. Y., Tierney, T., Ho, Y. Y., Lim, E., Lim, D., Ng, R., Ngeow, C. & Low, J. (2021). Defining clinical empathy : a grounded theory approach from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients in a multicultural setting. BMJ Open, 11(9), e045224-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045224 2044-6055 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/153766 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045224 9 11 e045224 en GERI1616 BMJ Open © 2021 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Science::Medicine
Education & Training
Quality in Health Care
spellingShingle Science::Medicine
Education & Training
Quality in Health Care
Tan, Laurence
Le, Mai Khanh
Yu, Chou Chuen
Liaw, Sok Ying
Tierney, Tanya
Ho, Yun Ying
Lim, Evelyn
Lim, Daphne
Ng, Reuben
Ngeow, Colin
Low, James
Defining clinical empathy : a grounded theory approach from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients in a multicultural setting
description Objective To define clinical empathy from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients from a multicultural setting. Design Grounded theory approach using focus group discussions. Setting A health cluster in Singapore consisting of an acute hospital, a community hospital, ambulatory care teams, a medical school and a nursing school. Participants 69 participants including doctors, nurses, medical students, nursing students, patients and allied health workers. Main outcome measures A robust definition of clinical empathy. Results The construct of clinical empathy is consistent across doctors, nurses, students, allied health and students. Medical empathy consists of an inner sense of empathy (imaginative, affective and cognitive), empathy behaviour (genuine concern and empathic communication) and a sense of connection (trust and rapport). This construct of clinical empathy is similar to definitions by neuroscientists but challenges a common definition of clinical empathy as a cognitive process with emotional detachment. Conclusions This paper has defined clinical empathy as ‘a sense of connection between the healthcare worker and the patient as a result of perspective taking arising from imaginative, affective and cognitive processes, which are expressed through behaviours and good communication skills that convey genuine concern’. A clear and multidimensional definition of clinical empathy will improve future education and research efforts in the application and impact of clinical empathy.
author2 Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine)
author_facet Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine)
Tan, Laurence
Le, Mai Khanh
Yu, Chou Chuen
Liaw, Sok Ying
Tierney, Tanya
Ho, Yun Ying
Lim, Evelyn
Lim, Daphne
Ng, Reuben
Ngeow, Colin
Low, James
format Article
author Tan, Laurence
Le, Mai Khanh
Yu, Chou Chuen
Liaw, Sok Ying
Tierney, Tanya
Ho, Yun Ying
Lim, Evelyn
Lim, Daphne
Ng, Reuben
Ngeow, Colin
Low, James
author_sort Tan, Laurence
title Defining clinical empathy : a grounded theory approach from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients in a multicultural setting
title_short Defining clinical empathy : a grounded theory approach from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients in a multicultural setting
title_full Defining clinical empathy : a grounded theory approach from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients in a multicultural setting
title_fullStr Defining clinical empathy : a grounded theory approach from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients in a multicultural setting
title_full_unstemmed Defining clinical empathy : a grounded theory approach from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients in a multicultural setting
title_sort defining clinical empathy : a grounded theory approach from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients in a multicultural setting
publishDate 2021
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/153766
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