Ep 105 – Empathy: who cares? Exploring empathy in health care

In this episode, Dr Hannah Rosa discusses a topic which is at the heart of good clinical care: empathy. Research has shown that empathy decreases as medical students progress through medical school and that in society empathy levels have fallen over recent decades. But what does this mean for us working in primary care? What are the benefits that increasing empathy in our clinical practice can bring, and how can we all develop this vital skill?

Key references

1. Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2023. https://www.oed.com/.
2. Empathy Lab. https://www.empathylab.uk/.
3. Daniel Goleman on the different kinds of empathy. LeadersIn, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDVvLEKoc8.
4. Chung I, et al. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2024;23:10499091241233599. doi: 10.1177/10499091241233599.
5. Howick J, et al. BMC Med Educ. 2023;23(1):270. doi: 10.1186/s12909-023-04165-9.
6. Konrath SH, et al. Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 2011;15(2):180-98. doi: 10.1177/1088868310377395.
7. Rubin J. The Washington Post, 2023.
8. Derksen F, et al. Br J Gen Pract. 2013;63(606):e76-e84. doi: 10.3399/bjgp13X660814.
9. Neumann M, et al. GMS Z Med Ausbild. 2012;29(1):Doc11. doi: 10.3205/zma000781.
10. Hannan J, et al. BMC Res Notes. 2019;12(1):327. doi: 10.1186/s13104-019-4365-2.
11. Howick J, et al. J R Soc Med. 2018;111(7):240-252. doi:10.1177/0141076818769477.
12. Hojat M, et al. Acad Med 2011;86(3):359-364. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3182086fe1.
13. Rakel D, et al. Patient Educ Couns. 2011;85(3):390-397. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2011.01.009.
14. Larson EB, Yao X. JAMA. 2005;293(9):1100-1106. doi: 10.1001/jama.293.9.1100.
15. Wündrich M, et al. Med Teach. 2017;39(10):1096-1098. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2017.1355451.
16. Hojat M. J Health Hum Serv Adm. 2009;31(4):412-450.
17. AZ Quotes. https://www.azquotes.com/quote/813970.

Key take-home points

• Psychologists Daniel Goleman and Paul Ekman identify three components of empathy:
  • cognitive empathy, which is the ability to understand how others think about things
  • emotional empathy, which is the ability to care about how others feel
  • compassionate empathy, which is the desire to help others through our actions or by providing support.
• Many studies from Europe and North America have suggested that empathy declines in students as they progress through medical school.
• Research has also shown that people today have less empathy compared with previous decades.
• Empathy within clinical practice has been shown to bring many benefits, for our patients, for our colleagues and for ourselves.
• Research findings tends to agree that empathy is a skill that can be developed.
• Why not think back to communication skills training that you have had throughout your career and reflect upon which skills you have fine-tuned over the years, and those which have disappeared and maybe should make a comeback?
• You could also reflect upon a difficult patient interaction that you have had, and use empathy try to think of some reasons why it may have happened and perhaps discuss it with a colleague.