Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice
Volume 15, Issue 2 , Pages 76-79 , May 2009

A perspective on cultivating clinical empathy

  • Matthew A. Davis

      Affiliations

    • Grace Cottage Hospital, P.O. Box 216, 185 Grafton Road, Townshend, VT 05353, USA
    • The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Lebanon, NH, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationGrace Cottage Hospital, P.O. Box 216, 185 Grafton Road, Townshend, VT 05353, USA. Tel.: +1 (802) 365 4331; fax: +1 (802) 365 7384.

References 

  1. Suchman AL, Matthews DA. What makes the patient–doctor relationship therapeutic? Exploring the connexional dimension of medical care. Ann Intern Med. 1988;108:125–130
  2. Kunyk D, Olson JK. Clarification of conceptualizations of empathy. J Adv Nurs. 2001;35:317–325
  3. van den Brink-Muinen A, van Dulmen AM, Jung HP, Bensing JM. Do our talks with patients meet their expectations?. J Fam Pract. 2007;56:559–568
  4. Matthews DA, Feinstein AR. A new instrument for patients' ratings of physician performance in the hospital setting. J Gen Intern Med. 1989;4:14–22
  5. Hemmerdinger JM, Stoddart SD, Lilford RJ. A systematic review of tests of empathy in medicine. BMC Med Educ. 2007;7:24
  6. Hothersall D. History of psychology. New York: Random House; 1984;
  7. Norfolk T, Birdi K, Walsh D. The role of empathy in establishing rapport in the consultation: a new model. Med Educ. 2007;41:690–697
  8. Mercer SW, Reilly D, Watt GC. The importance of empathy in the enablement of patients attending the Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital. Br J Gen Pract. 2002;52:901–905
  9. Price S, Mercer SW, MacPherson H. Practitioner empathy, patient enablement and health outcomes: a prospective study of acupuncture patients. Patient Educ Couns. 2006;63:239–245
  10. Hojat M, Gonnella JS, Nasca TJ, Mangione S, Vergare M, Magee M. Physician empathy: definition, components, measurement, and relationship to gender and specialty. Am J Psychiatry. 2002;159:1563–1569
  11. Hojat M, Mangione S, Nasca TJ, Rattner S, Erdmann JB, Gonnella JS, et al. An empirical study of decline in empathy in medical school. Med Educ. 2004;38:934–941
  12. Chen JT, LaLopa J, Dang DK. Impact of patient empathy modeling on pharmacy students caring for the underserved. Am J Pharm Educ. 2008;72:40
  13. Shapiro J. Walking a mile in their patients' shoes: empathy and othering in medical students' education. Philos Ethics Humanit Med. 2008;3:10
  14. Marley J, Carman I. Selecting medical students: a case report of the need for change. Med Educ. 1999;33:455–459
  15. Davis MA, Bove GM. The chiropractic healer. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2008;31:323–327
  16. Evans MA, Shaw AR, Sharp DJ, Thompson EA, Falk S, Turton P, et al. Men with cancer: is their use of complementary and alternative medicine a response to needs unmet by conventional care?. Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2007;16:517–525
  17. Stephan W, Finlay K. The role of empathy in improving inter-group relations. J Soc Issues. 1999;55:729–743
  18. Pedersen R. Empathy: a wolf in sheep's clothing?. Med Health Care Philos. 2007;
  19. McDonough-Means SI, Kreitzer MJ, Bell IR. Fostering a healing presence and investigating its mediators. J Altern Complement Med. 2004;10(Suppl. 1):S25–S41
  20. Nightingale SD, Yarnold PR, Greenberg MS. Sympathy, empathy, and physician resource utilization. J Gen Intern Med. 1991;6:420–423
  21. Loggia ML, Mogil JS, Catherine Bushnell M. Empathy hurts: compassion for another increases both sensory and affective components of pain perception. Pain. 2008;136:168–176
  22. Montgomery CL. The care-giving relationship: paradoxical and transcendent aspects. Altern Ther Health Med. 1996;2:52–57
  23. Morse JM, Anderson G, Bottorff JL, Yonge O, O'Brien B, Solberg SM, et al. Exploring empathy: a conceptual fit for nursing practice?. Image J Nurs Sch. 1992;24:273–280
  24. Wispe L. The distinction between sympathy and empathy. To call forth a concept, a word is needed. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986;50:168–172
  25. Little P, Everitt H, Williamson I, Warner G, Moore M, Gould C, et al. Observational study of effect of patient centredness and positive approach on outcomes of general practice consultations. BMJ. 2001;323:908–911
  26. Thomas KB. General practice consultations: is there any point in being positive?. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1987;294:1200–1202
  27. Jackson C. Healing ourselves, healing others: first in a series. Holist Nurs Pract. 2004;18:67–81
  28. Jamison JR. Reflections on chiropractic's patient-centered care. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2001;24:483–486
  29. Fredriksson L. Modes of relating in a caring conversation: a research synthesis on presence, touch and listening. J Adv Nurs. 1999;30:1167–1176
  30. Lang EV, Hatsiopoulou O, Koch T, Berbaum K, Lutgendorf S, Kettenmann E, et al. Can words hurt? Patient–provider interactions during invasive procedures. Pain. 2005;114:303–309
  31. Waldstein SR, Neumann SA, Drossman DA, Novack DH. Teaching psychosomatic (biopsychosocial) medicine in United States medical schools: survey findings. Psychosom Med. 2001;63:335–343
  32. Suzuki S. Zen mind, beginner's mind. 37th ed.. Boston, MA: Weatherhill; 2007;
  33. Suchman AL, Markakis K, Beckman HB, Frankel R. A model of empathic communication in the medical interview. JAMA. 1997;277:678–682
  34. Fisher ES, Wennberg DE, Stukel TA, Gottlieb DJ, Lucas FL, Pinder EL. The implications of regional variations in medicare spending. Part 2: health outcomes and satisfaction with care. Ann Intern Med. 2003;138:288–298
  35. Fisher ES, Wennberg DE, Stukel TA, Gottlieb DJ, Lucas FL, Pinder EL. The implications of regional variations in medicare spending. Part 1: the content, quality, and accessibility of care. Ann Intern Med. 2003;138:273–287
  36. Elder N, Ricer R, Tobias B. How respected family physicians manage difficult patient encounters. J Am Board Fam Med. 2006;19:533–541
  37. Popper M. The sources of motivation of personalized and socialized charismatic leaders. Psychoanal Contemp Thought. 1999;22:231–246
  38. Popper M. Narcissism and attachment patterns of personalized and socialized charismatic leaders. J Soc Pers Relat. 2002;19:797–809

PII: S1744-3881(09)00002-4

doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2009.01.001

Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice
Volume 15, Issue 2 , Pages 76-79 , May 2009

Article Tools