[PDF] The limits of empathy: problems in medical education and practice | Semantic Scholar (2024)

The effects of the potential components of empathy are explored and it is argued that it should be conceived as a purely descriptive and wide term.

This paper argues that there is currently a problem in the balance between scientific– technical and psychosocial elements of patient care and a broad model of empathy is suggested which could replace the vaguer concepts of sympathy and compassion and so enable improvements in patient care, psycho-social research and medical education.

It is proposed that patient role-play can enhance patient care holistically, by enhancing key communication skills and student’s empathy.

A reflection on the limitations of an empathy-based approach, including bias, helps to strengthen the argument for adopting this form of clinical ethics.

It is argued that clinical empathy seems to harbour some dark sides, and it is demonstrated that accessing the inner world of others is neither possible nor desirable since this operation can result in undermining the patient's agency.

The need for empathy in patient care is undebatable, but physician burnout, emotional drainage, and overburden are reasons physicians tend to drift away from it.

This chapter outlines the change in students’ perceptions of empathy as they gain clinical experience with patients, as a dynamic process which is embedded in a relationship and much affected by the context of the clinical consultation with the patient.

It is argued that a Christian spirituality of healthcare provision is founded on agape, and the theological connection between empathic attunement and the Incarnation is developed.

...

...

Empathy is examined in an era where empathy has been literalised and instrumentalised, including its measurement, and compared with others such as pity and compassion, using the medium of Homer’s Iliad.

The philosophy behind the ethics of caring is discussed and three issues that arise within its context are explored: receptivity, taking responsibility, and creating an educational environment that fosters caring.

Waning of idealism is thought to be associated with a decline in empathy, and two papers in this edition explore this important area.

Stein's model of empathy is suggested as a strategy to overcome the tension and meet the demands of empathy.

A practical teaching tool is described that delineates and structures the skills which aid doctor‐patient communication, and provides detailed references to substantiate the research and theoretical basis of these individual skills.

Jodi Halpern's new and “controversial” model of empathy appears to be the result of common sense imaginatively applied.

It is most important to patients that they or their relatives receive a meaningful apology, according to guidance from the NHS Litigation Authority, which defends the NHS against legal claims for clinical negligence.

...

...