Abstract
The current article is an integrative and analytical literature review on the concept and meaning of empathy in health and social care professionals. Empathy, i.e., the ability to understand the personal experience of the patient without bonding with them, constitutes an important communication skill for a health professional, one that includes three dimensions: the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. It has been proven that health professionals with high levels of empathy operate more efficiently as to the fulfillment of their role in eliciting therapeutic change. The empathetic professional comprehends the needs of the health care users, as the latter feel safe to express the thoughts and problems that concern them. Although the importance of empathy is undeniable, a significantly high percentage of health professionals seem to find it difficult to adopt a model of empathetic communication in their everyday practice. Some of the factors that negatively influence the development of empathy are the high number of patients that professionals have to manage, the lack of adequate time, the focus on therapy within the existing academic culture, but also the lack of education in empathy. Developing empathetic skills should not only be the underlying objective in the teaching process of health and social care undergraduate students, but also the subject of the lifelong and continuous education of professionals.
Highlights
Communication skills have been described as the most important ability for a health professional.Efficient communication depends upon the therapist feeling certain that they have really heard and recorded the health care user’s needs so as to provide personalized care [1]
The concept of empathy is a common denominator for many health professionals such as nurses, doctors, psychologists, and social workers [3,4,5,6]
Empathy is the ability to understand and share other people’s feelings [10]. It is a core concept as, according to the psychodynamic, behavioral and person-centered approaches, it facilitates the development of a therapeutic relationship with the health care user, providing the basis for therapeutic change [11]
Summary
Communication skills have been described as the most important ability for a health professional. Efficient communication depends upon the therapist feeling certain that they have really heard and recorded the health care user’s needs so as to provide personalized care [1]. It is important for health professionals to understand people’s feelings, opinions and experiences in order to assess their real needs and act offering tailor-made services. The concept of empathy is a common denominator for many health professionals such as nurses, doctors, psychologists, and social workers [3,4,5,6]. The person-centered approach for the unconditional acceptance of the health care user and empathy have for years been the fundamental values in the education and implementation of clinical social practice [3,7,8,9]
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