Role of Empathy in Patient Care

The Role of Empathy in Patient Care
This a paper I wrote about a few recent findings in Psychology that I thought would be interesting to share with you.


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The role of empathy in patient care: physician-patient communication as a key factor to management of disease and patient compliance.
Vitor Borges Friary, BSc
Psychology Student
Department of Haematology, St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, UK
October 8, 2007


Recent fMRI research findings suggest that doctors control their own brains’ pain responses to treat their patients (Cheng et al., 2007). Professor in Psychology and Psychiatry, Jean Decety and colleagues from the University of Chicago, report that apparently physicians learn to “shut off” the portion of their brain that helps them appreciate the pain their patients experience while treating them and instead activate a portion of the brain connected with controlling emotions. For Decety, this new study casts light on the mechanisms involved in empathy and empathic concern. In the interest of health psychology this could lead us to a better understanding of the processes of physician-patient relationship and their various dynamics, from diagnosis and assessment of pain to treatment planning, and ultimately how these influence on the overall management of disease.
Some studies have focused on the relationship between physician-patient communication and adherence to antiretroviral treatment (Herrera et al, 2004), and results suggested that overcoming these communication barriers is essential to ensure optimal treatment outcomes. Another recent study show that Patients with advanced cancer often suffer from untreated psychiatric disorders. Dr. Michael Miovic and Dr. Susan Block from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston review the published literature of psychiatric illnesses in cancer patients. They found that 50 percent or more of patients with advanced or terminal cancer suffer from at least one of three major psychiatric disorders: adjustment disorders, anxiety disorders and depressive disorders. These disorders have distinct symptoms that oncologists can screen for and manage through medications or referral to mental health professionals and/or support groups.
These findings suggest that empathic communication between physicians and patients is a key factor in the deliverance of good patient care, and point out to the importance of tackling these difficulties as a way to insure professional mental health support is both delivered and appropriately sustained. In fact, as some other recent researches show, improving physician empathic communication skills should increase patient satisfaction and compliance (Kim et al., 2004). Health providers who wish to improve patient satisfaction and compliance should first identify components of their empathic communication needing improvement and then try to refine their skills to better serve patients.

REFERENCES
Cheng et al., Expertise Modulates the Perception of Pain in Others, Current Biology (2007), doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.09.020

Michael Miovic, Susan Block (2007) Article: "Psychiatric Disorders in Advanced Cancer," CANCER; Published Online: September 10, 2007 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr. 22980); Print Issue Date: October 15, 2007.

Herrera C, Caballero M, Campero L, Kendall T. Int Conf AIDS. 2004 Jul 11-16; 15: abstract no. MoOrD1086. National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico

Kim S. S., Kaplowitz, S., Johnston, M. V. (2004). Evaluation & the Health Professions, Vol. 27, No. 3, 237-251 DOI: 10.1177/0163278704267037, Sage Publications, US.