Greater professional empathy leads to higher agreement about decisions made in the consultation
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2014-08Author
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OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between professional expression of empathy and agreement about decisions made in the consultation. METHODS: Consultations between 86 individuals with diabetes and four dieticians were audio-recorded. Immediately following consultations patients and dieticians independently reported decisions made in a booklet. Audio-recordings were coded directly for empathy using an amended version of the empathic communication coding system (ECCS). RESULTS: Empathy correlated significantly with patient and professional agreement about decisions made in the consultation (τ=.283, p=.0005). Multiple regression analysis indicates that for each dietician the greater the empathy the higher the level of agreement about decisions (p<.0005). Professional empathic response to patients statements of challenge was a significant factor in increasing agreement about decisions (p=.008). CONCLUSION: Results support the hypothesis that greater professional empathy will result in greater agreement about decisions made in consultations. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Findings have implications for empathy training and provide guidance on the communication skills needed to support expression of empathy. Patient and professional agreement about decisions made provides a simple marker of effectiveness and highlights the importance of empathy as a seminal component of professional communication skills during a patient consultation.
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