How can you overcome barriers to empathy in healthcare?

I have had the honor and privilege to lead within healthcare. The authenticity necessary to demonstrate empathy includes the ability to humbly admit when you are wrong, help others change course, and to believe that it takes the entire team to create safe space for empathy, validation of one another and trust will grow.

You have to create physical and mental time. You may be hearing someone speak, but you may not be listening in an effective way. To empathize with someone, you have to be present with them in their moment, and you have to be willing to step into their emotional world.

Laura Reed, I watched you exemplify authenticity and humility as our organization navigated a merger with lots of criticism under the watchful eyes of the media. Those are soft skills that cannot be learned by earning a degree or practicing an acronym. You were given grace because you have built that level of trust by being authentic and humble. You received what you reflect.

Healthcare providers are always rushing from one patient to another. Taking time to talk to patients makes a big difference in their outcomes. From a patient perspective I always prepare my questions ahead of the visit and look over my lab results and imaging and ask questions. Physical and emotional problems are missed if we are not taking time to ask the right questions. To overcome barriers,our providers also need to listen carefully, and take time to build a trusting relationship with their patients which improves compliance.

Very early on as a junior doctor I realized that truly listening and empathizing with patients and relatives was crucial in establishing a trusting relationship. However, tired or frustrated you are as a physician it is critical to overcome those feelings. Oftentimes, just offering a sympathetic ear and hearing the concerns of patients and relatives can go a long way in avoiding crossed lines and confusion.

Avoid using phrases like, "I know how you feel because... ." The reality is that you cannot really know exactly how they feel. Allow your verbal and non-verbal actions of empathy to be directed at the client and for their benefit. Work on getting them not to your way of thinking or feeling, but to a better place in their particular emotional and mental journey.

When listening, it's tempting (and human nature) to rush in to offer a solution. An even worse, but well-intended response is to minimize the issue with comparisons like, "at least you don't have to...". These tactics, while on the surface appear as helpful gestures, are actually dismissive and break down communication. Sitting with someone's problem, feeling the discomfort they are feeling, creating emotional safety, and saying "I'm here with you" is the truest form of empathy.

Sometimes just "holding space" for someone to share their frustrations, worries, anger, etc can be helpful. I like to say that my office is a "Safe Space" for us to share our unfiltered thoughts and sort out what is needed.

What drove me to become a nurse,is that as a little girl I experienced in sensitivity from a nurse whole I was hospitalized for tonsillectomy .My expectations included to be treated kindly especially that Mama couldn't stay with me all the time. I swore to become a nurse as I found it very easy to guess what ?Place myself in any ones position"especially when ill" Understanding all that comes with being unwell and being able to recognize the humanities and vulnerabilities!!

These types of discussion almost certainly center around allowing individuals to be "seen, heard, and valued." Yet, beyond the eye contact, head nodding and expressed compassion, what are we really saying? As a woman of color who has personal lived experiences in this space ("are you sure there's not something else going on...at home?") and as a former health care executive who worked professionally to advocate for marginalized communities, the word is 'believed.' We can't talk about valuing vulnerability without validating the lived experiences of clients, patients and families, even if, and especially when they're not our own. "I see you. I hear you. I believe you." All good places to start.

In my experience, we learn to press pause between thought and action by paying attention to runaway thoughts and stories we make up. We are not our thoughts, we are our hearts. By tuning first into ourselves and drilling deeper into why we are agitated - w the 3Hs - hurt? hungry? heart hindered in some way? By applying empathy to self first, we tune into our own needs, and can address them while elevating our right to rest, self-care, and nourishment. Self-care isn’t selfish, it’s essential for empathy to self which by extension builds empathy for others and the world.

Empathy requires that you have mental and physical space and time to allow you to explore another person's emotional world. Therefore, if you are burnt out, stressed out, or overwhelmed, you will not have this necessary space, so you will be ineffective in being able to empathize. Trying to "fake it" when you're overwhelmed or burnout does not help the client or patient, and it is detrimental to you.

Overcoming bias in a healthcare setting is crucial to ensure equitable and fair treatment for all. 1. Education and Awareness: Promote education and awareness about different types of biases, including implicit ones that may be unconscious. 2. Standardized Protocols and Guidelines: Implement standardized protocols and guidelines for non-biased and inclusive patient treatment. 3. Data Collection and Analysis: Collect and analyze data on patient outcomes, treatment plans, and healthcare disparities. This data can help identify patterns of bias and lead to more patient-led decision making. 4. Cultural Competence: Promote cultural competence including the cultural beliefs, values, and practices of diverse patient populations.

In my experience of Crew Resource Management (CRM) in the world of aviation, your coworkers’ backgrounds are not only important to be aware of, but it’s imperative that we are able to adjust our operation to stay safe. The same concepts of CRM can be applied throughout the world of healthcare. Recognising the nuances and differences in personality, background, culture etc allows us to discover and understand how healthcare professionals should adapt in their approach to interacting with patients. Everywhere is different in terms of demographic when it comes to treating a certain population. Having an awareness and appreciation of different cultures and backgrounds can unlock treatment pathways not otherwise available to other clinicians.

Empathy can be seen in a Persons physical demeanor. Emotional intelligence is essential. You have to be a caring person. Knowing how to respond to every patient’s personality. Are they in pain? Pain can physiologically wear on a person day to day quality of life. I spent 16 years floating to 15 different specialty clinics. Each clinic has had multiple prognoses. Knowing your patient, knowing the diagnoses, knowing the prognoses and being sympathetically positive. Patients / people just want to know you care and will do what is ethnically possible to help.

One important concept that I read from somewhere is that empathy is understanding that you since you have never spent a day in someone's shoes, no matter how much you may be able to relate to their experiences or challenges, you can never know exactly what it is like to be them or to experience that challenge at that particular time. Acknowledging this allows us to listen better and therefore communicate better. It also frees us from our own bias or blind spot from thinking we know how someone feels because we have experienced something similar or have cared for many people with similar challenges.

I disagree with the statement that empathy can be learned. That seems to me that this is a confusion between sympathy and empathy. You can learn to enhance your empathetic traits but you can't develop these skills if you don't have them. If you don't have the ability to empathize and you try to it will always sound superficial and fake to the person interacting with you. People are energy beings as well, and this inability will set you off energetically, if nothing else. You might not be able to pinpoint it consciously, but your subconscious mind will and send warning signals off and the answers after that fake empathetic response will be a lie

Remember to practice H.A.L.T. This is stopping during stressful conditions or conversations to uncover why you're in a negative emotional or mental state. H=Hungry? A=Angry? L=Lonely? T=Tired? If any of these states apply, then address that first, then you will be in a better state to empathize.

Overcoming barriers to empathy in healthcare requires an approach from different angles, including: 1. Listen actively, understand where the patient's coming from. 2. Your own well-being is essential for empathy. 3. View the patient as a whole person. 4. Understand the patient's experiences, feelings, and needs. 5. Reflect on your own feelings and reactions to help you become aware of your own biases and improve empathetic communication. 6. Role-playing exercises can help you become more comfortable and skilled in empathetic communication.

Imagine the other person in a completely different context. If this were a friend or loved one, would you react in a similar way? What if the roles were reversed; how would you want or expect a loved one to respond to you? Empathy is the ability to share perspective; by envisioning someone in a different scenario you can add depth to your understanding.