If you're facing a life-threatening cancer, you'd think your doctor might respond with a healthy dose of empathy for your diagnosis. However, new research published today suggests that most physicians rarely respond to their patients with empathy to patient concerns, even when they were directly related to their diagnosis or treatment options.
The new research examined twenty recorded and transcribed consultations between physicians and their patients. It found that doctors often missed opportunities to recognize and ease the concerns of their patients. The research also discovered that doctors routinely provided virtually no emotional support to their patients.
"When patients are struggling and bring up important issues, doctors don't have to take a lot of time to address them, but they do need to respond. Showing that they understand and giving their patients more of what they need is not that difficult," said Diane Morse, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and of medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
The study sheds light on the types of situations and remarks that physicians should recognize as opportunities to express understanding and support, she said. The research also showed that empathic responses can be brief and do not make consultations longer.
Morse and her researchers examined 20 representative transcripts from recordings of 137 consultations between physicians at a Veterans Affairs hospital in the southern United States and patients with lung cancer or a pulmonary mass requiring surgical diagnosis.
Empathy — the identification with and understanding of another person's situation and feelings — is considered an important element of communication between patients and physicians and is associated with improved patient satisfaction and compliance with recommended treatment.
In the transcribed consultations, the researchers identified 384 moments or "empathic opportunities" when patients stated or alluded to concerns, emotions or stressors. These included statements about the impact of cancer, diagnosis, treatment or health care system barriers to care. They found that physicians responded empathically to only 39 of those moments (10 percent of the total opportunities available).
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http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/09/22/study-doctors-dont-always-respond-with-empathy/2985.html
