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Teaching Empathy in Healthcare: from Mirror Neurons to Education Technology

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Abstract

While modern medicine is moving towards genetically based personalized treatment, we still marvel daily at the healing power of the therapeutic relationships with patients. We are now closer to understanding where in the brain lies our capacity to view the world from the perspective of other people. Empathy is the ability to identify another person’s feelings and experiences and to view the world from their perspective. In healthcare provider–patient interaction, empathy improves interpersonal communication, fosters therapeutic alliance, correlates with patient and provider satisfaction, and improves patient care outcomes. Although the importance of empathy in healthcare is widely accepted, further work is due in clarifying the dimensions of empathy that are amenable to teaching and defining the role of healthcare providers’ and patients’ perception of empathy in treatment outcomes. Herein we will (1) provide a brief overview of neurobiology of empathy, (2) discuss the dimensions and conceptualizations of empathy as they apply to healthcare professions, and (3) discuss the body of literature on empathy teaching interventions, including technology options, with focus on virtual patient technology for medical, nursing, and allied health professions education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, AHC1 343, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Adriana Foster

  2. Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, AHC1 343, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Michelle Trieu

  3. Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, AHC3, 332B, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Elizabeth Azutillo

  4. Media Effects and Technology Lab, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida, PO Box 118400, 1885 Stadium Road, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Shivashankar Halan

  5. Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, P.O. Box 116120, CSE Room 544, Gainesville, FL, 32611-6120, USA

    Benjamin Lok

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  4. Shivashankar Halan
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  5. Benjamin Lok
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Correspondence to Adriana Foster.

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Conflict of Interest

Benjamin Lok is a cofounder of Shadow Health, Inc. Shadow Health sells virtual patient curricula to primarily nursing and pharmacy schools. The University of Florida has licensed Shadow Health’s intellectual property of the virtual patient work as of August 2008. The work presented here is clearly separate from Shadow Health, and there are no direct ties between the contained work and Shadow Health’s products.

None of the other authors has any conflicts of interest.

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Foster, A., Trieu, M., Azutillo, E. et al. Teaching Empathy in Healthcare: from Mirror Neurons to Education Technology. J. technol. behav. sci. 2, 94–105 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-017-0019-1

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