Teaching empathy in healthcare: an integrative review

Abstract

Empathy presupposes the ability and, most importantly, the willingness to understand others and put oneself in their place. Hence, health personnel are expected to be more empathetic and able to read the world around them with a humanized, critical, and reflexive look. This integrative review examines the studies on teaching empathy in undergraduate health programs published in the last five years. A total of 27 studies were selected from the MEDLINE and LILACS databases, most of which were published in the fields of medicine and nursing. Although a subjective element, most studies measured empathy using standardized scales (quantitative approach). Finally, empathy was taught using active methodologies.