Empathy and avoidance in treating patients living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) among service providers in China

Abstract

This study aims to investigate health care providers’ empathy levels and its association with avoidance in providing service to patients living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in China. A total of 1760 health service providers were randomly sampled from 40 county hospitals in two provinces of China. Using a self-administered questionnaire, participants’ demographic characteristics, work history, empathy level, and avoidance attitudes toward PLWHA were collected in a cross-sectional survey. Empathy was higher among participants aged 31–40 years, those who had an associated medical degree, and those who had served in the medical profession for less than 20 years. Nurses, younger providers, and providers with lower education tended to avoid contact with PLWHA. Multiple linear regression model showed that a higher level of empathic attitude toward patients was significantly negatively associated with avoidance attitude toward PLWHA. Service providers’ empathy level plays an important role in providing quality care to HIV-infected patients. Future stigma reduction interventions should cultivate empathy as a platform for understanding, effective communication, and trusting provider–patient relationships. PLWHA could potentially benefit from attitudinal change in medical settings.

Reducing HIV-related stigma among health-care professionals: a game-based experiential approach

“…Researchers who investigate multicomponent stigma-reduction programs (e.g., Li et al, 2013) may also incorporate the game-based experiential workshop as an interpersonal or affective component and test its additional contribution. Finally, our findings echoed the importance of promoting empathy, which was highlighted in other HIV stigma-reduction studies (e.g., Larson-Presswalla et al, 1995;Lin et al, 2012). More research is needed to elucidate the role of empathy in the effectiveness of the game-based experiential approach.…”

“…More specifically, promoting an empathic perspective has been associated with more positive attitudes toward people living with HIV (PLHIV; Batson et al, 1997;Larson-Presswalla, Rose, & Cornett, 1995;Tarrant & Hadert, 2010). In China, health-care workers with a higher empathic level toward PLHIV reported less avoidance in treating them (Lin, Li, Wan, Wu, & Yan, 2012). Recognizing the power of an empathic perspective, the present study tested a HIV stigma-reduction intervention that focused on increasing sensitivity to the feelings of PLHIV through experiential games followed by group discussion.…”

Affected by HIV Stigma: Interpreting Results from a Population Survey of an Urban Center in Guangxi, China

“…These beliefs persist even among (presumably better informed) Chinese health care providers, who exhibit generally low levels of support for PLHIV (25–27) . Stigma contributes to these attitudes, as some providers reported feeling stigma and shame as a result of being associated HIV patients (26) , although providers with increased empathy had reduced avoidance of PLHIV, which improved the quality of their care (28) .…”

Patient and Provider Perspectives on HIV and HIV-Related Stigma in Dutch Health Care Settings

“…33,41,66,71,[83][84][85][86][87] In fact, Lin and colleagues, in their study among service providers in China, found that more empathetic attitudes were negatively related to avoidance attitudes. 88 We therefore suggest that interventions with health care providers seek to induce empathy by creating an awareness of those behaviors reflecting unintended instrumental stigma (e.g., use of differential precautions, labelling of files) and the impact of such behaviors on PLWH. 34 Empathy can also be cultivated by creating opportunities for contact between PLWH and health care providers, either directly or vicariously (e.g., through digital testimonials).…”