Improv to improve medical student communication

Abstract

Patient-centred communication (PCC), including empathetic communication (EC), has well described health benefits to patients. 1 Various educational interventions, many with lengthy time commitments, attempting to improve PCC, EC and patient satisfaction survey scores (PSSS) have had mixed results. 2 Improvisational theatre ('improv') is emerging as an instructional strategy for teaching communication skills. 3 The fundamental skills of improv parallel the skills that Epstein et al advocates for PCC. 4 Improv requires practicing emotional intelligence (including expressing empathy), maintaining emotional presence, sustaining teamwork among actors, active listening and observing (including non-verbal cues), and creating/ demonstrating agreement upon a co-constructed reality of a scene or idea. 3

Consistency Analysis in Medical Empathy Intervention Research

“…In the definition sections, seven studies mentioned cognitive dimensions of empathy, nine mentioned affective dimensions of empathy, and six mentioned behavioral dimensions of empathy. On the other hand, four studies did not define empathy in any dimension [ 27 , 34 , 40 , 48 ], while one study defined empathy in one dimension, three studies in two dimensions, and only five studies in all three dimensions.…”

“…The other three studies were 33% consistent [ 18 , 37 , 42 ], which involved the behavioral dimension only. The remaining studies had either no consistency at all, found in eight studies [ 21 , 23 , 27 , 38 , 40 , 44 , 45 , 48 ], or inapplicability for comparison, found in one study [ 34 ].…”

“…There were five studies that had partial consistency, with two studies [ 32 , 42 ] having 67%, one study [ 23 ] having 50%, and two studies [ 18 , 37 ] having 33% consistency. The remaining studies had either no consistency at all, found in seven studies [ 21 , 27 , 38 , 40 , 44 , 45 , 48 ], or inapplicability for comparison, found in one study [ 34 ].…”

“…In the comparisons of intervention vs. assessment, three studies reached 100% consistency [ 18 , 37 , 48 ]. Interestingly, all three interventions were communication-associated workshops or educational courses, and all three corresponding measures involved the Empathy Communication Coding System (ECCS) [ 20 ].…”

“…In the intervention sections, three studies [ 32 , 40 , 42 ] had interventions involving knowledge aspects. Surprisingly, none had interventions involving the attitude aspect, and seven studies [ 18 , 27 , 32 , 37 , 40 , 42 , 48 ] had interventions involving behavior aspects. Meanwhile, six studies had no interventions involving any aspects of the KAB model [ 21 , 23 , 34 , 38 , 44 , 45 ].…”