Investigation of empathy amongst dietetic interns at selected primary and tertiary health‐care facilities

Abstract

Aim Empathy is an essential aspect in the delivery of quality nutrition care and promoting better outcomes in patients. With an increased emphasis of patient‐centred care in dietetic practice, empathy should underpin the construct of the curriculum in dietetic education. The present study investigated the empathy level of dietetic interns through self‐reporting measures and patients' perception. Methods This cross‐sectional study was conducted on a total of 57 dietetic interns and 99 patients from primary and tertiary health care settings. The dietetic interns completed the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) while the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) measure was self‐administered by patients. Socio‐demographic information of participants was collected. Results The dietetic interns' mean (standard deviation [SD]) TEQ scores were 46.90 ± 5.28 and 47.78 ± 5.34 in primary and tertiary care, respectively. CARE measure scores rated by patients in the primary care were 38.61 ± 8.38 and for tertiary setting, the scores were slightly higher (39.47 ± 7.65). The settings, gender, ethnicity and period of internship did not affect dietetic interns' empathy level. In primary care, CARE scores were significantly different between patients' age grouping (P = 0.007). Conclusions Findings from the present study showed that patients' age significantly affected their perception of dietetic interns' empathy in primary health care. These preliminary findings could facilitate an understanding of the level of empathy amongst interns for consideration in the future design of dietetic training.

Socioeconomic, racial and ethnic differences in patient experience of clinician empathy: Results of a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Table 1 displays the nine studies with CARE Measure data stratified by SES [44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52]. Table 2 displays the 14 studies with CARE Measure data stratified by race/ethnicity [47,51,[53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64]. Two studies had CARE Measure data stratified by both SES and race/ethnicity and thus appear in both tables [47,51].…”

“…Of the three studies excluded from the quantitative meta-analysis, two were excluded because there was not enough data to pool (i.e. only two studies in a Malaysian population) [53,64] and one was excluded because there was insufficient patient diversity in the sample as defined in the methods [58]. The 18 studies in the meta-analysis included 9,708 patients in total, and 3,663 (38%) of the patients were either low SES or non-white.…”

Socioeconomic, racial and ethnic differences in patient experience of clinician empathy: Results of a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Table 2 displays the 14 studies with CARE Measure data stratified by race/ethnicity. 40,44,[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60] Most of the studies were from the United States and the practice settings were diverse, including multidisciplinary practice, orthopedic surgery, emergency medicine, and primary care, among others. Only two studies had CARE Measure data stratified by both SES and race/ethnicity.…”

Global challenges and opportunities for dietitians

“…One of the core skills in enacting person‐centred care is empathy. Yang et al highlight the levels of empathy among dietetic interns in Malaysia, which were self‐reported, and from the assessment of the dietetic care recipient . This article also highlights the importance of professionals' self‐care in practice; empathy decreases as burn‐out increases, so practitioners need to be mindful of their own physical and emotional health.…”