Levels of empathy in undergraduate occupational therapy students

Abstract

Empathy is an important attribute for occupational therapists in establishing rapport and in better understanding their clients. However, empathy can be compromised by high workloads, personal stressors and pressures to demonstrate efficacy. Occupational therapists also work with patients from a variety of diagnostic groups. The objective of this study was to determine the extent of empathy and attitudes towards clients amongst undergraduate occupational therapy students at one Australian University. A cross-sectional study was undertaken using a written survey of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) and the Medical Condition Regard Scale. Overall, a strong level of empathy was reported amongst students. Four medical conditions that occupational therapists work with (stroke, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and depression) were held in high regard. Substance abuse, however, was held in comparatively low regard. Overall, the year of study appeared to have no significant impact on the students' empathy. Despite having a lower reported empathy level than found in health professions from other studies using the JSPE, occupational therapy students were found to have a good level of empathy. Of concern, however, was the bias reported against the medical condition of substance abuse, highlighting that the there may be a need to reinforce that patients from this diagnostic group are equally deserving of quality care irrespective of their clinical condition. Recommendations for future research include completing a longitudinal study of occupational therapy students' empathy levels and investigating the empathy levels of occupational therapists working with different client groups. Limitations of the study include the convenience sampling of occupational therapy students enrolled at one university which limits the generalizability of the results to groups of participants with similar characteristics.

Who wants to go to occupational therapy school? Characteristics of Norwegian occupational therapy students

“…In negative terms, they described them as reluctant towards receiving feedback, as showing poor professional communication and behaviors, and as demonstrating shallow clinical reasoning skills. These findings stand in contrast to other studies of undergraduate occupational therapy students, reporting largely about empathetic attitudes, although with a certain bias against persons with substance abuse problems (4). Occupational therapy students' preference for a people-oriented Who Wants to Go to Occupational Therapy School?…”

Empathetic attitudes of undergraduate paramedic and nursing students towards four medical conditions: A three-year longitudinal study

“…Some medical conditions, for example, those with intellectual disability, acute mental illness, substance abuse or those who attempt suicide, are frequently stigmatised or otherwise detrimentally stereotyped with patients often describing healthcare practitioners as intolerant, prejudiced and discriminatory (Berlim et al, 2007;Brown et al, 2010;Tzeng et al, 2010). Stigmatisation of patients with acute mental illness and those who attempt suicide have been extensively studied and shown to distance the healthcare provider from the patient leading to intensified feelings of fear, despair and helplessness (Berlim et al, 2007;Emul et al, 2011;Kishi et al, 2011;Minas et al, 2011;Scheerder et al, 2011;Tor and Poon, 2008;Tzeng et al, 2010).…”

An assessment of undergraduate paramedic students' empathy levels

“…2 Conversely a number of papers exist on other healthcare students, [9][10][11][12][13] with the empathy levels of nursing students 14,15 and medical students [16][17][18][19] having been particularly well researched. Commonly reported findings from these studies include the inability to practice empathetically at a senior level if not mastered at a junior level, higher empathy in patient-oriented rather than technologyoriented specialties, higher female empathy levels compared to male, and a general decline in overall empathy levels as students progress through their course.…”