The role of empathy in communciation

Empathy plays an important role in communicating with patients. Paramedics need to establish a health provider-patient relationship that promotes two-way communication and use of empathy can help develop a successful relationship. There are several barriers that may prevent a patient disclosing all the information, embarrassment being one of them. The use of empathy can help a patient open up and encourage this provider-patient relationship. Through this, the paramedic is able to work with the patient in order to facilitate better communication and therefore, better health outcomes due to the information being provided that may not have been disclosed before. This is explored by Williams, Boyle, & Earl (2013) who attempted to measure the level of empathy in paramedic students. This study, along with Williams et al. (2012) helped me understand how improved empathy behaviors among healthcare professionals directly impacts on healthcare outcomes. They stress the importance of paramedics and empathy, stating that in this highly emotional pre-hospital environment, basic empathy is crucial in the avoidance of inadequate communication and misunderstanding which characterizes poor health care. Understanding this has prompted me to try and actively attempt to practice my empathy. This is through trying to understand a patient’s circumstances and feelings and understand how this can frame their current situation. Hopefully by considering the patient’s mindset, it will allow me to understand them and enable better communication.