PLX Academy · Personal Experience · 12 May 2022
Empathy affects mental health of both, doctors and patients. Up to 42% of people have experienced a decline in mental health. Specifically, 67% of people are experiencing increases in stress while 57% have increased anxiety, and 54% are emotionally exhausted.
Empathy or the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, is highly effective and powerful,especially in healthcare, because there people are directly referred to each other. Expressing empathy helps build patient trust, calm anxiety and improve health outcomes. It also affects mental health of both, doctors and patients, which was very important especially during the pandemic, where people were expressing multiple kinds of stress and burnout.
A global study by Qualtrics found that 42% of people have experienced a decline in mental health. Specifically, 67% of people are experiencing increases in stress while 57% have increased anxiety, and 54% are emotionally exhausted. 53% of people are sad, 50% are irritable, 28% are having trouble concentrating, 20% are taking longer to finish tasks, 15% are having trouble thinking and 12% are challenged to juggle their responsibilities.
Empathy contributes to positive relationships and it also drives results. A study published by the National Library of Medicine found a direct correlation between empathetic communication on behalf of medical providers and the overall health outcomes of their patients. There are many benefits of practicing empathy, but lately researchers have found that it has the biggest impact on healthcare.
Builds trusting relationships:When doctors, nurses, specialists and other medical professionals attempt to connect with their patients, they often create a trusting bond. This bond improves patient loyalty, which is important for the continuity of a person’s healthcare. It is also valuable because a patient is more likely to share private information regarding their physical, mental or emotional health concerns if they trust the person with whom they are speaking.
Increases adherence to treatment plans: Empathetic healthcare typically requires compassionate communication that prioritizes a patient’s emotions. It also involves the way doctors explain a diagnosis or treatment plan, and create an outcome that improves adherence to medications, lifestyle suggestions and any other elements of a treatment plan.
Improves patient experience: By designing a system in which empathy is a priority, healthcare providers improve their patients’ overall experience. A positive experience can also improve the patient’s emotional health, symptoms, physiological response and pain levels.
Decreases incidents of potential malpractice: Medical malpractice often results from a lack of professionalism and accuracy in patient care. Empathetic communication and actions, can often lead to honest conversations with patients and ithelps generate more accurate diagnoses and better management conditions. This is likely to reduce errors and potential malpractice cases within a medical workplace.
Improves overall patient outcomes: The combination of all these elements contributes to a significant improvement in overall health outcomes. In return, good outcomes help medical professionals feel they have done their job well, which helps prevent physician burnout.
These benefits show that empathy in healthcare in not just a soft concept. It is proven to be something that can boost the overall perception and trustworthiness of the healthcare company while increasing both employee and consumer satisfaction.