Attitudes toward Patient-Centred Care, Empathy, and Assertiveness among Students in Rehabilitation Areas: A Longitudinal Study

• Published in: Healthcare (Basel) 2023-10, Vol.11 (20), p.2803
• Main Authors: Grilo, Ana Monteiro, Vinagre, Graça, Santos, Margarida Custódio dos, Martinho, Joana Ferreira, Gomes, Ana Isabel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Assertiveness; Attitudes; Care and treatment; Communication; Dentistry; Drug stores; Empathy; Evaluation; Higher education; Internships; Longitudinal studies; Medical care; Medical imaging; Medical personnel; Medical students; Nursing education; Patient satisfaction; Patient-centered care; patient-centeredness; Patients; person- and technique-oriented professions; Pharmacy; Physical therapy; Physiology; Preventive medicine; Professionals; Professions; Quality management; Questionnaires; Radiation therapy; Rehabilitation; Skills; Systematic review; undergraduate health students
• ISSN: 2227-9032; 2227-9032
• DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11202803

This study assessed attitudes toward patient-centred care, empathy, assertiveness, and subjective perception of communication skills and technical knowledge among Portuguese undergraduate students in healthcare. These students may develop rehabilitation activities with patients in their person-oriented or technique-oriented professions. Portuguese nursing and allied health students from two public higher education schools completed questionnaires in the first and third academic years: Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale, Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, Scale for Interpersonal Behaviour, and a subjective perception of technical knowledge and communication skills. A total of 183 students completed the surveys. In the first year, students showed moderate to high scores on patient-centredness attitudes, empathy, and assertiveness and perceived themselves as having good communication skills. Students from person-oriented programmes significantly improved their Total and shared patient-centred attitudes in the third year compared with students attending technique-oriented professions. Significant differences in empathy were found between groups in the third year. Distress associated with assertive behaviours increased significantly across time in students from technique-oriented programmes compared with their peers in person-oriented programmes. The results suggest that the health profession’s orientation and the programmes’ specific curriculum might have a role in how some dimensions evolved in the two groups of students. The increasing assertiveness-related discomfort highlighted the importance of assessing and monitoring students’ emotional wellbeing during their initial interactions with patients.