value of empathy in dietetic consultations. A pilot study to investigate its effect on satisfaction, autonomy and agreement

Forty individuals with diabetes and three dietitians completed a questionnaire concerning their consultation. Empathy was examined using the Empathic Communication Coding System (ECCS) (Bylund & Makoul, 2002). The more empathic the professionals' response to emotional opportunities, the mor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of human nutrition and dietetics 2005-06, Vol.18 (3), p.181-185
Main Authors: Goodchild, C.E, Skinner, T.C, Parkin, T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude of Health Personnel
Biological and medical sciences
communication
communication (human)
Counseling - standards
diabetes
diabetes mellitus
Diabetes Mellitus - therapy
diet counseling
dietetics
Dietetics - standards
emotions
Empathy
Endocrine glands
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
patient care
patients
Personal Autonomy
Pilot Projects
Radiotherapy. Instrumental treatment. Physiotherapy. Reeducation. Rehabilitation, orthophony, crenotherapy. Diet therapy and various other treatments (general aspects)
Referral and Consultation
satisfaction
Surveys and Questionnaires
United Kingdom
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Summary:Forty individuals with diabetes and three dietitians completed a questionnaire concerning their consultation. Empathy was examined using the Empathic Communication Coding System (ECCS) (Bylund & Makoul, 2002). The more empathic the professionals' response to emotional opportunities, the more satisfied patients were with their consultations (r = 0.41, d.f. = 15, P = 0.05). There was a nonsignificant trend that the more empathic opportunities that arise during a consultation, the higher the agreement between patient and dietitian on what was discussed (r = 0.28, P = 0.07). The data also suggest that patients reported more autonomy support when they created more empathic opportunities during their consultation (r = -0.29, P = 0.07). This preliminary study suggests that professionals' responses to empathic opportunities may be a useful component of dietetic consultations.
ISSN:0952-3871
1365-277X
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-277X.2005.00606.x