Director of Spiritual Care Jim Andrews
I read an article in Caring for the Human Spirit magazine recently. The author told the story of a dear friend who had gone in to have heart surgery at their local hospital. While his friend received wonderful medical care, something was missing, and his friend became increasingly despondent. He writes,
“Not one person who came in his room asked him how he was really feeling or let him know that they understood what he was going through. He was getting first rate medical care but he was not feeling cared for.
What seems to be missing in this scenario is empathy, the ability to recognize emotions being experienced by another.”
This issue of a lack of empathy in health care settings has even captured the attention of the Harvard Business Review. Dr. Thomas Lee wrote this encouragement, “Emotions and values can spread in a community with the same patterns as infectious diseases.” He went on to observe that if empathy was stressed more in health care, “We would see an increase in the proportion of clinicians and other personnel who are clearly tuned in to what was really happening to patients and their families.”
At Empath Health we help patients live as comfortably and meaningfully as possible and offer assistance to their families and caregivers along the way. No matter where someone is on his/her journey, our spectrum of medical and emotional support services provides compassionate care for each and every patient.
Have a wonderful week, everyone!
Jim