Experiencing “The Other Side”: A Study of Empathy and Empowerment in General Practitioners Who Have Been Patients

Fox, Fiona; Rodham, Karen; Harris, Michael; Taylor, Gordon; Sutton, Jane; Scott, Jennifer; Robinson, Brian

doi:10.1177/1049732309350732

Cited by 42 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…39 Affective experiences offer a way of engaging the emotional response of healthcare staff. 40 Educational sessions building on this theory could involve the stories and experiences of families, ideally told personally, to reinforce how professionals can provide the right kind of care for families, consistently and empathically. It would also include recognition of, and engagement with, staff from all relevant professions who exhibit a high level of skills in this area (who may or may not be in senior/specialised roles) to find out what they do, how they do it and how to model and disseminate it.…”

Section: Box 4 Practices and Behaviours That Were Helpful For Parentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bereaved parents’ experience of stillbirth in UK hospitals: a qualitative interview study

et al. 2013

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ObjectiveTo obtain the views of bereaved parents about their interactions with healthcare staff when their baby died just before or during labour.DesignQualitative in-depth interview study, following an earlier national survey. All interviews took place during 2011, either face-to-face or on the telephone. Data analysis was informed by the constant comparative technique from grounded theory.SettingEvery National Health Service (NHS) region in the UK was represented.ParticipantsBereaved parents who had completed an e-questionnaire, via the website of Sands (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society). Of the 304 survey respondents who gave provisional consent, 29 families were approached to take part, based on maximum variation sampling and data saturation.Results22 families (n=25) participated. Births took place between 2002 and 2010. Specific practices were identified that were particularly helpful to the parents. Respondents talked about their interactions with hospital staff as having profound effects on their capacity to cope, both during labour and in the longer term. The data generated three key themes: ‘enduring and multiple loss’: ‘making irretrievable moments precious’; and the ‘best care possible to the worst imaginable’. The overall synthesis of findings is encapsulated in the meta-theme ‘One chance to get it right.’ This pertains to the parents and family themselves, clinical and support staff who care for them directly, and the NHS organisations that indirectly provide the resources and governance procedures that may (or may not) foster a caring ethos.ConclusionsPositive memories and outcomes following stillbirth depend as much on genuinely caring staff attitudes and behaviours as on high-quality clinical procedures. All staff who encounter parents in this situation need to see each meeting as their one chance to get it right.

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Section: Box 4 Practices and Behaviours That Were Helpful For Parentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bereaved parents’ experience of stillbirth in UK hospitals: a qualitative interview study

et al. 2013

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“…General practitioners (GPs), for example, who had been seriously ill experienced being a patient as synonymous with emotions like anxiety, uncertainty, shock and loss of control 5. This made them both acknowledge the disempowered status of non-medical patients and becoming more aware of the social aspects of healthcare 5 6…”

Section: Experiencing Patienthoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their illness experience showed these physicians the importance of attuning the presentation of poor prognoses to patients’ experiences, the important role tone and gentleness play in communication, and the significance of non-verbal interaction in patient contact 6. Both studies point out that having been patients themselves made physicians realise how important it is to give patients the confidence to ask questions and negotiate their own solutions 5 6…”

Section: In the Hands Of The Doctormentioning

confidence: 99%

Why shared decision making is not good enough: lessons from patients

2013

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A closer look at the lived illness experiences of medical professionals themselves shows that shared decision making is in need of a logic of care. This paper underlines that medical decision making inevitably takes place in a messy and uncertain context in which sharing responsibilities may impose a considerable burden on patients. A better understanding of patients' lived experiences enables healthcare professionals to attune to what individual patients deem important in their lives.This will contribute to making medical decisions in a good and caring manner, taking into account the lived experience of being ill.

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“…A number reported ‘negotiating’ with their own doctor in an attempt to expedite their return to work. Fox spoke to doctors with significant long-term illness 15. Further issues around personal identity emerged, as did comments about the culture of ‘invincibility’ within medicine, and how sick doctors need to put on ‘facade’.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shame! Self-stigmatisation as an obstacle to sick doctors returning to work: a qualitative study

et al. 2012

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ObjectiveTo explore the views of sick doctors on the obstacles preventing them returning to work.DesignQualitative study.SettingSingle participating centre recruiting doctors from all over the UK.ParticipantsDoctors who had been away from work for at least 6 months with physical or mental health problems, drug or alcohol problems, General Medical Council involvement or any combination of these, were eligible. Eligible doctors were recruited in conjunction with the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund, the General Medical Council and the Practitioner Health Programme. These organisations approached 77 doctors; 19 participated. Each doctor completed an in-depth semistructured interview. We used a constant comparison method to identify and agree on the coding of the data and the identification of a number of central themes.ResultsThe doctors described that being away from work left them isolated and sad. Many experienced negative reactions from their family and some deliberately concealed their problems. Doctors described a lack of support from colleagues and feared a negative response when returning to work. Self-stigmatisation was central to the participants’ accounts; several described themselves as failures and appeared to have internalised the negative views of others.ConclusionsSelf-stigmatising views, which possibly emerge from the belief that ‘doctors are invincible’, represent a major obstacle to doctors returning to work. From medical school onwards cultural change is necessary to allow doctors to recognise their vulnerabilities so they can more easily generate strategies to manage if they become unwell.

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Experiencing “The Other Side”: A Study of Empathy and Empowerment in General Practitioners Who Have Been Patients

Cited by 42 publications

References 20 publications

Bereaved parents’ experience of stillbirth in UK hospitals: a qualitative interview study

Bereaved parents’ experience of stillbirth in UK hospitals: a qualitative interview study

Why shared decision making is not good enough: lessons from patients

Shame! Self-stigmatisation as an obstacle to sick doctors returning to work: a qualitative study

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