The association between empathy and the physiotherapy–patient therapeutic alliance: A cross‐sectional study

Rodríguez‐Nogueira, Óscar; Leirós‐Rodríguez, Raquel; Pinto‐Carral, Arrate; Álvarez‐Álvarez, María José; Morera-Balaguer, Jaume; Poyato, Antonio R. Moreno

doi:10.1016/j.msksp.2022.102557

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Such programmes could help students develop strategies to manage the personal distress they experience in response to the emotions of others. Rodríguez-Nogueira et al 73 studied how personal distress influences empathy, patient care and the therapeutic alliance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring levels of empathy and assertiveness in final year physiotherapy students during clinical placements

Hernández-Xumet,

García‐Hernández,

Fernández‐González

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Empathy and assertiveness are two essential soft skills for any healthcare professional's competence and ethical development. It has been shown that empathy can be influenced throughout the training of a future healthcare professional, particularly during the clinical placement period. This research aims to assess fourth-year physiotherapy students' empathic and assertive development before and after clinical placement. A longitudinal observational study was conducted with fourth-year physiotherapy students during the academic year 2022/2023. A preliminary assessment of empathy and assertiveness levels was carried out before the start of the clinical placement and at the end of the placement using the Individual Reactivity Index to assess empathy and the Rathus Test to assess assertiveness. The results show a statistically significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) in both the empathy subscales of perspective-taking and empathic-concern between the pre- and postassessment, as well as an inverse correlation between the empathy subscale of personal distress and assertiveness. It is concluded that students show adequate results in empathy and assertiveness. However, there is some influence of clinical practice on the development of empathy, and future intervention studies need to be considered. Furthermore, students with higher levels of assertiveness have lower levels of personal distress, suggesting that assertiveness is closely related to empathy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring levels of empathy and assertiveness in final year physiotherapy students during clinical placements

Hernández-Xumet,

García‐Hernández,

Fernández‐González

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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“…In the case of the cognitive interviews, physiotherapists were selected intentionally in order to detect whether the interpretation of the items was different from what was intended by the team that generated the items (Peterson et al, 2017). The psychometric properties were analyzed in a sample of 343 physiotherapists from different centers, with the sociodemographic and occupational characteristics of the participating physiotherapists being similar to those of other studies (Rodríguez-Nogueira, Leirós-Rodríguez, Pinto-Carral, Álvarez-Álvarez, Fernández-Martínez, et al, 2022;Rodríguez-Nogueira, Leirós-Rodríguez, Pinto-Carral, Álvarez-Álvarez, Morera-Balaguer, et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptation of the person centered therapeutic relationship patient version (PCTR‐PT) to a version for physiotherapists (PCTR‐PHYS) and evaluation of its psychometric properties

Rodríguez‐Nogueira

Morera-Balaguer

López

et al. 2023

Physiotherapy Res Intl

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Background and PurposeThe therapeutic relationship is a central component for developing person‐centered care within physiotherapy services. However, it is necessary to understand how this relationship is perceived by both parties involved. The Person Centered Therapeutic Relationship‐Patient scale (PCTR‐PT) was constructed to identify patients' perceptions. No instruments are currently available to correlate patients' and physiotherapists' perceptions of the therapeutic relationship. This study sought to adapt the PCTR‐PT to develop a version for physiotherapists, the Person Centered Therapeutic Relationship Scale for Physiotherapists (PCTR‐PHYS) and to determine its psychometric properties.MethodsA three‐stage study was performed: (1) item generation, (2) pretesting of the questionnaire, (3) analysis of psychometric properties. Factor validity and psychometric properties were analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Convergent validity was calculated. Internal consistency was verified using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to examine temporal stability.ResultsThirty‐three physiotherapists participated in two rounds of cognitive interviews and 343 participated in the analysis of psychometric properties. The CFA confirmed the four‐structure model. Reliability of the tool was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha (α = 0.863) for all four dimensions, as all were above 0.70, ranging from 0.704 (relational bond) and 0.898 (therapeutic communication). Test‐retest was performed with 2‐week intervals, indicating an appropriate stability for the scale (ICC = 0.908).DiscussionThe Person Centered Therapeutic Relationship Scale for Physiotherapists is a useful, valid and applicable instrument to evaluate the person‐centered therapeutic relationship during physiotherapy interventions. It will enable the comparison of patients' and physiotherapists' perceptions. To provide person‐centered care in physiotherapy services, there is a clear need to incorporate specific resources into clinical practice to evaluate the quality of the therapeutic relationship from the perspective of both the persons being treated and the professionals providing care.

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“…A 22.1% improvement was noted in the present study. A physiotherapist exhibiting empathy is a crucial factor influencing the success of therapy [ 34 ]. Moreover, empathy improves the quality of care and patient health outcomes [ 35 , 36 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation-based holistic education in physiotherapy interns to increase empathy toward older adults and individuals with disabilities

et al. 2022

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Background The proportion of older adults and individuals with disabilities in the general population increases each year. Thus, clinical clerkships designed for physiotherapy interns should provide more than simply knowledge and skills. For such interns to be able to handle the requirements of their future jobs, clerkships must enable them to develop empathy and positive attitudes toward patients. This study investigated the effect of simulation-based, holistic health-care education on physiotherapy interns’ empathy, attitudes, and knowledge. Methods A parallel-group design. Thirty physiotherapy interns from a medical institution were enrolled as participants, with experimental and control groups each comprising 15 participants. Both groups received standard clinical training. However, the experimental group received an additional 3.5 h of simulation-based holistic health-care education. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy, Kogan’s Attitudes Toward Old People Scale, the Attitudes Towards the Elderly Scale, the Knowledge About Aging Scale, Knowledge of the Situation of Older People Scale, Perceptions of Working with Older People Scale, and Care Willingness Scale were used in a pretest and posttest. Results After the intervention period, we observed substantial between-group differences of 6.4 points on the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (p = 0.001), 7.7 points on Kogan’s Attitudes Toward Old People Scale (p = 0.002), 3.5 points on the Attitudes Toward the Elderly Scale (p = 0.002), 2.5 points on Knowledge About Aging (p = 0.055), 4.5 points on the Knowledge of the Situation of Older People Scale (p < 0.001), and 2.1 points on Perceptions of Working with Older People Scale (p = 0.046). Conclusion Simulation-based, holistic health-care education can significantly improve the empathy, knowledge, and attitudes of physiotherapy interns.

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The association between empathy and the physiotherapy–patient therapeutic alliance: A cross‐sectional study

Cited by 16 publications

References 47 publications

Exploring levels of empathy and assertiveness in final year physiotherapy students during clinical placements

Exploring levels of empathy and assertiveness in final year physiotherapy students during clinical placements

Adaptation of the person centered therapeutic relationship patient version (PCTR‐PT) to a version for physiotherapists (PCTR‐PHYS) and evaluation of its psychometric properties

Simulation-based holistic education in physiotherapy interns to increase empathy toward older adults and individuals with disabilities

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