• Aleksandra E Olszewski, Jori Bogetz, Miranda C Bradford, Amanda Mercer, Maya Scott, Blanca Fields, Kelli Williams, Abby R Rosenberg, and Amy Trowbridge.
• Division of Bioethics and Palliative Care, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, Washington, USA.
• J Palliat Med. 2024 Mar 1; 27 (3): 383387383-387.

AbstractBackground: Clinician empathy positively impacts patient outcomes. Few studies have assessed the effects of different types of empathic expression. Objective: To describe how families respond when clinicians express empathy in different ways. Design: Prospective, mixed-methods cohort. Setting/Subjects: English and interpreted pediatric inpatient care conferences at a U.S. quaternary hospital between January 1, 2018 and January 1, 2021. Measurements: Directed content analysis of clinician empathic statements and family responses. Results: Of 29 patient-family dyads, 11 (39%) used language interpretation. In response to 80 clinician empathic statements, families expressed agreement or shared more 84% (67/80) of the time. Families shared more about their perspective in response to explore statements 71.4% (10/14) of the time, in response to validate statements 61% (17/28) of the time, and in response to respect/support statements 39% (11/28) of the time. Conclusion: Certain types of empathic statements may be more effective at prompting families to share more about their perspective, a key element of shared decision-making.

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