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

Claire E. Goodchild*, T. C. Skinner, T. Parkin

*Corresponding author for this work
    41 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    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.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalJournal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics
    Volume18
    Issue number3
    Pages (from-to)181-185
    Number of pages5
    ISSN0952-3871
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2005

    Keywords

    • Communication
    • Diabetes
    • Dietetics
    • Empathy
    • Satisfaction

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