A Critical Analysis of Neurological Theories on Empathy in Healthcare
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17814334 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ylva Gustafsson (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 97-113 |
| Publication date | 2021-09-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1937-4577 • E-ISSN: 1937-4585 |
| Publisher | University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.3138/ijfab-14.2.07 |
| OpenAlex | W3199732781 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 15 |
Some employ neurological theories of empathy to train medical students and to explain why care work is emotionally exhausting. I argue, however, that these theories develop conceptual and methodological confusion that creates a reductive and misdirected focus in patient-centered care. Neurological theories on empathy do not help us understand patient-centered care, nor do they help us understand why care work can be exhausting. By discussing examples of care work, I argue that empathic attentiveness to patients is a dialogical ethical response to the whole person and takes place in daily care settings of working, helping, and responding to each other
Confusion · Dialogical self · Empathy · Epistemology · Health care · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills · Empathy and Medical Education · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
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