Effectiveness of empathy enhancement programs for social workers working with older adults
A quasi-experimental study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21721701 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alan Han (0000-0003-1369-9052, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, USA), Tae Hui Kim (0000-0003-0133-5227, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, South Korea, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 913-930 |
| Publication date | 2021-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Social Work (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1468-0173 • E-ISSN: 1741-296X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1468017320940591 |
| OpenAlex | W3042001173 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 49 |
Empathy is an essential attribute required for care providers to provide quality care and effective relationship-based practice. Cognitive empathy is understanding another person’s experiences, concerns, and perspectives, and affective empathy is sharing another person’s emotion. Cognitive empathy was found to be a significant protector to burnout and stress, while affective empathy was found to be a significant contributor to compassion satisfaction among social workers. This quasi-experimental study assessed the effectiveness of two empathy enhancement programs on 105 social workers working with older adults in South Korea. The experimental group (n = 52) received a simulation-based empathy enhancement program along with a brief mindfulness practice session, and the comparison group (n = 53) watched a 30-minute-long educational video about empathy. Data were collected prior to and two weeks after the intervention. Findings The experimental group showed significantly lower levels of psychosocial stress compared to the comparison group. It also showed significantly higher levels of cognitive empathy and significantly lower levels of compassion fatigue at posttest. Furthermore, the comparison group demonstrated significantly higher levels of a unidimensional factor of empathy, compassion satisfaction, and caring efficacy at posttest. Application Pre- and post-test differences, in different outcome measures from the groups, indicate the benefits of each empathy enhancement program on social workers working with older adults. In particular, the present study validates that the simulation-based empathy enhancement program can enhance the cognitive empathy of social workers and reduce burnout and stress. A further randomized controlled trial study is needed to examine the program’s effectiveness with minimal bias and confounding factors
Burnout · Cognition · Empathic concern · Empathy · Mindfulness · Perspective-taking · Psychiatry · Psychosocial · Psychotherapist · Clinical Psychology · Empathy and Medical Education · Family and Patient Care in Intensive Care Units · Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout · Psychology · Social Psychology
Anticipated Stigma and Burnout
Effectiveness of Simulation-Based Empathy Enhancement Program for Caregivers (SEE-C) Evaluated by Older Adults Receiving Care
Dialogue with Avatars in Simulation-Based Social Work Education
Effective Interventions to Reduce Burnout in Social Workers
Understanding empathy in Norwegian social work education
Cognitive Empathy and Emotional Empathy in Human Behavior and Evolution
Prevalence of Burnout Among Physicians
Development of short forms of the Empathy Quotient (EQ-Short) and the Systemizing Quotient (SQ-Short)
Mindfulness, Self-compassion, Self-efficacy, and Gender as Predictors of Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Well-being
Effectiveness of empathy in general practice
What are the benefits of mindfulness? A practice review of psychotherapy-related research.
Combining effect size estimates in meta-analysis with repeated measures and independent-groups designs.
The Empathy Quotient
Association of an Educational Program in Mindful Communication With Burnout, Empathy, and Attitudes Among Primary Care Physicians
The efficacy of empathy training
The Role of Empathy in Burnout, Compassion Satisfaction, and Secondary Traumatic Stress among Social Workers
Importance of Empathy for Social Work Practice
Measuring individual differences in empathy
Mindfulness-Based Awareness and Compassion
A Social Work Model of Empathy
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |