Coordinated empathy in attending general practitioners: an interpretive phenomenological approach to constructing a conceptual model of empathy

Abstract

Background: Empathy in general practice is important because it contributes to patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes. However, few studies have examined the perceptions of empathy of attending physicians, who are skilled medical practitioners. From the perspective of interpretive phenomenology, we conducted the present study to conceptualize perceptions of empathy in attending general practitioners, and to identify experiences that influenced these perceptions. Methods: We conducted four semi-structured interviews with three board-certified attending general practitioners. The transcripts were analyzed using the Steps for Coding and Theorization procedure. The four components of empathy (moral, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral) were used as the theoretical framework for the analysis. Results: We found that the participants exhibited the moral component of empathy, such that they felt they were on a mission to understand and support their patients. Furthermore, they mainly used cognitive empathy to understand the feelings and thoughts of their patients. The participants also used behavioral empathy to convey a sense of understanding to their patients, with the intent of building trust and creating an atmosphere in which the patients felt relaxed and able to speak freely. In contrast, emotional empathy was less frequent because the participants observed emotional boundaries related to professionalism. Conclusions: This study revealed new details about how attending general practitioners coordinate the four components of empathy and how they balance humanistic care with their objective standpoint as physicians. These findings are important in that they provide a model for physicians in terms of providing empathetic care while maintaining professional boundaries.