The Missing Ingredients in Healthcare - Empathy and Compassion

Imagine walking into a doctor's office feeling anxious and confused about your health. You crave understanding and support. But what if the interaction feels rushed and impersonal? The same can be said to many interactions with the nurses and nurse aids, though most of them are there for a passion to help.

In today's fast-paced healthcare system, this scenario can be all too common.

What if we can put the haste and the busy schedule aside for a while and take a few minutes to explore a few other critical elements that can potentially transform healthcare experiences into good memories - Empathy and Compassion.

Why are these empathic qualities like "Empathy" and "Compassion" so essential to our daily lives? What kind of a negative impact can their absence have on a person, and how can both, patients and healthcare providers, cultivate them for a more positive and effective healthcare journey. To help find answers to some of these tough questions at OfThera we launched Theranade.

My name is Imran Siddiqui and I'm an author and a musician based out of the Washington D.C. and Virginia areas. I'm also a former journalist who missed the warning signs and had no choice left except to become a caregiver to my parents in 2014 when they needed immediate long term medical attention. I've spent the past decade navigating the ups and the downs of the American healthcare system. While I've encountered many dedicated professionals, and also a few un-professionals, a concerning trend has emerged: A Lack of Empathy and Compassion. The impact this has on a patient is still unknown, almost ignored and un-gauged leaving the care recipient in an uncharted lonely space.

Being cruel and mean to people is common to all parts of the world but some nations have been more empathy driven than others. I remember growing up watching how America and Americans were usually the first ones to respond in times of calamities or disasters anywhere around the world and within their own nation,. But things changed over the years and then I grew up and reality sinked in.

The U.S. has a powerful healthcare system, with its own major issues, but even the best technology can't replace human connection. While America's diversity is a strength, it's crucial that everyone entering the healthcare field embraces the core values of empathy and compassion, no matter who they are in the healthcare sector because that is the promise they made, to put compassion over profits. As someone once said to me, " If you don't care then you should not be in Healthcare".

Studies have shown that patients who experience empathy from caregivers report reduced anxiety, better pain management, and increased satisfaction with their care. Such individuals have also demonstrated signs of faster patient recovery..

In light of this data I wanted to merge the two, my 26+ years of experience as a journalist and a broadcast professional for TV radio and print, as well as my personal experiences of the American Healthcare systems, and of other nations in the world where I have travelled and experienced the healthcare systems myself. Such as the Philippines, the MIddle East and Pakistan, or the systems you see being implemented from a distance in Africa. I took the good, the bad and the ugly of these nations and sat down to build my short courses using facts, data and first-hand experiences, to at least try and set the record straight.

Because there is no compassion if "you grab a patient by the neck" or "by a shirt collar" just so it's easier for you to pick them up. There is no empathy in telling a patient to "shut up, pee on the bed and go back to sleep", even if you're called at 2 in the morning, because this is what you signed up for. There is no kindness, "if you hide the call button from a sick patient or "grab her by a damaged arm and shoulder", just to show how tough or annoyed you are, because they called you at a bad time for you to perform your own task, the one you also get paid for. Individuals or groups who deploy such cruel acts of aggression over a weak soul have no morals or values left, so how can they be trusted to care for people who are unable to defend for themselves?

I wrote some of these Courses on Empathy over a period of reflection while assisting my mother (Mom, a former criminal defence attorney) and her now deceased spouse (Pop, a former U.S. Army and Navy officer) as they went through some extremely difficult and sobering experiences in and out of medical facilities. I was with them, days and nights and witnessed first-hand acts of compassion and empathy and acts of aggression and wickedness. Our experiences varied from the states of New Hampshire to Virginia, at healthcare facilities such as The VA Veterans Affairs in Washington D.C. and Sentara Health, at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Centers in Alexandria and Woodbridge. And Inova Health Systems, at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus and Inova Alexandria Hospital in Virginia. And Continued Care or Skilled Nursing Centers such as Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Northern Virginia in Aldie Virginia, The Fairfax by Sunrise Skilled Nursing Center in Fort Belvoir Virginia, and Westminster Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at Lake Ridge in Woodbridge Virginia.

Our healthcare experiences ranged from surprising, to pleasant to shocking, but what remained consistent was a live demonstration of compassion and empathy by most of the caregivers at these medical facilities, but more precisely how every time we interacted with the people at 911 and the EMTs, that came to assist my Mom multiple times, was always impeccable. The first-responders know empathy and compassion and they don't play around.

Despite the size, the duration or brand appeal of these courses, they do have some challenging scenarios, I did these courses myself first and I could not pass all of them, I failed in empathy, but I learned a few things about myself that I didn't know.

For the rest of us, who may want to engage in a discourse on empathy and compassion, I would strongly recommend going through the Thera Courses at least once in your life time so you may see the difference from another vantage point - of a Mom, a Pop and a caregiver - the people at the receiving end of these critical medical services and the ones who face all the staff that manages them.

Witnessing the impact of the absence of empathy and compassion firsthand during my caregiving journey, I was compelled to act. I believe fostering these qualities can significantly improve patient experiences. Often, it's not what's said, but how we make someone feel, that leaves a lasting impression.

When nurses or nurse aides neglect patients, the consequences can be severe. Basic needs like hydration, hygiene, and medication administration might be missed, leading to dehydration, infections, or worsening medical conditions.

Patients can also experience emotional distress from feeling ignored or unimportant. In the worst cases, neglect can contribute to serious complications or even death.

That is why we designed Theranade offering creative audio playlists for sound therapy and therapeutic educational quizzes and courses designed to cultivate empathy and compassion in caregivers.

At Thera, we explore ways to integrate these values into daily interactions, creating a ripple effect of kindness.

A Compassionate Path Forward

By fostering empathy and compassion, we can create a healthcare system that prioritizes not just curing illness, but also healing the human experience. Let's move forward together, patients and providers alike, to cultivate a culture of care that values both expertise and emotional connection.

A kind word and a listening ear can be just as powerful as the latest medical advancements. We encourage you to ask yourself and one another, "How can we better integrate empathy and compassion into healthcare and our daily lives"?,

and play our role in building a more compassionate healthcare system, with small acts of kindness and empathy at a time.

Theranade