Video: Every Case Tells a Story| Webinar: ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

  • Conditions
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis
    • Gout and Crystalline Arthritis
    • Myositis
    • Osteoarthritis and Bone Disorders
    • Pain Syndromes
    • Pediatric Conditions
    • Psoriatic Arthritis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Sjögren’s Disease
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
    • Systemic Sclerosis
    • Vasculitis
    • Other Rheumatic Conditions
  • FocusRheum
    • ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis
    • Gout
    • Psoriatic Arthritis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
  • Guidance
    • Clinical Criteria/Guidelines
    • Ethics
    • Legal Updates
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence
      • Other ACR meetings
      • EULAR/Other
    • Research Rheum
  • Drug Updates
    • Analgesics
    • Biologics/DMARDs
  • Practice Support
    • Billing/Coding
    • EMRs
    • Facility
    • Insurance
    • QA/QI
    • Technology
    • Workforce
  • Opinion
    • Patient Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Rheuminations
      • Video
    • Speak Out Rheum
  • Career
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Awards
    • Career Development
  • ACR
    • ACR Home
    • ACR Convergence
    • ACR Guidelines
    • Journals
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
    • From the College
    • Events/CME
    • President’s Perspective
  • Search

The Science of Empathy in Rheumatology

Leonard H. Calabrese, DO  |  Issue: January 2021  |  January 19, 2021


Leonard H. Calabrese, DOLeonard H. Calabrese, DO, is a professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, holds the R.J. Fasenmyer Chair of Clinical Immunology and the Theodore F. Classen, DO, Chair of Osteopathic Research and Education, and serves as the vice chair of the Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases at the Cleveland Clinic.

References

  1. Cassell EJ. The Nature of Healing. New York: Oxford University Press; 2013.
  2. Hojat M. Empathy in Health Professions Education and Patient Care. New York: Springer International Publishing; 2016.
  3. Riess H. The science of empathy. J Patient Exp. 2017 Jun;4(2):74–77.
  4. Riess H, Kelley JM, Bailey RW, et al. Empathy training for resident physicians: A randomized controlled trial of a neuroscience-informed curriculum. J Gen Intern Med. 2012 Oct;27(10):1280–1286.
  5. Hojat M, Mangione S, Gonnella JS, et al. Empathy in medical education and patient care. Acad Med. 2001 Jul;76(7):669.
  6. Rakel DP, Hoeft TJ, Barrett BP, et al. Practitioner empathy and the duration of the common cold. Fam Med. 2009 Jul–Aug;41(7):494–501.
  7. Chaitoff A, Rothberg MB, Windover AK, et al. Physician empathy is not associated with laboratory outcomes in diabetes: A cross-sectional study. J Gen Intern Med. 2019 Jan;34(1):75–81.
  8. Kahn MW. Etiquette-based medicine. N Engl J Med. 2008 May 8;358(19):1988–1989.
  9. Melnick ER, Powsner SM. Empathy in the time of burnout. Mayo Clin Proc. 2016 Dec;91(12):1678–1679.
  10. Peabody FW. The care of the patient. JAMA. 1927;88:877–882.
  11. Hojat M, Gonnella JS, Nasca TJ, et al. Physician empathy: Definition, components, measurement, and relationship to gender and specialty. Am J Psychiatry. 2002 Sep;159(9):1563–1569.
  12. Ferreira RJO, de Wit M, Henriques M, et al. ‘It can’t be zero!’ Difficulties in completing patient global assessment in rheumatoid arthritis: A mixed methods study. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2020 May 1;59(5):1137–1147.
  13. Challa DN, Kvrgic Z, Cheville AL, et al. Patient-provider discordance between global assessments of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis: A comprehensive clinical evaluation. Arthritis Res Ther. 2017 Sep 26;19(1):212.
  14. Lindström Egholm C, Krogh NS, Pincus T, et al. Discordance of global assessments by patient and physician is higher in female than in male patients regardless of the physician’s sex: Data on patients with rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, and psoriatic arthritis from the DANBIO registry. J Rheumatol. 2015 Oct;42(10):1781–1785.
  15. Kvrgic Z, Asiedu GB, Crowson CS, et al. ‘Like no one is listening to me’: A qualitative study of patient-provider discordance between global assessments of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2018 Oct;70(10):1439–1447.
  16. Bechman K, Yates M, Norton S, et al. Placebo response in rheumatoid arthritis clinical trials. J Rheumatol. 2020 Jan;47(1):28–34.
  17. Blasini M, Peiris N, Wright T, Colloca L. The role of patient-practitioner relationships in placebo and nocebo phenomena. Int Rev Neurobiol. 2018;139:211–231.
  18. Colloca L, Barsky AJ. Placebo and nocebo effects. N Engl J Med. 2020 Feb 6;382(6):554–561.
  19. Georgopoulou S, Prothero L, Lempp H, et al. Motivational interviewing: Relevance in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis? Rheumatology (Oxford). 2016 Aug;55(8):1348–1356.
  20. Hardee JT, Platt FW. Exploring and overcoming barriers to clinical empathic communication. J Commun Healthc. 2010;3(1):17–23.
  21. Hojat M, Vergare MJ, Maxwell K, et al. The devil is in the third year: A longitudinal study of erosion of empathy in medical school. Acad Med. 2009 Sep;84(9):1182–1191.
  22. Riess H. Empathy training for health care providers. Health Aff (Millwood). 2020 Jun;39(6):1097.
  23. Kraft-Todd GT, Reinero DA, Kelley JM, et al. Empathic nonverbal behavior increases ratings of both warmth and competence in a medical context. PloS One. 2017 May 15;12(5):e0177758.
  24. Boissy A, Windover AK, Bokar D, et al. Communication skills training for physicians improves patient satisfaction. J Gen Intern Med. 2016 Jul;31(7):755–761.
  25. Hojat M. Ten approaches for enhancing empathy in health and human services cultures. J Health Hum Serv Adm. 2009 spring;31(4):412–450.
  26. Calabrese LH. Why mindfulness/meditation is a ‘no-brainer’ for health-care professionals. J Patient Exp. 2019 Mar;6(1):21–23.

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 | Single Page
Share: 

Filed under:ConditionsPatient Perspective Tagged with:Empathy

Related Articles

    Letter: Empathy in Medicine

    April 17, 2021

    For years now, I have read The Rheumatologist cover to cover (but only glance at the ads, but don’t tell the advertisers that). Len Calabrese’s piece, “The Science of Empathy in Rheumatology” in the January 2021 issue, hits the central point in medical care. I would like to believe that it has been empathy that…

    Social & Psychological Elements Are Vital to Rheumatology Care

    January 17, 2019

    CHICAGO—To drive home the importance of how social determinants can make or break a person’s health, Jillian Rose, LCSW, MPH, the director of community, engagement, diversity and research at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, told a story about a gardener planting flowers at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. In the story,…

    The Dual-Target Strategy in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Put Patients First

    October 13, 2021

    The impressive progress of medical knowledge and technology reinforces our trust in the scientific methodology that made it all possible. However, that progress also creates risks related to the primary goal of medical care: to serve our patients’ interests and enjoyment of life in the best possible way. In this article we present our views…

    Webside Care Can Enhance Rheumatology Training & Patient Satisfaction

    July 15, 2021

    Many practitioners can relate to the epiphany of Roy Basch, MD, the lead character in Samuel Shem’s satirical novel The House of God.1 During his first on-call shift as a medicine intern, long work hours combined with jaded advice from his senior resident leave Dr. Basch feeling disenchanted with the medical profession until he cares…

  • About Us
  • Meet the Editors
  • Issue Archives
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 1931-3268 (print). ISSN 1931-3209 (online).
  • DEI Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Preferences