Skip to main content

Developing Empathy Through Narrative Medicine

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

People make sense of their own identities and experiences, including illness, in a narrative context. We see and understand our lives through the stories we tell and hear about ourselves and others. Through the faculty of the imagination, we can stand in the shoes of others to understand different points of view and experiences. Indeed, sometimes ethical failures are failures of imagination. Representing and reading stories of illness can develop the moral imagination of students and providers. Through the study of literature, we can cultivate the capacity to empathize with others and can create ethical possibilities for shared decision-making.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Charon, R. (2001). Narrative medicine: A model for empathy, reflection, profession, and trust. JAMA, 286(15), 1897–1902.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Schillinger, D., Ratanawongsa, N., Villela, T., & Saba, G. W. (2016). Creating a context for effective intervention in the clinical care of vulnerable patients. In T. E. King & M. B. Wheeler (Eds.), Medical management of vulnerable and underserved patients: Principles, practice, and populations (2nd ed., pp. 104–114). New York: McGraw Hill Education Medical.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Freedheim, D. K. (Ed.). (1992). History of psychotherapy: A century of change. Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association. 930 p.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bordin, E. S. (1979). The generalizability of the psychoanalytic concept of the working alliance. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 16, 252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Bordin, E. S. (1994). Theory and research on the therapeutic working alliance: New directions. In A. O. Horvath & L. S. Greenberg (Eds.), The working alliance: Theory, research, and practice (p. 1337). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Balint, M. (1957). The Doctor, His Patient, and the Illness. New York: International University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  7. Kaplan, S. H., Greenfield, S., & Ware, J. E. (1989). Assessing the effects of physician-patient interactions on the outcomes of chronic disease. Medical Care, 27(3 Suppl), S110–S127.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Kaplan, S. H., Gandek, B., Greenfield, S., Rogers, W., & Ware, J. E. (1995). Patient and visit characteristics related to physicians’ participatory decision-making style. Results from the Medical Outcomes Study. Medical Care, 33(12), 1176–1187.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Stewart, M., Brown, J. B., Donner, A., McWhinney, I. R., Oates, J., Weston, W. W., et al. (2000). The impact of patient-centered care on outcomes. Journal of Family Practice, 49(9), 796–804.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Mercer, S. W., & Reynolds, W. J. (2002). Empathy and quality of care. British Journal of General Practice, 52(Suppl), S9–S12.

    Google Scholar 

  11. von Harscher, H., Desmarais, N., Dollinger, R., Grossman, S., & Aldana, S. (2018). The impact of empathy on burnout in medical students: New findings. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 23(3), 295–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Morse, J. M., Anderson, G., Bottorff, J. L., Yonge, O., O’Brien, B., Solberg, S. M., et al. (1992). Exploring empathy: A conceptual fit for nursing practice? Image: The Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 24(4), 273–280.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Markakis, K. M., Beckman, H. B., Suchman, A. L., & Frankel, R. M. (2000). The path to professionalism: Cultivating humanistic values and attitudes in residency training. Academic Medicine, 75(2), 141–150.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Dohrenwend, A. M. (2018). Defining empathy to better teach, measure, and understand its impact. Academic Medicine, 93, 1754–1756.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Alma, H. A., & Smaling, A. (2006). The meaning of empathy and imagination in health care and health studies. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 1(4), 195–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Greene, M. (2007). Releasing the imagination: Essays on education, the arts, and social change. Princeton: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic.

    Google Scholar 

  17. DeSalvo, L. A. (2000). Writing as a way of healing: How telling our stories transforms our lives (1st ed.). Boston: Beacon Press. 226 p.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Bolton, G. (1999). The therapeutic potential of creative writing: Writing myself. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 252 p.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Anderson, C. M., & MacCurdy, M. M. (Eds.). (2000). Writing and healing: Toward an informed practice. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English. 476 p. (Refiguring English studies).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Fortin, V. I. A. H., Dwamena, F. C., Frankel, R. M., Lepisto, B. L., & Smith, R. C. (2018). The middle of the interview: Clinician-centered interviewing. In Smith’s patient-centered interviewing 4e. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. [cited 2018 Nov 25]. Available from: accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1154805924

    Google Scholar 

  21. Shapiro, J. (2011). Illness narratives: Reliability, authenticity and the empathic witness. Medical Humanities, 37(2), 68–72.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Halpern, J. (2003). What is clinical empathy? Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18(8), 670–674.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Shapiro, J., Morrison, E., & Boker, J. (2004). Teaching empathy to first year medical students: Evaluation of an elective literature and medicine course. Education for Health, 17(1), 73–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Stumbar, S., Schneider, G., Gillis, M., & Samuels, M. (2019, May 27). Narrative medicine rounds in the family medicine clerkship: Using story-telling to facilitate medical student well-being. In Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Annual Spring Conference.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Johna, S., & Dehal, A. (2013). The power of reflective writing: Narrative medicine and medical education. The Permanente Journal, 17(4), 84–85.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Charon, R. (2007). What to do with stories: The sciences of narrative medicine. Canadian Family Physician, 53(8), 1265–1267.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Alexie, S., & Forney, E. (2009). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown and Co. 229 p.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Thom, D. H., Hall, M. A., & Pawlson, L. G. (2004). Measuring patients’ trust in physicians when assessing quality of care. Health Affairs, 23(4), 124–132.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Milan Spears, D. (2013). Developing critical reading skills (9th ed.). Dubuque: McGraw-Hill Companies. 556 p. (Developing critical reading skills).

    Google Scholar 

  30. Fortin, A. H., & Smith, R. C. (2012). Smith’s patient-centered interviewing: An evidence-based method. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gregory Schneider .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Schneider, G., Gillis, M., von Harscher, H. (2019). Developing Empathy Through Narrative Medicine. In: Foster, A.E., Yaseen, Z.S. (eds) Teaching Empathy in Healthcare. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29876-0_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics