Defining clinical empathy: a grounded theory approach from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients in a multicultural setting

ObjectiveTo define clinical empathy from the perspective of healthcare workers and patients from a multicultural setting.DesignGrounded theory approach using focus group discussions.SettingA health cluster in Singapore consisting of an acute hospital, a community hospital, ambulatory care teams, a medical school and a nursing school.Participants69 participants including doctors, nurses, medical students, nursing students, patients and allied health workers.Main outcome measuresA robust definition of clinical empathy.ResultsThe construct of clinical empathy is consistent across doctors, nurses, students, allied health and students. Medical empathy consists of an inner sense of empathy (imaginative, affective and cognitive), empathy behaviour (genuine concern and empathic communication) and a sense of connection (trust and rapport). This construct of clinical empathy is similar to definitions by neuroscientists but challenges a common definition of clinical empathy as a cognitive process with emotional detachment.ConclusionsThis paper has defined clinical empathy as ‘a sense of connection between the healthcare worker and the patient as a result of perspective taking arising from imaginative, affective and cognitive processes, which are expressed through behaviours and good communication skills that convey genuine concern’. A clear and multidimensional definition of clinical empathy will improve future education and research efforts in the application and impact of clinical empathy.

THE SA’BAN OF BORNEO AND ZOMIA

Much has been written about multiculturalism in Borneo, but little research has been done to explainit, let alone its persistence, despite gloomy forecasts of the decline in language and cultural diversityaround the world. The Sa’ban of Sarawak and Kalimantan are one of the smallest ethnic groups inBorneo and live in a uniquely multicultural setting. Does Scott’s influential depiction of Zomia offer aframework to explain, even predict, the continuance of Sa’ban identity? This paper offers somespeculative observations on the parallels between the Sa’ban and Scott’s Zomia societies in advance ofmore extensive fieldwork.

THE ROLE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING IN ENHANCING STUDENTS’ INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

This study emphasizes the critical role of foreign language teaching in enhancing students’ intercultural competence, as a means of expanding their future opportunities in an increasingly multicultural and diverse world. Foreign language classes may provide unique opportunities for delivering a plurilingual, multicultural setting utilizing the cultural elements in the course content and course materials as well as the personal experiences of the teacher in the classroom. To that end, more attention is needed to foreign language teacher preparation and training. As multiculturalism is a significant feature of European communities, this study sought to investigate and analyze the related policies, strategies and practices in Europe, since Paris declaration 2015, in order to determine actions have been taken to address those needs. This qualitative study is based on document analysis of the European Educational Policy documents released mainly by the European Commission and the Council of Europe. The results of the analysis showed that foreign language education has presented along with intercultural education in the vast majority of European educational policies as a dominant component within the context of integration and promote social cohesion, as well as increase competitiveness and employability. The study has implied a number of implications highlighted some potential gaps that may be diminish the effectiveness of these policies, pushing towards more empirical research on the influence of EU policies on national level actions. Keywords: Foreign language Teaching, Intercultural competence, multilingual competence, plurilingual, multicultural setting, European documents, European Education Policy.

Teaching Culturally Diverse Student Groups in the Nordic Countries—What Can the TALIS 2018 Data Tell Us?

Almost all Nordic classrooms have some or a considerable number of students with a native language different from the language of instruction. Therefore, most Nordic teachers have to address the issues this setting imposes on them. The chapter is concerned with teachers’ attitudes and experiences of teaching in a multicultural setting—that is, variations in their perceived self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms. The TALIS study is used to explore these effects and relate teacher experiences with the issues of equity and diversity. Our analysis includes all five Nordic countries. A linear regression approach was used, taking into account the multi-stage sampling in TALIS. The results indicate that general self-efficacy in teaching and not specific multicultural knowledge or experience has the most significant influence on the experienced ability to handle a multicultural setting. This is a somewhat surprising, albeit reassuring, result, as it indicates that a good and trustworthy teacher education and functional general teacher competencies are the most essential ingredients in adequately handling a multicultural classroom.