Ethnocultural Empathy Among Students in Health Care Education

In a multicultural society, ethnocultural empathy has become an important element in most health settings and development of this capacity has become a central component for health care professionals in their interactions with patients and clients. In this study, differences in basic empathy and ethnocultural empathy were explored in a sample of 365 undergraduate students at the beginning and end of four masters programs in health care ( medicine, psychology, nursing, and social work). Results showed that it was mainly psychology students in the first semester who had significantly higher general empathic skills and ethnocultural empathic skills compared to students in the other study programs. Few signs of differences between students in their first and in later semesters were obtained. The observed differences may be explained by ( a) levels of admission grades and applications requirements or (b) different cultures and expectations from the surrounding milieus in the investigated study programs.The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in: EVALUATION and THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, (32), 3, 300-313, 2009. Chato Rasoal, Tomas Jungert, Elinor Edvardsson Stiwne and Gerhard Andersson, Ethnocultural Empathy Among Students in Health Care Education http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0163278709338569 by SAGE Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. http://www.uk.sagepub.com/</p

Profiles in Brain Type in Programming Performance for Non-vocational Courses

Learning a programming language and solving problems in an algo-rithmic way is a hard task for many students. A better comprehension of the psy-chological characteristics involved in this process is needed to reduce these dif-ficulties, implementing teaching methodologies sensitive to these aspects. In this study, we analyse the relationship between cognitive styles, inside the theoretical framework of the empathizing\u2013systemizing (E\u2013S) theory, and performance, also considering the role of sex. In fact, E-S theory states the difference in male and female mind, the first one more empathy-oriented, the second one more oriented at understanding systems. A sample of 56 students attending a course of pro-gramming in an Applied Mathematics with a relevant practical activity enhanced with a submission system and supported by a few tutors was involved in the study. We defined profiles of students based on their scores in EQ and SQ, and on their sex, using a cluster analysis. 4 clusters were found: 1. female students with low level of SQ and high level of EQ; 2. female students with high level of both SQ and EQ; 3. male students, with low level of EQ and high level of; 4. male students with low level of both SQ and EQ. A first exploration of the rela-tion of profiles with the learning performance is described

What healthcare teams find ethically difficult

Background: Ethically difficult situations are frequently encountered by healthcare professionals. Moral case deliberation is one form of clinical ethics support, which has the goal to support staff to manage ethical difficulties. However, little is known which difficult situations healthcare teams need to discuss. Aim: To explore which kinds of ethically difficult situations interprofessional healthcare teams raise during moral case deliberation. Research design: A series of 70 moral case deliberation sessions were audio-recorded in 10 Swedish workplaces. A descriptive, qualitative approach was applied, using thematic content analysis. Ethical considerations: An advisory statement specifying no objections to the study was provided from an Ethical Review Board, and consent to be recorded was assumed by virtue of participation in the moral case deliberation. Findings: Three themes emerged: powerlessness over managing difficult interactions with patients and next-of-kin, unease over unsafe and unequal care, and uncertainty over who should have power over care decisions. The powerlessness comprised feelings of insufficiency, difficulties to respond or manage patient's/next-of-kin's emotional needs or emotional outbursts and discouragement over motivating patients not taking responsibility for themselves. They could be uncertain over the patient's autonomy, who should have power over life and death, disclosing the truth or how much power next-of-kin should have. Discussion: The findings suggest that the nature of the ethically difficult situations brought to moral case deliberations contained more relational-oriented ethics than principle-based ethics, were permeated by emotions and the uncertainties were pervaded by power aspects between stakeholders. Conclusion: MCD can be useful in understanding the connection between ethical issues and emotions from a team perspective.Funding Agency:Stiftelsen Olle Engqvist Byggmästare </p

Balancing different expectations in ethically difficult situations while providing community home health care services : A focused ethnographic approach

Background: The general opinion in society is that everyone has the right to live in their own home as long as possible. Provision of community home health care services is therefore increasingly common. Healthcare personnel encounter ethically difficult situations when providing care, but few studies describe such situations in the context of community home health care services. Method: This study has a qualitative descriptive design, using focused ethnography. Data from 21 days of fieldwork (in total 123 h) consisting of non-participant observations (n = 122), memos and informal interviews with registered nurses (n = 8), and nurse assistants (n = 4). The transcribed texts were analyzed with interpretive content analysis. Results: The inductive analyses revealed two categories: 1) difficulties in balancing different requirements, expectations and needs, and 2) use of coping strategies. The results demonstrate that there are different values and expectations that influence each other in a complex manner. The personnel dealt with these situations by generating strategies of coaxing the patients and finding a space to deliberate and share difficult emotions with their colleagues. Conclusions: This study reveals that complex ethically difficult situations emerged in the context of community home health care services, and healthcare personnel were forced to find a balance regarding the different demands, expectations, values and needs that influence the care provided