Brown Ted, Williams Brett, Boyle Malcolm, Molloy Andrew, McKenna Lisa, Molloy Liz, Lewis Belinda
Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University - Peninsula Campus, Frankston, Victoria, Australia.
Occup Ther Int. 2010 Sep;17(3):135-41. doi: 10.1002/oti.297.
Empathy is an important attribute for occupational therapists in establishing rapport and in better understanding their clients. However, empathy can be compromised by high workloads, personal stressors and pressures to demonstrate efficacy. Occupational therapists also work with patients from a variety of diagnostic groups. The objective of this study was to determine the extent of empathy and attitudes towards clients amongst undergraduate occupational therapy students at one Australian University. A cross-sectional study was undertaken using a written survey of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) and the Medical Condition Regard Scale. Overall, a strong level of empathy was reported amongst students. Four medical conditions that occupational therapists work with (stroke, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and depression) were held in high regard. Substance abuse, however, was held in comparatively low regard. Overall, the year of study appeared to have no significant impact on the students' empathy. Despite having a lower reported empathy level than found in health professions from other studies using the JSPE, occupational therapy students were found to have a good level of empathy. Of concern, however, was the bias reported against the medical condition of substance abuse, highlighting that the there may be a need to reinforce that patients from this diagnostic group are equally deserving of quality care irrespective of their clinical condition. Recommendations for future research include completing a longitudinal study of occupational therapy students' empathy levels and investigating the empathy levels of occupational therapists working with different client groups. Limitations of the study include the convenience sampling of occupational therapy students enrolled at one university which limits the generalizability of the results to groups of participants with similar characteristics.
同理心是职业治疗师建立融洽关系和更好理解服务对象的一项重要特质。然而，高工作量、个人压力源以及展示疗效的压力可能会削弱同理心。职业治疗师还会与来自各种诊断类别的患者打交道。本研究的目的是确定一所澳大利亚大学的本科职业治疗专业学生的同理心程度以及他们对服务对象的态度。采用书面调查问卷的方式进行了一项横断面研究，问卷内容包括杰斐逊医生同理心量表（JSPE）和医疗状况关注量表。总体而言，学生们报告了较高水平的同理心。职业治疗师所接触的四种医疗状况（中风、脑瘫、创伤性脑损伤和抑郁症）受到高度重视。然而，药物滥用受到的重视程度相对较低。总体而言，学习年份似乎对学生的同理心没有显著影响。尽管使用JSPE报告的同理心水平低于其他研究中健康专业人员的水平，但职业治疗专业学生被发现具有良好的同理心水平。然而，令人担忧的是报告中对药物滥用这一医疗状况存在偏见，这凸显出可能需要强调来自这一诊断类别的患者无论其临床状况如何，同样都应得到优质护理。对未来研究的建议包括对职业治疗专业学生的同理心水平进行纵向研究，以及调查与不同服务对象群体合作的职业治疗师的同理心水平。该研究的局限性包括对一所大学注册的职业治疗专业学生进行便利抽样，这限制了研究结果对具有相似特征参与者群体的普遍性。
