Emotional intelligence and patient-centred care.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Psychology
• Medical Education

Background:

• Patient-centred care is a key principle in modern healthcare policy and practice.
• Individual differences in practitioner personality may affect the delivery of patient-centred care.
• Emotional intelligence (EI) is a personality trait increasingly discussed in healthcare literature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the existing literature on emotional intelligence (EI) in healthcare.
• To explore the potential links between EI and patient-centred care outcomes.
• To assess the empirical evidence base for the growing popularity of EI in healthcare.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of empirical studies on EI in various healthcare settings.
• Identification of research examining the relationship between EI and patient-centred outcomes.

Main Results:

• The review identified a growing body of literature on EI in healthcare.
• Empirical evidence directly linking EI to patient-centred outcomes is currently limited.
• Further research is needed to substantiate the value of EI in this context.

Conclusions:

• The role of emotional intelligence (EI) in achieving patient-centred care requires more rigorous investigation.
• Current evidence does not conclusively support EI as a predictor of patient-centred care.
• Substantial further research is necessary to validate EI as a beneficial concept in healthcare practice.