Improving Ethnocultural Empathy in Healthcare Students through a Targeted Intervention

Students in training to become future healthcare providers must be trained not only how to provide quality care but also how to effectively communicate with patients, regardless of the patient's cultural background. Poor communication between provider and patient when racial or ethnic backgrounds differ between patient and provider is a relevant factor in suboptimal healthcare services to ethnic minorities. This pilot study was conducted to examine changes in the scores on the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (SEE)for first year nursing (n = 40) and dental students (n = 42)following an intervention. Participants completed an anonymous online survey that included the SEE, a validated measure of empathy toward people with racial and ethnic backgrounds different from one's own prior to the intervention (baseline), immediately following the intervention workshop (post-test) and one month following the workshop (follow-up). Results showed statistically significant increases from baseline to post-intervention on the SEE (p < .05), and these gains were maintained at follow-up. This study is the first to examine whether an intervention specifically designed to improve students' understanding of racial groups discordant from their own actually improves empathy and communication. Results from this pilot study support that controlled trials are warranted.