Family Responses to Different Types of Clinician Empathy Expression in Pediatric Care Conferences

Clinician empathy positively impacts patient outcomes. Few studies have assessed the effects of different types of empathic expression. To describe how families respond when clinicians express empathy in different ways. Prospective, mixed-methods cohort. English and interpreted pediatric inpatient care conferences at a U.S. quaternary hospital between January 1, 2018 and January 1, 2021. Directed content analysis of clinician empathic statements and family responses. Of 29 patient-family dyads, 11 (39%) used language interpretation. In response to 80 clinician empathic statements, families expressed agreement or shared more 84% (67/80) of the time. Families shared more about their perspective in response to explore statements 71.4% (10/14) of the time, in response to validate statements 61% (17/28) of the time, and in response to respect/support statements 39% (11/28) of the time. Certain types of empathic statements may be more effective at prompting families to share more about their perspective, a key element of shared decision-making.