Patient-centeredness and empathy in a bilingual interprofessional primary care teaching clinic: a pilot study

Abstract

Utilizing the Consultation and Relational Empathy survey, this project examined the perceptions of care team empathy and patient-centeredness between English- and Spanish-speaking patients. From fall through spring semesters, patient surveys from a primary care, interprofessional student-led teaching clinic were collected and analyzed. Overall, mean scores for both English- and Spanish-speaking patients were above the reported normative average for general practitioners. While, overall, patients expressed satisfaction with the student-led teaching clinic in terms of empathy and patient-centeredness, English-speaking patients had higher median scores than Spanish-speaking patients. Analyzed individually, questions related to communication and provider attitudes were scored lower by Spanish-speaking patients. These results demonstrate that student-led clinics can deliver patient-centered care and highlight the continuing need to investigate and address disparities between English- and Spanish-speaking patients with regard to feelings of empathy and patient-centeredness.

Keywords:

• patient-centeredness
• interprofessional care
• uninsured patients
• free clinics
• student teams

Acknowledgments

The Virginia Commonwealth University Council for Community Engagement supported the CrossOver-VCU evening clinic through the Community Engagement Grants Program. Tamara Davidson, PharmD and Vilma Seymour translated the Consultation and Relational Empathy Measure. Eleanor Sanchez, Erilisse Deynes, and the staff at the CrossOver helped to administer and collect surveys.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.