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ABSTRACT
Client satisfaction is a topic of great interest in health care. It is associated with a variety of health outcomes and has economic, psychological, and social benefits. Staff empathy may be an important component of client satisfaction. This paper examines the relationship of client satisfaction to staff empathy at five pediatric HIV/AIDS outpatient clinics in Brooklyn, NY. One hundred fifty-eight clients (caretakers or parents) of infected children were interviewed in this investigation. Two staff empathy items were significantly related to client satisfaction even after adjusting for program organization characteristics (e.g., scheduling of appointment times). Staff empathy may influence program utilization, treatment compliance and adherence to life-sustaining medication regimens for HIV-infected individuals, and is important to assess in today's managed care environment. This study has implications for staff development and training at HIV/AIDS programs and in other health care settings.