Can Humanism Be Infused Into Clinical Encounters in a Time-Constrained, Technology-Driven Era?

A humanistic, personal, empathic, and patient-centered attitude towards the patient and family during the clinical encounter is often neglected in many settings. However, patients give it an utmost priority; moreover, the Institute of Medicine stressed it as a fundamental approach to improve the qua...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCurēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 14; no. 8; p. e27836
Main Author Schattner, Ami
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Palo Alto Cureus Inc 09.08.2022
Cureus
Subjects
Attitudes
Burnout
Family/General Practice
Humanism
Internal Medicine
Medical Education
Medicine
Patient satisfaction
Patient-centered care
Physicians
Qualitative research
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Summary:A humanistic, personal, empathic, and patient-centered attitude towards the patient and family during the clinical encounter is often neglected in many settings. However, patients give it an utmost priority; moreover, the Institute of Medicine stressed it as a fundamental approach to improve the quality of care in the US, and the potential benefits accrued by its implementation are substantial. These benefits encompass patients (including increased satisfaction, trust, adherence, and ‘hard’ health outcomes), physicians (including rediscovering meaning and escaping burnout), and health care systems. Highlighting the quintessential value of humanism and patient-centeredness in the encounter, we discuss the cornerstones of adopting a 'personal' attitude that requires sincere friendly 'connecting' to the patient which can be accomplished with little loss of time, and their myriad advantages, to motivate clinicians to be more mindful of the patient and his or her circumstances.
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ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.27836