The educational resources provided here as a series of weblinks were selected to:
- describe the power and potential of empathy as a life skill
- provide insights into the importance of empathy in healthcare
- illustrate the importance of empathic interactions with people from vulnerable patient groups.
This collection of diverse high-quality resources can be used in multiple and creative ways to enhance empathic imagination and promote perspective taking. The resources will encourage learners to suspend judgment and to respond to people’s suffering with genuine compassion.
The importance of empathy as a life skill
The power of outrospection by Roman Krznaric
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG46IwVfSu8
Philosopher and author Roman Krznaric explains what empathy is, why it matters and how we can expand our empathic potential.
How to start an empathy revolution by Roman Krznaric
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT5X6NIJR88
The YouTube video by philosopher and author Roman Krznaric explains how empathy can improve individual relationships and create radical social change.
A mile in my shoes
https://www.acast.com/amileinmyshoes
This podcast series invites listeners to walk a mile in shoes of a stranger while listening to their story.
Insights into the importance of empathy in healthcare small acts of kindness
http://www.kfilms.com.au/small-acts-of-kindness/
This film was commissioned by the NSW Ministry of Health to celebrate the healthcare benefits of empathy.
The power of empathy (TED talk) by Dr Helen Riess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baHrcC8B4WM
Dr Helen Riess directs the Empathy and Relational Science Program at Harvard Medical School and conducts research on the neuroscience of empathy.
Empathy: The human connection to patient care
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDDWvj_q-o8
This film portrays patient care as a connection that encompasses mind, body and spirit. It asks the question: If you could stand in someone else’s shoes . . . hear what they hear, see what they see and feel what they feel, would you treat them differently?
Patients: Afraid and vulnerable
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2mssj1
This film is one of Cleveland Clinic’s empathy series. It is narrated by a series of former patients who describe the difference between empathic and indifferent healthcare professionals.
Patient empathy: It starts with you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GsdsAxviQc
Healthcare work can be hectic, long and chaotic. This film shows how as healthcare professionals, we all need to reflect on how ‘small things’ can make a big difference in other people’s lives.
Empathic interactionswith people from vulnerable patient groups
Virtual reality experiences
A walk through dementia
http://www.awalkthroughdementia.org/
A walk through dementia was designed to put you in the shoes of someone living with dementia. It was developed by Alzheimer’s Research UK, in consultation with people living with different forms of dementia. It includes three Virtual Reality (VR) experiences:
- At the supermarket
- On the road
- At home
The VR experiences can be viewed as a 360° video using an iPhone (or tablet), Android, Samsung Gear VR or Google Cardboard viewer.
Clouds over Sidra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUosdCQsMkM
Clouds over Sidra tells the story of a 12-year old girl who has spent the last 18 months in Zaatari Refugee Camp. This camp is home to 130,000 Syrians fleeing violence and war and more than half of the population are children.
The VR experiences can be viewed as a 360° video using an iPhone (or tablet), Android, Samsung Gear VR or Google Cardboard viewer.
The party: A virtual experience of autism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtwOz1GVkDg
The Party tells the story of a Layla, 16-year old girl attending a birthday party. Layla is on the autism spectrum and she describes the stress and distress she experiences during such overwhelming occasions.
The VR experiences can be viewed as a 360° video using an iPhone (or tablet), Android, Samsung Gear VR or Google Cardboard viewer.
Video and audio resources
Barbara’s story of dementia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFXirEnjfTI
Barbara’s story is a film that was created by nurses at Guy’s and St Thomas’ to raise awareness of what it feels like to be a patient with dementia in the unfamiliar surroundings of a hospital.
About Barbara’s story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtA2sMAjU_Y
Homelessness
http://chp.org.au/homelessness/stories/
This film series depicts the lived experience of being homeless. It demonstrates how anyone can become homeless, regardless of age, education, socio-economic or relationship status, gender, race or religion. The aims of the films are to dispel some of the myths surrounding homelessness and to create a better understanding of how people become homeless. The videos were produced as part of the Equal Service: Homelessness Myths and Memories project.
Creating cultural empathy and challenging attitudes through Indigenous narratives
https://altc.betterhealth.ecu.edu.au/index.php
This website includes a collection of multimedia Indigenous stories and facilitation guides. The stories were developed as part of an Australian Learning and Teaching Council project that aimed to portray authentic stories of Indigenous people’s experience of healthcare, both positive and negative, in order to enhance learner’s cultural empathy.
Can you make it to the end? (Autism)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr4_dOorquQ
This film is told through the eyes of a child with autism. It portrays the experience of a shopping centre and the resulting sensory overload he/she experiences.
Video simulations that illustrate the sensory overload associated with autism https://www.autismspeaks.org/news/news-item/5-video-simulations-help-you-experience-sensory-overload
These video simulations illustrate what it is like to be in the shoes of someone with autism and the impact of noxious sensory stimulation on their everyday experiences.
DVD simulations to promote empathy and interprofessional collaboration
This evidence-based toolkit includes a range of interprofessional empathy films that can be watched online or downloaded. The toolkit also provides workshop resources and an evaluation framework.
https://www.monash.edu/medicine/spahc/cehpp/educational-research-and-resources/altc-empathy/video
The toolkit includes three case studies comprised of a number of films, each designed to elicit an empathic response in healthcare students:
