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Promoting empathy in social care for older people

Promoting empathy in social care for older people Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify connections between empathy and social care and to describe aspects of empathy in social care work, by bringing together research from different fields. Design/methodology/approach – Five doctoral theses which discussed empathy among care workers of older people in Sweden were analysed as a group. The theses had been published over the period 1996 to 2007. Methodologically, the examination underpinned an interpretive content analysis. Findings – The meta‐analysis revealed conflicting feelings among care workers. Most experienced frustration when they were not able to express empathy in their working practices. Empathy was typically hindered by lack of time, care workers' own needs, and inflexible home care systems. However, a key element of the job‐satisfaction reported by care workers appeared to be its empathic nature. Most care workers perceive encounters with older people as opportunities to respond empathically rather than indifferently. The implications of these findings are discussed. Originality/value – The study is an overview that attempts to build a bridge across the two concepts, social care and empathy. The main strength of this analysis is its originality of approach undertaking a specific literature review and reflecting on a subject that has not previously been explored in the Swedish context. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Working with Older People Emerald Publishing

Promoting empathy in social care for older people

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References (36)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1366-3666
DOI
10.1108/13663661211260781
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify connections between empathy and social care and to describe aspects of empathy in social care work, by bringing together research from different fields. Design/methodology/approach – Five doctoral theses which discussed empathy among care workers of older people in Sweden were analysed as a group. The theses had been published over the period 1996 to 2007. Methodologically, the examination underpinned an interpretive content analysis. Findings – The meta‐analysis revealed conflicting feelings among care workers. Most experienced frustration when they were not able to express empathy in their working practices. Empathy was typically hindered by lack of time, care workers' own needs, and inflexible home care systems. However, a key element of the job‐satisfaction reported by care workers appeared to be its empathic nature. Most care workers perceive encounters with older people as opportunities to respond empathically rather than indifferently. The implications of these findings are discussed. Originality/value – The study is an overview that attempts to build a bridge across the two concepts, social care and empathy. The main strength of this analysis is its originality of approach undertaking a specific literature review and reflecting on a subject that has not previously been explored in the Swedish context.

Journal

Working with Older People – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jan 1, 2012

Keywords: Empathy; Social care; Older people; Elderly people; Qualitative research; Literature review

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