Essay On Empathy In Healthcare

Healthcare is focused on the care of people’s health; however, it is not a product, it is a service and in that regard it is required to view it as an adjective rather than a noun. We are in the business of caring for people’s health and wellbeing with the result people are living longer, with better quality, and healthier lives. Healthcare appears to have evolved into a procured benefit purchased from companies serving the medical insurance market, although one might beg to differ.

Background

The Oxford English Dictionary offers the definition of empathy as: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another; originating in the early 20th century from the ancient Greek word “empatheia” (from em- ‘in’ + pathos ‘feeling’) translating German Einfühlung. The term was adapted by Hermann Lotze and Robert Vischer to create the German word “Einfuhlung” (feeling into) which was translated by Edward B. Titchener into the English term empathy (revolvy.com). It is tapping into the deepest part of a human connection being conveyed with physical affection or passion. If combined with compassion, could be loosely described as what compels a human being to commit an act of extraordinary kindness—without expecting anything in return. “The term empathy, as an attribute or a skill, has become commonplace in the literature on management and the

Yet in spite of four previous attempts, it would be more than 100 years before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Medicaid.gov) would be enacted into law. As well, it serves as an essential and significant stride in health care reform moving from a possibility to becoming a reality. Accordingly, along with the reality came monumental responsibility and