Use of the arts to develop empathy and support patient-centered care in pharmacy students
Project leaders: Maria Allinson
Empathy is an important element in providing person-centred care. The General Pharmaceutical Council expects pharmacy students to be able to demonstrate empathy. Studies in medical students in the USA have found empathy to decrease throughout a course of study (McTighe et al 2016; Hojat et al 2020). The addition of arts and humanities to health-related degrees, however, have been shown to develop empathy, wellbeing and reflection (Sampson et al 2018). This study aims to evaluate the impact of a new elective incorporating the use of poetry, music, film and art to help students to develop an empathetic person-centred approach to care.