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The role of empathy in the care of dementia
Author(s) -
NORMAN K. D.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1365-2850
pISSN - 1351-0126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2850.1996.tb00131.x
Subject(s) - empathy , emotive , dementia , viewpoints , psychology , mental health , set (abstract data type) , perception , relation (database) , health care , psychotherapist , nursing , medicine , psychiatry , sociology , art , disease , pathology , database , neuroscience , anthropology , computer science , economics , visual arts , programming language , economic growth
The role of empathy in the care of dementia The concept of empathy in relation to caring is reviewed. A variety of definitions of empathy are considered to show how empathy has been used within general nursing practice A wide range of literature is drawn on to gain insights into the multifaceted and diverse information on this topic. The differing perceptions that arise from various professional viewpoints are explored. A set of attributes are identified for empathy and these are considered in relation to clinical practice in elderly mental health. Three examples of care are discussed to show how emotive empathy can be employed to give an improved direction to care of dementia clients. The concept is reviewed in relation to the particular needs of caring for dementia. It is suggested that it should be included in mental health training. It is concluded that emotive empathy has a vital part to play in the delivery of care for the elderly mentally ill.