Name
ELO2 - Empathy That Matters: Evidence and a Practical Approach for Primary Care
Date & Time
Thursday, October 8, 2026, 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Location Name
Regency A (2nd Floor)
Description

This 90-minute session begins with a 30-minute review of findings from a multisite primary care study showing that patients who experienced higher clinician empathy reported better mental and physical health, with associations persisting over two years. These results underscore empathy as a valuable clinical skill with meaningful impact on patients’ outcomes. The remaining 60 minutes is an experiential workshop introducing a brief communication approach for demonstrating empathy: the “Ordinary and Unique” procedure. Through self-reflection, paired practice, and discussion, participants will strengthen their ability to offer concise empathic reflections while bridging differences in identities and lived experiences.

Speakers
Daniel Mullin, PsyD, MPH
Session Type
ELO
Summarize findings from a large multisite primary care study showing an association between higher patient-reported clinician empathy and better patient-reported mental and physical health over two years.
Interpret the practical significance of the reported effect sizes (approximately 2–3 point differences in PROMIS mental and physical health) for clinical care and population-level outcomes.
Describe the “Ordinary and Unique” framework, including how distress can reflect both shared human experience (ordinary) and individual context (unique).

Mullin, D. J., Littenberg, B., and Rose, G. L. (2025). The Association Between Patient’s Experience of Empathy and Self-Reported Health Status in a Large Multisite Primary Care Trial. Patient Education and Counseling, 109414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2025.109414

Nembhard, I. M., David, G., Ezzeddine, I., Betts, D., and Radin, J. (2023). A systematic review of research on empathy in health care. Health Services Research, 58(2), 250–263. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.14016

Osch, M. van, Dulmen, S. van, Vliet, L. van, and Bensing, J. (2017). Specifying the effects of physician’s communication on patients’ outcomes: A randomised controlled trial. Patient Education and Counseling, 100(8), 1482–1489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2017.03.009

Rakel, D. P., Hoeft, T. J., Barrett, B. P., Chewning, B. A., Craig, B. M., and Niu, M. (2009). Practitioner empathy and the duration of the common cold. Family Medicine, 41(7), 494–501.

Wang, Y., Wu, Q., Wang, Y., and Wang, P. (2022). The Effects of Physicians’ Communication and Empathy Ability on Physician–Patient Relationship from Physicians’ and Patients’ Perspectives. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 29(4), 849–860. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-022-09844-1