The Importance of Cognitive Empathy Training in Speech-Language Pathology: A Perspective and Co-Constructed Illustration.

Purpose: Empathy training is a curricular standard in many health care disciplines and is growing in speech-language pathology. This article serves as a perspective on the foundational importance of empathy in health-related outcomes and improving clinical care. In addition, it serves as an integration of cognitive empathy training best practices that may be implemented to enhance speech-language pathology clinical education. These recommendations were utilized to build a traumatic brain injury (TBI) cognitive empathy training, co-constructed using community-based participatory research, and presented here as an illustrative example.

Method: Many people with TBI lived experience report that providers lack sufficient empathy, and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) also report challenges in providing services. To address these concerns, a review of best practices in health care empathy training, empathy training in speech-language pathology, and simulation best practices was conducted. These integrated findings were subsequently applied to the creation of a novel TBI cognitive empathy training program, co-developed with people who have TBI lived experience .

Results: While empathy training is foundational in medical education, it is less common in speech-language pathology. SLPs have unique considerations related to empathy and equally need direct instruction in empathy terminology and training. Within the first section of this article, the basics of empathy, its role in health care outcomes and provider satisfaction, and empathetic decline are explored. In the second section, the integration of recommended best practices and the application to a speech-language pathology cognitive empathy training are described. Ethical guidelines for design and implementation in speech-language pathology cognitive empathy training include having inclusive teams, creating intentional and thoughtful content, and embedding simulations into broader education.

Conclusion: By better understanding empathy and its importance in clinical care, we can expand speech-language pathology graduate and professional education to better support our providers, patients, and families.

Supplemental material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.29185205.