Fostering Human Connection: What it Feels Like to Receive Empathic Care

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<div&gt;Chapter Four stresses the importance of human connection and what it feels&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;like to receive empathic care. The Chapter begins with a personal story of how an&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;ordinary woman made a positive difference in the lives of others. Caring traits that&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;foster connection are explored, including practices that enhance the relationship&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;between physician and patient. Offering empathy requires that a health professional&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;resist the temptation to give advice, not assume that they understand, or try to rescue.</div&gt;<div&gt;They must also become aware of how another person's suffering affects them and their&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;responses. We learn that vulnerability is strength. Three narratives are presented and&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;analyzed. In the first case, we hear what a counsellor did to show empathy in the midst&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;of unbearable grief. In the second story, a doctor makes the time to listen to a patient&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;when she so desperately needs to be heard. In the third story, we get a glimpse of how&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;human connection was made possible when a dying hospitalized patient was alone and&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;isolated because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Case in Point, a hopeless young&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;student shares how an empathetic nurse helped her choose life. In the section on&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;something to ponder, the significance of being genuine and using silence is&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;emphasized. A learning exercise is suggested at the end of the Chapter to discern&lt;/div&gt;<div&gt;between words and actions that demonstrate empathy and ones that do not.</div&gt;