Palliative and end of life care (Care homes & care at home)
Some ways to show empathy in your daily care for a client:
Use sensitive listening techniques (see section above.)
Use empathic statements that keep the focus on the person and what they have shared, and show you are trying to understand their experience, e.g:
- ‘From what you’re telling me, things must be really hard:’
- ‘That sounds awful.’
- ‘I think you’re saying that life’s very difficult now – am I right?’
Encourage people to tell you their concerns
Check that you have really understood what the other person is saying
Stand back from the situation and check that you have understood it fully before you try to help