About Us

​Background

Empathy research, practice, and teaching are thriving globally, with dozens of empathy-related organisations (centres, museums, research groups). These organisations share the common aim of improving patient (and practitioner) outcomes, and could learn from each other, generate synergies, and share best practice.

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This umbrella organisation has seed funding from the Oxford Empathy Programme and the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare to create and manage this website. This virtual space will enable leaders of different empathy organisations and initiatives from around the world to connect.

By creating this forum we aim to catalyse connections between empathy organisations and reduce unnecessary repetition. Member organisations will be expected to contribute to biennial summits, bringing together expert leaders in the field.

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Aims

The main aims of this non-partisan organisation are as described below.

• To provide a virtual place where the leaders of the different empathy organisations around the world can connect to:

  • share best practice;

  • share information about events; and

  • catalyse the international move towards more empathic healthcare.

• To host a biennial summit of empathy organisation leaders worldwide, to generate synergies, share best practices, and produce joint statements

Activities

This umbrella organisation will be non-partisan and not promote any individual organisation. The activities are listed above.

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Membership

Any organisation* dedicated to empathy in healthcare will be eligible to join. Membership will be simple and consist of:

1. Name, logo, and contact details of key person on the website

2. Access to the email list

Individual researchers who have research programmes dedicated to empathy (for example, they have written a book about empathy) will also be eligible.

“Empathy” is closely related to several other terms ranging from compassion and sympathy to person-centred care, only organisations working explicitly on empathy will be eligible in the first instance. We will explore compiling a list of related organisations who may be able to join as non-members.

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Officers

Secretary: Jeremy Howick

Deputy secretary: Tracy Levett-Jones

​Administrator: Catherine Eyres

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*In the first instance, academic organisations and charities will be invited to join. A model for commercial organisation inclusion or mention will be developed within the first year. Individual academic researchers with an established track record of research and teaching empathy (for example, who have written a book on empathy) will be viewed for the purposes of this network as organisations.

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The Leicester Empathy Declaration

Recognizing that empathy-informed healthcare is essential for the wellbeing of healthcare professionals and their patients, we declare that all schools of medicine and nursing and all healthcare systems should adopt policies and procedures to address and implement training in empathy and compassion for self and others. Read the full article in Patient Education and Counseling:

The Leicester Empathy Declaration: A model for implementing empathy in healthcare