To say 2020 was a difficult year is an understatement. The COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe and placed immense pressure on healthcare providers and the health care system as a whole. Feelings of stress, anxiety, fatigue, and burnout were common among those working on the frontlines. During these stressful times, it becomes even more important to practice empathy for your patients, colleagues, and especially towards yourself.
About Empathy, co-hosted by faculty Drs. Giovanna Sirianni, Dori Seccareccia, and Irene Ying, is a podcast that highlights the importance of practicing empathy in clinical encounters through patient, caregiver and healthcare provider stories. The recently released third season reflects on the year 2020, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the impact of systemic racism in healthcare. Each episode features an interview with a guest, revealing a story of struggle, love, and grief to help inspire hope during difficult times.
“This year in particular, it has been easy to focus on the negative. Speaking with our guests on the podcast has helped us to consider the unexpected positive consequences that can emerge from something negative. Their stories reveal a hopeful outcome emerging from a tragic circumstance,” says Dr. Giovanna Sirianni, the Enhanced Skills Program Director at the University of Toronto Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM).
Sharing stories helps to form a connection between people, and it is through this connection that one can begin to practice empathy. Dr. Sirianni hopes that anyone who listens to these stories will reflect on the importance of practicing empathy, compassion, and humanism in medicine, while also learning something new that can be used to enhance their practice.
“It’s more difficult to know what people are struggling with, especially now when we are physically distanced from family, friends, and colleagues, and we are also struggling ourselves. That being said, we need to remind ourselves that others may be grappling with day-to-day challenges, each in their own way, and it is important to reach out in whatever capacity we are able. These stories help to serve as that reminder.”
Among the all the stories shared this season, one stood out to Dr. Sirianni: the story of Dr. Maria Muraca. Dr. Muraca, a family physician at North York General Hospital and a DFCM faculty member, shared her experience of being the Power of Attorney and caregiver for her father who died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis after a lung transplant. She spoke about how her family’s personal experience with life-threatening illness has impacted her as a daughter, physician and educator, especially as it pertains to Advance Care Planning conversations.
“These stories are a good reminder for me in my work as a palliative care physician,” says Dr. Sirianni. “We often support our patients and their loved ones to continually reframe their understanding of what hope looks like as their disease progresses. It is important to remember, that no matter what, there is always hope.”
To hear more stories from the About Empathy Podcast you can listen at www.aboutempathy.com, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to have episodes pushed to your preferred device or follow on Twitter @AboutEmpathy for the latest updates. For more information, and to find new and previous episodes, visit www.aboutempathy.com.