# There is probably a lack of empathy between you and your collaborator

Canonical source: [https://www.braver.net/en/blog/there-is-probably-a-lack-of-empathy-between-you-and-the-person-you-communicate-with/](<https://www.braver.net/en/blog/there-is-probably-a-lack-of-empathy-between-you-and-the-person-you-communicate-with/>)

The Braver journal

For almost three years, I have been meeting regularly with healthcare professionals from different fields to understand their working realities and their perceptions of collaboration in healthcare. And what continues to surprise me is their strong desire to collaborate with other professionals, but also all the sometimes misleading perceptions they have of one another.

![Marie-Lou Gagnon](<https://www.braver.net/blog-assets/39b0cb41df4807f1f2af-960.webp>)

 Marie-Lou Gagnon May 5, 2021

![There is probably a lack of empathy between you and your collaborator](<https://www.braver.net/blog-assets/legacy-74b0be532c9bcf53c05a-960.webp>)

Each member of these professions lives with frustrations, challenges and a sense of injustice, but also with pride, expertise and a strong sense of belonging. Each is also a human being with their own personality, unique fears and personal preferences. Although these individual differences inevitably play a role in how collaboration happens from day to day, in this article I will instead discuss more general barriers to collaboration in healthcare that professionals have collectively described to me and that I believe we can do something about.

## An incomplete understanding

> *Successful collaboration requires healthcare professionals to understand the realities and areas of expertise of the people they communicate with.*

Often—*too* often—healthcare professionals take it for granted that other professionals know their clinical realities: their reserved activities, the way they work and advances in their profession. Conversely, professionals sometimes believe they understand the other person's reality very well, when that understanding is often very basic and sometimes even a little reductive.

But make no mistake: I am not judging this gap in knowledge, because the reality is that everyone's work is fast-paced and demanding, and every professional has their own issues to manage. For example:

- Pharmacists want greater recognition of their clinical role alongside their role as dispensers.
- Physiotherapists and chiropractors want recognition of their expertise in caring for patients with musculoskeletal conditions.
- Physicians want more time.
- Kinesiologists want a professional order.
- Psychologists want better access to mental health services in the public system.

  *And the list goes on!*

These statements are obviously generalizations, but I mention them to illustrate a recurring fact that I will repeat again and that we need to remember: *each of us has unique challenges, priorities and a professional context*.

There is therefore a gap between the desire to collaborate effectively and the difficulty of investing time in truly understanding the context of the person we are communicating with, so we can better adapt our communications. And this gap can seriously hinder interprofessional collaboration if it is not taken into account, because understanding other professionals' realities and areas of expertise helps develop **empathy for the other person**. That empathy greatly supports effective communication and collaboration (according to [an article published in 2012](<https://asu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/exploring-the-role-of-empathy-in-engineering-communication-throug-2>)).

*Let us recap*. Healthcare professionals lack the time to gain a deeper understanding of the realities of the other professionals with whom they need to collaborate. This limited understanding of the context of interprofessional practice limits the empathy they can express and bring into their relationships with those other professionals.

## Why this lack of empathy?

Faced with all this, I cannot help thinking there is a significant inconsistency: if we are taught to act with empathy toward our patients—putting their reality at the centre of our interventions—why do we find it so difficult to bring that same empathy to the healthcare professionals we collaborate with?

Through the interviews I have conducted so far, I have identified other factors, beyond limited time, that can restrict the development of empathy toward other professionals:

1. As healthcare professionals, we sometimes have to interact with people we do not know. Patients move through the healthcare system and will certainly seek care outside the walls of our organization. Our working team is therefore not always made up of people with whom we share a bond of trust. The healthcare professionals we need to collaborate with are sometimes nothing more than a *name* in our minds. And because humans tend to appreciate concrete things, it can be harder to develop an empathetic approach toward a name.
2. The communication tools that help us collaborate are often far removed from human communication and inhibit our ability to naturally develop empathy for the person we are communicating with. Fax, email or tasks in our patient record software do not allow us to convey all the information needed for successful human communication, such as providing quick feedback.
3. Healthcare professionals sometimes have to share certain professional activities, and these ambiguities in responsibility provide fertile ground for battles of ego or power that, let us admit, get in the way of empathy.

## Our research process

I do not have all the answers or an innate understanding of collaboration, but I believe very, very strongly that collaborative practice, in the broadest sense, inevitably creates tremendous value. This article, for example, brings together ideas and perspectives from a multitude of professionals I have interviewed. That convergence has produced something far richer than if it had been the result of my perspective alone.

If you are a healthcare professional and would like to take part in my research on collaboration, there are still a few days left to [book a meeting with me](<https://calendly.com/braverhealth/braver-talk-edition-vip>)!