Professional Experience, Social Engagement Shape Pharmacist Empathy

For community pharmacists, those with specific professional and social engagement experience were associated with providing greater empathy toward their patients, according to a study in Scientific Reports.¹ With a minimal amount of research showing the significant benefits of increased provider empathy, more should be done in the future to further confirm empathy’s role among providers and how they can strategically use it to connect with patients and improve outcomes.

“Empathy among health care professionals has mainly been studied among physicians and nurses, and many benefits have been documented,” wrote the authors of the study. “Higher physician empathy is associated with reduced patient anxiety, increased satisfaction with care, and improved clinical outcomes among individuals with diabetes or cardiovascular diseases.”

The multiregional survey, which analyzed 1202 community pharmacists within a national pharmacy network in Japan, used the Japanese version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy to establish a mean total empathy score of 101.2. The researchers discovered that certain professional experiences, such as providing patient education in hospital settings during external training programs, were independently associated with higher empathy levels.¹

These hospital-based experiences likely expose pharmacists to complex patient perspectives and the collaborative nature of multidisciplinary clinical environments.

READ MORE: New Study Shows Mail-Order Satisfaction Rising as Retail Trust Slips

Creating an Empathetic Culture in Pharmacy Practice

Furthermore, the study found that pharmacists who participated in social contribution activities, including involvement in pharmacy associations, parent-teacher organizations, and general volunteer work, demonstrated significantly higher empathy scores. Such community engagement may broaden a professional’s perspective regarding the diverse social and health-related circumstances patients face outside the pharmacy.¹

Leadership roles also appear to play a factor in the development of these traits, as pharmacists in regional management positions or higher showed greater empathy scores compared with general staff. This aligns with the idea that creating an empathetic culture within health care must start from the top.^1,2

When senior leaders model empathetic behavior, they demonstrate that they value an individual’s well-being as much as their technical performance, which can eventually permeate an entire organization.²

This organizational culture is vital because patients report that they value empathy and compassion as much as a provider's formal training or experience. In fact, many patients indicate they would switch providers if they felt their current caregiver was uncaring.

Beyond personal satisfaction, the clinical benefits of fostering this relationship are substantial. The pharmacist-patient relationship is a cornerstone of patient-centered care, offering expert guidance and medication management that empowers individuals to make informed health decisions.³

The Value of Empathy in Pharmacist-Patient Relationships

Pharmacists serve as an essential bridge between patients and their physicians, acting as advocates who can find lower-cost medication options or identify red flags, such as potential drug interactions or “pill mills.” This advocacy and education are critical, as a significant percentage of hospital readmissions stem from patients not understanding how to take their medications.⁴

Furthermore, increased provider empathy has been linked with better management of chronic conditions like diabetes and migraine, and it can even lead to faster recovery from the common cold.⁵

Although the Japanese study found that empathy is associated with certain life and career factors, other research emphasizes that empathy is also a learnable skill. Active listening is a key component, requiring clinicians to monitor both verbal clues and non-verbal expressions like body language and tone of voice.

Some institutions use the “EMPATHY” acronym to teach professionals to focus on Eye contact, Muscles of facial expression, Posture, Affect, Tone, Hearing the whole patient, and their own response (You). Incorporating these simple gestures of respect, such as asking a patient how they prefer to be addressed or identifying their main concern at the start of a visit, can significantly improve the patient experience.^2,5

Investing in empathy also offers professional protections. Studies indicate that providers with higher empathy scores often face fewer malpractice claims and litigation, as risk is frequently tied more to patient dissatisfaction with communication than with technical errors.⁵

By integrating the patient's voice into the design of care processes, an approach known as empathy-centered design, pharmacies can promote their businesses as organizations that truly care.²

For the pharmacists themselves, they are often the most accessible health care professionals in the community, and leveraging that accessibility with an empathetic approach can build a foundation of trust that fosters a lifetime of healthy living.^3,4

“These findings suggest that certain professional experiences and social engagement may be associated with empathy within this study context,” concluded authors of the current study.¹ “However, given the observational design and the specific study population, these associations should be interpreted cautiously. Future longitudinal and multi-setting studies are required to confirm these findings and clarify their generalizability.”

READ MORE: Q&A: Should Translation Technology Become a Pharmacy Standard?

REFERENCES

1. Miyazaki M, Matsushita H, Kan Y, et al. A multi-regional survey of empathy and its associated factors among community pharmacists within a national pharmacy network in Japan. Sci Rep. 2026 Apr 26;16(1):19251. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-50497-z

2. James TA. Building empathy into the structure of health care. Harvard Medical School. January 12, 2023. Accessed August 5, 2026. https://learn.hms.harvard.edu/insights/all-insights/building-empathy-structure-health-care

3. Cultivating trust: the importance of the pharmacist-patient relationship. Palms Medical Group. Accessed August 5, 2026. https://palmsmg.org/cultivating-trust-the-importance-of-the-pharmacist-patient-relationship/

4. Cohen S. The pharmacist connection. UCLA Health. October 2, 2023. Accessed August 5, 2026. https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/pharmacist-connection

5. Howell S J. Empathy & its role in quality care. Osteopath Fam Physician. 2016;8(4):20-23. https://acofp.org/news-and-publications/journal/article-detail/vol-8-no-4-(2016)-july-august-2016/empathy-its-role-in-quality-care