The Jefferson Scale of Empathy, JSE Test - the question form

1. A health care provider's understanding of what patients and their families feel does not influence treatment.

2. Patients feel better when healthcare providers understand their feelings.

3. It is difficult for a healthcare professional to see things from the patient’s perspective.

4. Understanding a patient's body language is as important as verbal communication in the relationship between a health care provider and a patient.

5. A health care professional's sense of humor contributes to better treatment outcomes.

6. Because people are different, it is difficult for a healthcare provider to see things from the patient’s perspective.

7. Paying attention to a patient's emotions is not important when taking a medical history.

8. Attention to a patient’s personal feelings and experiences does not affect the outcome of treatment.

9. A healthcare provider should try to put themselves in the patient's place during treatment.

10. Patients value a health care provider's understanding of their feelings, which in itself has a therapeutic effect.

11. Illness can be cured only with medication or surgery; therefore, emotional connections with patients do not play an important role in treatment outcomes.

12. Asking patients about what is going on in their personal lives does not help in understanding their complaints.

13. A health care provider should try to understand what is going on inside a patient by paying attention to the patient's nonverbal cues and body language.

14. I believe that emotions have no place in the treatment of illness.

15. Empathy is a health care provider skill without which treatment success cannot be fully achieved.

16. A healthcare professional's understanding of the emotional state of patients and their family members is an important component of the psychologist-patient relationship.

17. To make treatment more effective, health care providers should try to think like their patients.

18. Health care professionals should not allow strong personal bonds with patients or their family members to influence them.

19. I do not enjoy literature and the arts that are unrelated to medicine.

20. I believe that empathy is an important therapeutic factor in medical care.