The Importance of Empathy in Clear Communication

The Importance of Empathy in Clear Communication

Jaime Murphy Dawson, MPH

Communicate Health

Melanie Schwarz, MA

Communicate Health

Empathy happens when you truly try to understand or experience someone else’s emotions as if they were your own. It's about communicating to others that you see and hear them. That message can be incredibly powerful — and it can transform your health communications.

In this session, we’ll dive into why empathy matters so much in the field of health communication and look at strategies for incorporating it into your writing. As public health and health communication professionals, we have a unique opportunity to advance health literacy by creating empathetic communications that are accessible, understandable, and inclusive — communications that establish a connection with our readers and foster trust. Let’s explore how to do that.

• Understand the science of empathy
• Describe the role of empathy in health communication
• Identify strategies for incorporating empathy into health communications, including using plain and inclusive language