Defining and measuring empathy: From concept to assessment (1-hour webinar)

Title: Defining and measuring empathy: From concept to assessment

Facilitator: Dr Amber Bennett-Weston – Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare.

This 1-hour free webinar is open to everyone. A MS Teams link and joining instructions will be provided to delegates by email before the event.

About the session:

Empathy is widely recognised as an important part of healthcare, but what we mean by “empathy” and how we can meaningfully measure it remain contested. In this webinar, Amber Bennett-Weston will explore different ways of defining empathy in healthcare, the challenges involved in measuring it, and the importance of considering whose perspective is being captured. Drawing on her research in empathic healthcare and patient involvement, including the development and validation of the Rapid Assessment of Therapeutic Empathy (RATE) scale, the webinar will consider how measurement can better capture empathy as experienced by patients, practitioners, students, and observers.

By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:

• Describe different approaches to defining empathy in healthcare and consider their implications for measurement.
• Explain key challenges in measuring empathy, including differences between patient, practitioner and observer perspectives.
• Describe the development of RATE and consider how patient-reported measures might contribute to the assessment of empathy in healthcare education and practice.

Booking deadline: 3 November 2026

If you have any questions about the 'Lunchtime Learning' webinar series, contact us on empathy@le.ac.uk.

Join our mailing list to be the first to hear about future events, or find out more on the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare webpage.

Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare Privacy Notice