The guidebook to empathy in patient care, aptly titled Empathy in Patient Care by Mohammadreza Hojat, opens with a quote by Persian poet Saadi:
“All human beings are in truth akin;
All in creation share one origin.
When fate allots a member pangs and pains,
No ease for other members then remains.
If, unperturbed, another’s grief canst scan,
Thou are not worthy of the name of human.”
There are two underlying truths in patient care:
All patients are, foremost, humans, and one day, we will all be patients.
When designing healthcare experiences, from waiting rooms to waiting times, we have to remember that we’re building for humans — people in pain, people grieving, people suffering who need to feel loved.
We have to create the experiences that we, as patients, would want to go through. Because one day, we will.
