12 ways to provide emotionally intelligent healthcare

Here are some suggestions to improve delivery of high-emotion healthcare services:

1. Identify emotional triggers
   Although the cancer diagnosis is usually the initial emotional trigger, many others will occur during each patient’s cancer journey. Bellin used interviews, focus groups, and experience mapping to learn when patients’ emotions were most likely to escalate. Then, they used their findings to change their practice.
2. Respond early to intense emotions Many healthcare organizations have a long waiting list for newly diagnosed cancer patients. They believe that a few weeks delay in initiating treatment will make no difference in the end. It may be true, but this intellectual approach does not serve patients well. Every patient I have cared for with cancer wanted to be seen by the oncologist immediately after his or her diagnosis. They wanted to know what treatments were available and what the side effects were going to be. The longer they had to wait, the more they worried and the more likely they believed they were incurable.