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Category: Research

Communication, Empathy, and Emotional Intelligence in DPT Students: The Impact of a Distance-Learning Training Program During a Clinical Education Experience

Eric Greenberg, PT, DPT, PhD & Lori Hochman, PT, PhD & Jaya Rachwani, PT, MS, PhD & Jamie Greco, PT, DPT, EdD April 21, 2026

In order to reach our goal of patient-centered care, we must cultivate affective skills such as empathy as vital components of the rehabilitation process. These authors implemented a distance-learning affective skills program into a university DPT curriculum and assessed its results. Their findings “emphasize the importance of integrating patient-centered skills” into clinical education experiences nationwide. They detail the program and their assessments here.

Four-Year Study Demonstrates Literary Narratives Improve Empathic Awareness in Occupational Therapy Students

Cavenaugh Kelly, PhD, MS, OTR/L & Kathi J. Smith, MFA & Kementari Whitcher, PhD April 21, 2026

University programs are increasingly working to address the need for greater empathy in rehabilitation practices. These authors report the results of one OT program that incorporated readings, discussions, and interpretations of art to develop empathic skills in participating students. They note how the program could translate to other curricula: “The only significant change in course assignments was the replacing of medical case studies with literary narratives.”

Exploration of the Use of Balint Groups in Physical Therapy Education

Jane Baldwin, DPT, NCS & Monica Arrigo, DPT & Christopher Clock, DPT, OCS & Anne McCarthy Jacobson, DPT, MS December 9, 2025

Many of the articles in the Fall issue of JHR speak of the need for increased empathy in rehabilitative care. Although the concept may feel groundbreaking, it is not new. Michael and Enid Balint created Balint groups in the 1950s, where physicians met regularly to discuss their cases with a focus on humanism. This article reports on the implementation of a Balint group experience in a current DPT curriculum. Direct quotes from the students detail the benefits of the experience for themselves—and their future patients.

Political Advocacy in Occupational Therapy: A Professional Imperative

Luis Arabit, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA & Pamela Lewis-Kipkulei, PhD, OTD, OTR/L October 21, 2025

This study conducted interviews with occupational therapists to report on their perceptions of political advocacy. The interviews identified three key ways that advocacy fundamentally benefits OT: It helps practitioners fight for clients’ access to quality care; it advances the profession itself; and it can continually influence policy changes. But how can OTs find the time, and the space, to advocate? Quotes from interviewees bring the abstract down to the clinic level.

Can Swearing Be Professional and Patient-Centered?

Nicholas B. Washmuth, DPT & Adam Meakins, PT & Richard Stephens, PhD & Garrett Trummer, DPT April 12, 2024

Exploring the Role of Swearing in the Physical Therapy Clinical Setting by Nicholas B. Washmuth and Adam Meakins, et al, shines a light on a somewhat taboo subject. Is swearing ever appropriate in the physical therapy clinic? Might it actually help give a patient added strength and endurance during a difficult regimen? And what if the physical therapist curses to indicate empathy toward a patient’s challenges? The authors present evidence that some swearing may indeed produce ‘hypoalgesic’ effects in patients, such as increased pain tolerance and compliance.

Eye Spy 2022: Improving Nonverbal Communication and Interprofessional Perceptions in Health Science Students

Cynthia Dodds, PT, PhD & Brooke Mulrenin, OTR/L, MS & Lisa Kerr, PhD & Carrie Cormack, DNP, APRN & Kimberly Kascak, MS & Rebecca “Becca” Hiester April 25, 2022

In a second article deeply exploring the insights of the Eye Spy program (see Eye Spy, 2018), Cynthia Dodds et al examine the effects of guided visits to an art museum on affective domain development and interprofessional perspective in health science students. The authors demonstrate, step by step, how using visual-thinking-strategy instruction in a museum setting can support the development of “compassionate and patient- and family-integrated care providers.”

Eye Spy for Physical Therapy Graduate Education

Elise Detterbeck & Cynthia Dodds, PT, PhD & Sydney Hammond November 8, 2018

Cindy B. Dodds, PT, PhD, PCS and colleagues describe how their successful pilot program took physical therapy students out of the university setting and into a local art museum for a unique experience of observation using visual thinking strategies.

Art as a Tool for Disseminating Research Outcomes: The Hauā Mana Māori Project and Participatory Action Research in New Zealand

K.A.P. Bryant, BPhty, PGDip & Leigh A. Hale, BSc (Physio), MSc, PhD, FNZCP & Kelly Waiana Tikao, DipNurs, BA, MSciComm & Stephan Milosavljevic, BAppSc, PGDip (Manips), MMPhty, PhD & Tracey Wright-Tawha, PGDip & Aimee Ward, BS, MPH & Brigit Mirfin-Veitch, BA, BA (Hons), PhD June 20, 2016

New Zealand professor Katrina Bryant and colleagues describe their work with patient-centered research resulting in an art exhibit that conveys a cultural experience of disability.

About Research Reports

Erin Elisabeth Hecht January 20, 2015

Original Research submissions should follow a traditional approach with a hypothesis and statistical analysis to support conclusions. Manuscripts should be limited to 4000 words of

Communication, Empathy, and Emotional Intelligence in DPT Students: The Impact of a Distance-Learning Training Program During a Clinical Education Experience

In order to reach our goal of patient-centered care, we must cultivate affective skills such as empathy as vital components of the rehabilitation process. These authors implemented a distance-learning affective skills program into a university DPT curriculum and assessed its results. Their findings “emphasize the importance of integrating patient-centered skills” into clinical education experiences nationwide. They detail the program and their assessments here.

Eric Greenberg, PT, DPT, PhD & Lori Hochman, PT, PhD & Jaya Rachwani, PT, MS, PhD & Jamie Greco, PT, DPT, EdD April 21, 2026

Four-Year Study Demonstrates Literary Narratives Improve Empathic Awareness in Occupational Therapy Students

University programs are increasingly working to address the need for greater empathy in rehabilitation practices. These authors report the results of one OT program that incorporated readings, discussions, and interpretations of art to develop empathic skills in participating students. They note how the program could translate to other curricula: “The only significant change in course assignments was the replacing of medical case studies with literary narratives.”

Cavenaugh Kelly, PhD, MS, OTR/L & Kathi J. Smith, MFA & Kementari Whitcher, PhD April 21, 2026

Exploration of the Use of Balint Groups in Physical Therapy Education

Many of the articles in the Fall issue of JHR speak of the need for increased empathy in rehabilitative care. Although the concept may feel groundbreaking, it is not new. Michael and Enid Balint created Balint groups in the 1950s, where physicians met regularly to discuss their cases with a focus on humanism. This article reports on the implementation of a Balint group experience in a current DPT curriculum. Direct quotes from the students detail the benefits of the experience for themselves—and their future patients.

Jane Baldwin, DPT, NCS & Monica Arrigo, DPT & Christopher Clock, DPT, OCS & Anne McCarthy Jacobson, DPT, MS December 9, 2025

Political Advocacy in Occupational Therapy: A Professional Imperative

This study conducted interviews with occupational therapists to report on their perceptions of political advocacy. The interviews identified three key ways that advocacy fundamentally benefits OT: It helps practitioners fight for clients’ access to quality care; it advances the profession itself; and it can continually influence policy changes. But how can OTs find the time, and the space, to advocate? Quotes from interviewees bring the abstract down to the clinic level.

Luis Arabit, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA & Pamela Lewis-Kipkulei, PhD, OTD, OTR/L October 21, 2025

Can Swearing Be Professional and Patient-Centered?

Exploring the Role of Swearing in the Physical Therapy Clinical Setting by Nicholas B. Washmuth and Adam Meakins, et al, shines a light on a somewhat taboo subject. Is swearing ever appropriate in the physical therapy clinic? Might it actually help give a patient added strength and endurance during a difficult regimen? And what if the physical therapist curses to indicate empathy toward a patient’s challenges? The authors present evidence that some swearing may indeed produce ‘hypoalgesic’ effects in patients, such as increased pain tolerance and compliance.

Nicholas B. Washmuth, DPT & Adam Meakins, PT & Richard Stephens, PhD & Garrett Trummer, DPT April 12, 2024

Eye Spy 2022: Improving Nonverbal Communication and Interprofessional Perceptions in Health Science Students

In a second article deeply exploring the insights of the Eye Spy program (see Eye Spy, 2018), Cynthia Dodds et al examine the effects of guided visits to an art museum on affective domain development and interprofessional perspective in health science students. The authors demonstrate, step by step, how using visual-thinking-strategy instruction in a museum setting can support the development of “compassionate and patient- and family-integrated care providers.”

Cynthia Dodds, PT, PhD & Brooke Mulrenin, OTR/L, MS & Lisa Kerr, PhD & Carrie Cormack, DNP, APRN & Kimberly Kascak, MS & Rebecca “Becca” Hiester April 25, 2022