Must-Reads

What is a ‘Must Read’ for those interested in humanizing medicine?

Each month, we identify 1 newly published noteworthy article from the literature and label them as the “Must Read”. Selection is based on several criteria including originality, methodological rigor, relevance, and practicality. Our process includes a formal search of the peer-reviewed literature, screening titles and abstracts, full text review, and discussions to achieve consensus.

Why are we doing this?

With the ever-expanding volume of health professions-related articles, it is easy to become overwhelmed and to miss critical papers. We hope to make it easier for all of us to keep abreast of cutting edge scholarship, ideas, and practices related to humanizing medicine.

We’d welcome involvement in our selection process. If you come across an article that you think should be considered as the monthly Must Read, please send it to swright@jhmi.edu

This Month

Previously Featured

What’s the role of kindness in the healthcare context? A scoping review

BMC Health Services Research: Greco A, González-Ortiz LG, Gabutti L, Lumera D.

  • Kindness positively influences so many elements and programs within healthcare organizations. When kindness is pervasive, there are better patient outcomes and work environments. This makes everybody, patients and the workforce, happier.
  • When hiring and pulling together teams, healthcare systems must focus on and foster not only technical and organizational skills, but also social skills such as empathy and kindness.

This scoping review describes initiatives aiming to advance kindness in healthcare organizations. In addition to practical implications for healthcare management, this paper provides directions for future research.

Artificial intelligence technologies and compassion in healthcare: A systematic scoping review

Frontiers in Psychology: E Morrow, T Zidaru, F Ross, C Mason, KD Patel, M Ream, R Stockley

  • This scoping review offers thoughtful perspective about how the emergence AI technologies in healthcare and the prioritization of compassion can coexist.
  • The authors synthesis of the data culminates in a framework that proposes that compassion can be considered as a human-AI system of intelligent caring comprising six elements: (1) awareness of suffering; (2) understanding the suffering; (3) connecting with the suffering; (4) making a judgment about the suffering; (5) responding with an intention to alleviate the suffering; (6) attention to the effect and outcomes of the response.

Applying and implementing human-AI integrated models into our complex healthcare system will require clinical research, novel educational content, and patience.

Patient Gowns and Dehumanization During Hospital Admission: A Randomized Clinical Trial

JAMA Open: GC Punchihewa and E Broadbent

  • This clinical trial conducted in an Emergency Department in New Zealand reveals that wearing gowns was associated with patients having increased feelings of vulnerability and disempowerment.
  • The instrument for measuring dehumanization was also notable.

The findings support the premise that patients should be encouraged to wear personal clothing when gowns are not required.