This article, “The EMPATHS method: assessing patients’ emotional reactions to healthcare from a service design approach”, was developed by Yeray Sañudo, Laura Aguado-González, Alba Medina-Castillo, and Jorge Sierra-Pérez.
It introduces the EMPATHS method, a new approach for identifying and measuring patients’ emotional reactions in healthcare services from a service design perspective, tested in a Spanish oncology setting. By combining self-reports, observation, and audio sentiment analysis, the method effectively captures emotional experiences while remaining minimally intrusive.
The findings highlight key emotional challenges related to diagnosis, treatment processes, and side effects, offering valuable insights for designing care pathways that better align with patients’ needs.
