The World Health Organisation emphasizes the importance of training future healthcare practitioners to practice RESPECTFUL AND PERSON-CENTRED HEALTH CARE. The importance of this can be demonstrated in the example of medical care empathy which has been observed to be associated with improved patient satisfaction and concordance with recommended treatment (Epstein, Hadee et al. 2007; Canale, Louis et al. 2012). Such interpersonal skills are considered key professional competencies (Figley 1995; Walker and Alligood 2001; Rothschild 2006; Sabo 2006) and should be core to health care education.

Empathy is key to effective communication between patients and health care (Halpern, 2001) and has been shown to positively affect health outcomes and patient satisfaction but also improve patient safety (Derksen, Bensing et al. 2013). Communicating with patients is the most frequently used procedure by health care providers, however communications skills training in undergraduate health care programmes is variable and assessment of interpersonal competencies often not reliable or consistent (Kurtz et al 2005). Empathetic communication is also very important for patients receiving home care.

EmpathyInHealth aims in filling in the existing gap in Health Care Education both in the Higher Education as well as in VET. The whole project starts with desk and field research and more specifically with focus groups to identify the needs of different target groups as far as empathetic communication is concerned. Based on the results of the research a qualification framework is being developed with the learning outcomes for empathetic communication in two different levels (5 and 7). It is noted here that the qualification framework to be developed includes both the learning outcomes that consist the transversal competence of EMPATHY as well as more specific LOs that deal with the specific sector of Health Care.

The impact of the project is that it will improve the quality of the curricula in health care sector through their integration with empathetic communication, a skill that is not officially included jn the curricula but it is very important both for the students as well as for their patients. The project will provide the tools and techniques for this integration to the higher education and vet providers in the consortium thus supporting tutors in delivering the training. At the same time the project results will be uploaded on the project website so other higher education institutions and other vet providers can have access to them as well.