The Relationship Between Compassion, Empathy, Cultural Humility, Socialization and Prevention Science

The Heart, Soul and Mind of Prevention

A healthy community is an interconnected ecosystem. When we understand socialization as a lifelong process, we see how community spaces become the perfect vehicle for delivering the support, shared norms, and positive development that form the bedrock of Prevention Science.

Prevention professionals embrace prevention science to provide the knowledge, skills and competencies to children, families, and communities to improve their lives, and, as pointed out by Petras and Sloboda (2014) are key socialization agents within their communities. What is often implied in evidence-based prevention programming are the concepts of compassion and empathy that are needed in this work but less is said about cultural humility. These concepts are related and important to not only the delivery of prevention services whether educational, behavioral or health-related but to the healthy and productive development of our communities. Why?

How are these terms defined and made ‘operational’ (i.e., how do these apply to evidence-based prevention).

·      Compassion:  “sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compassion)

·    Empathy:  “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy)

·   Cultural Humility: “…active, self-reflective, lifelong practice involving continuous exploration of our own and others’ cultural identities and beliefs; an awareness of one’s own biases and background; treating others with respect, openness, and empathy; and reducing power imbalances within relationships and communities. It is a key ingredient in building relationships and partnerships of trust.” (https://cahealthadvocates.org/cultural-humility-what-is-it-why-it-matters/)

·      Socialization: “…lifelong process through which individuals learn and internalize the cultural norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors of their society.” (https://sociology.org/socialization-definition-sociology/)

How do these concepts relate to Prevention Science?

So how do these concepts relate to our field of prevention science, which is defined as an interdisciplinary field that studies the factors and conditions that influence health and well-being; prevents and reduces negative impacts; and promotes health and well-being among individuals, families, and communities (https://preventionresearch.org/what-is-prevention-science/).

Compassion, empathy, cultural humility, and socialization are interconnected components essential for developing effective, respectful, and ethical relationships to create the best ‘connections’ to improve lives, particularly in the delivery of prevention programs…AND, why it is important to deliver evidence-based prevention programs.

How do these concepts relate to the Delivery of Evidence-Based Prevention Programs?

The Heart, Soul, and Mind in action: Demonstrating compassion through dedicated outreach, practicing empathy by understanding family needs, and utilizing cultural humility to reduce power imbalances and build partnerships of trust within a school setting

These programs have demonstrated that they are successful in achieving their short-, intermediate-, and long-term outcomes in promoting positive development in communities.  They are designed to enhance the socialization process; thus the prevention professional is a socialization agent.  And as such, prevention professionals must be sensitive (have compassion and empathy) to the other key socialization agents of prevention program participants, such as family, teachers, faith-based leaders, community policies and, when delivering prevention programs to children and adolescents as socialization agents themselves.

It has been demonstrated that participation in evidence-based programs WHEN DELIVERED WITH FIDELITY provides the best outcomes.  How does compassion, empathy and cultural humility serve to enhance the experience of the prevention program?  Prevention professionals almost, by the nature of committing to making peoples’ lives better through prevention programming are showing their compassion for others.  The awareness (empathy) AND acceptance (cultural humility) in selecting an appropriate prevention program and adapting it to meet the specific needs of the participants allow the prevention professional to assure that the information, skills, and competencies that are part of the evidence-based prevention program are embraced by program participants. 

To assure that the program was a ‘match’ for the participants, it is important to assess the program’s impact. This assessment may be observed during the session assuring engagement of all participants but also reinforced in the examination of the results of the pre-/post-tests. First, is the range of scores from pre- to post-test smaller?  If so that means that although the participants may differ in the knowledge they had when they began their participation in the prevention program, they had more ‘shared’ knowledge when they completed the program.  Second, are the scores of the post-test higher than those of the pre-test…did the information provided make a difference in knowledge, skills learned, attitudes and beliefs and, most important, intent not to engage in negative behaviors?

Prevention professionals use data, map local needs, and apply logic models to ensure evidence-based prevention programs truly serve their communities.

Careful selection of the most appropriate evidence-based prevention program for the participants, delivering the prevention program with fidelity adapting where it makes sense without detracting from the core of the program, being attuned to participant response to the program, and monitoring the short-term outcomes of the program are the essential elements of the:

The relationship between compassion, empathy, cultural humility, socialization and prevention science is the heart, soul and mind of prevention