Frontiers in Neurology (Dec 2023)
Empathy as a crucial skill in disrupting disparities in global brain health
- Fasihah Irfani Fitri,
- Fasihah Irfani Fitri,
- Carmen Lage,
- Carmen Lage,
- Tatyana Mollayeva,
- Tatyana Mollayeva,
- Tatyana Mollayeva,
- Tatyana Mollayeva,
- Tatyana Mollayeva,
- Tatyana Mollayeva,
- Hernando Santamaria-Garcia,
- Hernando Santamaria-Garcia,
- Hernando Santamaria-Garcia,
- Melissa Chan,
- Melissa Chan,
- Marcia R. Cominetti,
- Marcia R. Cominetti,
- Tselmen Daria,
- Tselmen Daria,
- Gillian Fallon,
- Dominic Gately,
- Muthoni Gichu,
- Muthoni Gichu,
- Sandra Giménez,
- Sandra Giménez,
- Raquel Gutierrez Zuniga,
- Raquel Gutierrez Zuniga,
- Rafi Hadad,
- Rafi Hadad,
- Tanisha Hill-Jarrett,
- Tanisha Hill-Jarrett,
- Mick O’Kelly,
- Mick O’Kelly,
- Luis Martinez,
- Luis Martinez,
- Paul Modjaji,
- Ntkozo Ngcobo,
- Ntkozo Ngcobo,
- Rafal Nowak,
- Rafal Nowak,
- Chukwuanugo Ogbuagu,
- Chukwuanugo Ogbuagu,
- Moïse Roche,
- Moïse Roche,
- Cristiano Schaffer Aguzzoli,
- Cristiano Schaffer Aguzzoli,
- So Young Shin,
- So Young Shin,
- Erin Smith,
- Erin Smith,
- Selam Aberra Yoseph,
- Selam Aberra Yoseph,
- Yared Zewde,
- Yared Zewde,
- Yavuz Ayhan,
- Yavuz Ayhan
Affiliations
- Fasihah Irfani Fitri
- Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia
- Fasihah Irfani Fitri
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, Dublin, Ireland
- Carmen Lage
- Department of Neurology, Marques de Valdecilla University Hospital - Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL), Santander, Spain
- Carmen Lage
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Tatyana Mollayeva
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, Dublin, Ireland
- Tatyana Mollayeva
- Canada Research Chairs, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Tatyana Mollayeva
- The KITE Research Institute, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Tatyana Mollayeva
- Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Tatyana Mollayeva
- Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Tatyana Mollayeva
- Acquired Brain Injury Research Lab, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Hernando Santamaria-Garcia
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Hernando Santamaria-Garcia
- 0Center of Memory and Cognition Intellectus, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia
- Hernando Santamaria-Garcia
- 1Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PhD Program in Neuroscience) Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia
- Melissa Chan
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, Dublin, Ireland
- Melissa Chan
- 2Department of Social Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
- Marcia R. Cominetti
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, Dublin, Ireland
- Marcia R. Cominetti
- 3Department of Gerontology, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
- Tselmen Daria
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Tselmen Daria
- 4Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Gillian Fallon
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Dominic Gately
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, Dublin, Ireland
- Muthoni Gichu
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, Dublin, Ireland
- Muthoni Gichu
- 5Division of Geriatric Medicine at the Ministry of Health, Nairobi, Kenya
- Sandra Giménez
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Sandra Giménez
- 6Multidisciplinary Sleep Unit, Memory Unit, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Raquel Gutierrez Zuniga
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, Dublin, Ireland
- Raquel Gutierrez Zuniga
- 7Hospital Quirónsalud Valle del Henares, Madrid, Spain
- Rafi Hadad
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Rafi Hadad
- 8Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel
- Tanisha Hill-Jarrett
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Tanisha Hill-Jarrett
- 9Memory and Aging Center, Medical Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Mick O’Kelly
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Mick O’Kelly
- 0National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland
- Luis Martinez
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Luis Martinez
- 9Memory and Aging Center, Medical Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Paul Modjaji
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, Dublin, Ireland
- Ntkozo Ngcobo
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, Dublin, Ireland
- Ntkozo Ngcobo
- 1Department of Psychiatry, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
- Rafal Nowak
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Rafal Nowak
- 2Neuroelectrics (Spain), Barcelona, Spain
- Chukwuanugo Ogbuagu
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Chukwuanugo Ogbuagu
- 3Faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria
- Moïse Roche
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, Dublin, Ireland
- Moïse Roche
- 4Division of Psychiatry, UCL, London, United Kingdom
- Cristiano Schaffer Aguzzoli
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Cristiano Schaffer Aguzzoli
- 5Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- So Young Shin
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- So Young Shin
- 6College of Nursing, Inje University, Busan, Republic of Korea
- Erin Smith
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Erin Smith
- 7Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
- Selam Aberra Yoseph
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Selam Aberra Yoseph
- 8College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Yared Zewde
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Yared Zewde
- 8College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Yavuz Ayhan
- Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute/Trinity College, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Yavuz Ayhan
- 9Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2023.1189143
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 14
Abstract
Brain health refers to the state of a person’s brain function across various domains, including cognitive, behavioral and motor functions. Healthy brains are associated with better individual health, increased creativity, and enhanced productivity. A person’s brain health is intricately connected to personal, social and environmental factors. Racial, ethnic, and social disparities affect brain health and on the global scale these disparities within and between regions present a hurdle to brain health. To overcome global disparities, greater collaboration between practitioners and healthcare providers and the people they serve is essential. This requires cultural humility driven by empathy. Empathy is a core prosocial value, a cognitive-emotional skill that helps us understand ourselves and others. This position paper aims to provide an overview of the vital roles of empathy, cooperation, and interdisciplinary partnerships. By consciously integrating this understanding in practice, leaders can better position themselves to address the diverse challenges faced by communities, promote inclusivity in policies and practices, and further more equitable solutions to the problem of global brain health.
Keywords
