Distant suffering: A concept analysis

Abstract

Background: Patients who are suffering may be commonly encountered in health care. The growing use of telehealth implies that encounters with patients who are suffering may increasingly take place at a distance. "Distant suffering" is a concept coined within sociology to describe the suffering of far-away others. It is conceptualized as a paradox, as distance changes the relation between the witness of suffering and the suffering encountered. Impacts may include a potential detriment to the sufferer and ethical implications for the witness.

Objective: To explore the concept of distant suffering and any relevance, implications, or important avenues for potential research within the healthcare sciences.

Design: Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis.

Data sources: Databases of Web of Science, Medline, CINAHL and PsycInfo were searched for the terms "distant suffering" or "mediated suffering".

Review method: Attributes, surrogate or related terms, antecedents, consequences, and uses of the concept were extracted and synthesized.

Results: Thirty articles published within the past ten years were selected for review from the search results. "Distant suffering" was characterized as comprising 1) mediated far-away suffering, 2) a "recognizer" or witness, and 3) a potential role of a moderator. Antecedents include shared understandings and socially-influenced responses. Consequences include responses like empathy, compassion, pity, also indifference, cynicism and compassion fatigue.

Conclusions: Further research to explore distant suffering from healthcare sciences' perspective could uncover valuable insights for those suffering, for healthcare workers, and any who are exposed to it. An improved understanding of how distant suffering is conveyed and moderated could enable targeted reduction of exposure or improve response to distant suffering. Such knowledge could help diminish negative consequences for those suffering, for healthcare workers who are caring at a distance for those suffering, or for others who encounter distant suffering in their occupations or in daily life via media, social media, or digital communications.

Tweetable abstract: New analysis finds that exposure to distant suffering may have important implications for health and health care.

Keywords: Distress; Health care; Mediation; Suffering; Witnessing.