Diving Our Way to Empathy: Evaluating Standardized Empathy Training in the Handicapped Scuba Association¿s Adaptive Dive Buddy Training Course

Abstract

Research Question: Our research question is centered around this challenging training. We aim to explore the effectiveness of HSA empathy training on raising participants¿ objective empathy.

Background and Significance: SCUBA (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Appartatus), a sport popularized in the mid-twentieth century by French inventor and explorer Jacques Cousteau, has historically been considered an extreme sport reserved only for risk-takers and physical specimens. The Handicapped Scuba Association (HSA) has challenged this narrative since its founding by Jim Gatacre in 1981. The HSA brings the sport of scuba to those of all abilities with training programs for people with disabilities and their able-bodied buddies. The adaptive buddy training, standardized on an international scale, consists of four days of intensive above- and below-water training. Beyond the technical skill of assisting disabled divers, the training is renowned for its approach to empathy. HSA empathy training includes OSHA and international accessibility standards, wheelchair-bound and blind exercises, and paraplegic and quadriplegic underwater maneuvers. Through these experiential simulation scenarios buddies learn to dive and solve problems differently, developing new skills that are needed to safely scuba dive with divers with disabilities. HSA simulation drills are a cornerstone of HSA training and are required to achieve certification. Empathy, and the ability to teach and improve this skill, is a core tenet of the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University. Empathy training is becoming mainstream in medical education, and insights into practices that objectively increase empathy could help further develop and inform these curricula in medical education.

Materials and Methods: We explored our primary research question with a standardized, validated empathy measure. We partnered with a local branch of the HSA, a non-profit in the metroplex called Adaptable Scuba. Adaptable Scuba trains several groups of adaptive buddies every year according to HSA¿s international standards. We used the validated Perth Empathy Scale (PES) to objectively measure empathy scores over the course of training. We expected that the data would demonstrate a statistically significant, objective increase in empathy measures as measured by the Perth Empathy Scale. We also expected the baseline empathy of those pursuing Adaptive Dive Buddy training to be higher than the mean as reported by the creators of the Perth Empathy Scale.

Results: After one cohort of adaptive dive buddy candidates, we found no significant difference in baseline empathy and no significant changes in empathy as measured by the PES in any category, sub-category, or aggregate after the intervention.

Conclusion: After debrief, we believe subjective empathy increased, especially with this specific and vulnerable population. Upon further discussion, we surmise there may be a need for more cohorts, use of a different scale, or creation of a scale especially for caregivers and colleagues of those with disabilities.