Presence 5 Intervention

The ritual of clinical care, listening with empathy, and allowing patients to be heard gives clinicians insight that cannot be garnered from the electronic health record. Gathering nuanced, personal data (e.g., what is important to patients and caregivers, how symptoms affect their lives, and their goals and preferences for treatment) fosters a sense of respect and meaningful connection. Beyond the inherent value of interpersonal connection, the quality of interactions between clinicians and their patients influences important outcomes, including patient trust, treatment adherence, and clinical symptoms.

The Presence 5 framework offers clinicians practical recommendations to connect with patients during clinical visits. Formative research for the project included a systematic literature review of interpersonal interventions in medicine, observation of doctor-patient interactions, interviews with medical experts and non-medical professionals from diverse fields, and review by a panel of national experts. The Presence 5 recommendations that emerged from this process comprises five evidence-based practices that help clinicians forge meaningful connections with patients.

The Presence 5 team outlined these evidence-based practices to help clinicians foster humanism during clinical encounters in an article published in JAMA in 2020, entitled "Practices to Foster Physician Presence and Connection With Patients in the Clinical Encounter." For additional resources and related information, please visit our 'Publications and Resources' section.


Presence 5 Model - Stanford CME Introductory Video  

The Presence 5 team worked with Stanford CME to develop a 4-minute introductory video for clinicians to familiarize themselves with the Presence 5 practices to foster trust with patients in clinical encounters.  


Communicating with Presence - Stanford CME Video Module

The Presence 5 team worked with Stanford CME to develop a 10-minute video module for clinicians to briefly learn the Presence 5 practices to foster trust with patients in clinical encounters.  


Presence 5 Self-Evaluation Survey 

The Presence 5 team is in the process of validating a measure of the Presence 5 practices. If you are a practicing clinician, please consider taking about 10 minutes to participate in the self-evaluation survey. Participants are automatically entered into a raffle to win a $100 Amazon e-gift card. 


Presence 5 Presence Circles

"Presence Circles" are facilitated discussion groups for clinicians to review the Presence 5 practices and discuss strategies that help them forge connections with patients. Presence Circles are an effective vehicle for learning about the Presence 5 practices, facilitating provider introspection, and promoting culture change within a clinical setting.

Our team has developed materials for clinicians who are interested in implementing Presence Circle discussion groups with colleagues or trainees in their practice setting. If you are interested in receiving materials to implement Presence Circles, please complete this brief questionnaire.