Publication date: Jul 18, 2025

Patients can benefit when primary care practitioners communicate clinical empathy and optimism during consultations, but previous training interventions for practitioners are overly time-consuming and evidence on patient outcomes is limited. This study assessed the feasibility of a cluster-randomized controlled trial in UK general practice to evaluate effects of a new brief digital learning package in empathy and optimism (EMPathicO) for primary care practitioners. The study ran January to October 2020, with COVID-19 related modifications (mostly, practitioner and patient data had to be collected separately) from March 2020. 9 practices and 12 primary care practitioners recruited from UK (Southern England, Midlands). 12 practitioners completed EMPathicO training and 11 completed qualitative telephone interviews. Patients recruited through social media completed web-based questionnaires at baseline (

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