Clare Whitney, PhD, MBE, RN, assistant professor at the Stony Brook University School of Nursing, was selected to present at the 18th World Congress of Bioethics to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in July 2026.
Dr. Whitney’s abstract, “Beyond ‘Passing the Tissue Box:’ Navigating the Ethical Landscape of ‘Empathetic Load’ in Qualitative Research Through Compassionate Action,” will receive a full oral presentation at the conference.
According to the abstract, the presentation will focus on researchers “engaged in the relational work of qualitative data generation, and analysis,” who can experience “adverse effects from the intensity of the emotional, psychological, and relational labor involved, including secondary distress, vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, emotional exhaustion, and research-induced distress.”
Dr. Whitney’s study applies a framework of “empathetic load” to situate the issue and “guide the development of an actionable tool: the Researcher Reflexive Empathy and Compassionate Action Protocol (RECAP) for qualitative data engagement.”
The findings “offer comforting perspectives on the ethical issues embedded in navigating adverse effects from the intense emotional, psychological, and relational labor involved in qualitative research.”
The World Congress of Bioethics is organized and facilitated by the International Association of Bioethics (IAB). It is one of the largest and most prestigious international meetings of thought-leaders and bioethics scholars.
