Background
Stress is a significant problem in health care. For providers, it leads to burnout, depression, and suicide rates ~twice that of the general population. For patients, it causes or worsens many mental and physical illnesses. Identifying methods to help uplift the health care environment has implications for the quality of the experience for both parties and for patient engagement.
Laboratory-based studies have shown that kindness media increases positive emotions and generosity. This study examined the field application of kindness media on viewers in a health care setting.
Hypotheses/Research Questions
Short-term exposure to kindness media can acutely:
1. Increase positive emotions
2. Increase generosity
Sample Characteristics and Sample Size
The health care setting was a pediatric dental office. A total of 50 participants were studied, comprised of parents(n=28) and staff (n=22).
Design
This is a randomized, baseline, and comparator-controlled study of kindness media versus the commercial children's television (Standard) usually shown in the clinic. Subjects completed a short survey assessing self-reported positive and negative emotions before and following the viewing of either media type for 8 minutes. All subjects were offered a $5 gift card for participation. After completing the survey, participants were asked if they wanted to keep the card or donate it to a needy family.
Results
26 participants were randomized to Kindness media, 24 to Standard media. In comparison to Standard Media, those who viewed Kindness media were significantly more: inspired (p<0.001), happy (p<0.05), calm (p<0.01) and grateful (p<0.01). No changes were observed in self-reported compassion. 85% of Kindness media viewers donated their honoraria compared to Standard viewers (54%, p<0.03). Parents and staff responses were similar.
Scientific Contribution
This study provides first evidence that it is possible to positively increase mood and generosity in a higher stress setting. There are multiple implications of this work.