Gratitude at work: Prospective cohort study of a web-based, single-exposure well-being intervention for health care workers

Abstract

Background: Emotional exhaustion (EE) in health care workers is common and consequentially linked to lower quality of care. Effective interventions to address EE are urgently needed. Objective: This randomized single-exposure trial examined the efficacy of a gratitude letter-writing intervention for improving health care workers' well-being. Methods: A total of 1575 health care workers were randomly assigned to one of two gratitude letter-writing prompts (self- vs other focused) to assess differential efficacy. Assessments of EE, subjective happiness, work-life balance, and tool engagement were collected at baseline and 1-week post intervention. Participants received their EE score at baseline and quartile benchmarking scores. Paired-samples t tests, independent t tests, and correlations explored the efficacy of the intervention. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software assessed the linguistic content of the gratitude letters and associations with well-being. Results: Participants in both conditions showed significant improvements in EE, happiness, and work-life balance between the intervention and 1-week follow-up (P .05). Conclusions: This single-exposure gratitude letter-writing intervention appears to be a promising low-cost, brief, and meaningful tool to improve the well-being of health care workers.