Using a Shared Gratitude Experience to Support Well-Being among Health Informatics Students during a Crisis

Abstract

Objectives: This study explores the results of a rapidly implemented no-cost gratitude intervention designed to address student distress during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This intervention focused on shared gratitude journaling with a postimplementation survey of well-being using elements of Seligman's PERMA (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment) model of well-being.

Methods: Journaling took place from November 2020 to April 2021 using a convenience sample (N = 57) from the Master of Science in Health Informatics program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. An online postimplementation survey was conducted to evaluate students' perceptions of how the intervention influenced their well-being. Quantitative analysis was conducted to understand student well-being after two semesters of using an online shared gratitude board. Qualitative analysis was conducted to identify themes in the content of the student posts.

Results: Relative to the PERMA elements, the majority of students agreed or strongly agreed that posting to the gratitude board led to improvements in Positive Emotion (85.72%), Engagement (77.2%), Relationships (67.7%), Meaning (77.2%), and Accomplishment (60%). Students who would recommend the board outweighed the number of students who would not by over 25%.

Discussion: The gratitude board represented an opportunity to rapidly implement a no-cost opportunity based on the science of gratitude and well-being to support students' mental health and wellness. Meta-inferences gleaned from the quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that students found gratitude in different areas, that having things to do was helpful, that being able to connect with people was important, that students derived purpose from effort, and that they felt a sense of accomplishment by completing objectives.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that adopting an attitude of gratitude helps stimulate positive emotion to facilitate growth and learning. While this study was conducted with students in a graduate Health Informatics program, it has widespread generalizability to other programs and in other environments, especially at times when there is emotional distress.