Cultivating Workplace Wellness: An Evaluation of Gratitude Card Interventions Among University Faculty

Introduction: There has been a growing interest in understanding the role of gratitude in promoting well-being. Gratitude, defined as a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation in response to receiving a benefit from someone else, has been shown to improve mood, increase social support, and decrease symptoms of depression and anxiety. This research paper explores an innovative intervention using gratitude cards for faculty members and measures the emotional impact of this intervention. Methods: The study involved 32 clinical physicians from the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Utah. Participants were invited to write a gratitude card to a colleague and to receive a card from another colleague. Participants were randomly assigned a number using a random number generator and paired with another participant who had the corresponding number. After the intervention, 25 surveys were returned, resulting in a 78% response rate. The survey measured the degree of burnout on a 1-100 scale (with 100 representing a high level of burnout) and participants' feelings about writing and receiving a card on a 1-10 scale (with 10 being very positive). The study was reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and determined to be exempt as non-human subjects research. Results: The average rating on a 1-10 scale for respondents regarding writing a card was 7.3, while for respondents receiving a card, it was 6.1 (10 being very positive).The average degree of burnout on a 1-100 scale before the card was 48.4 (100 representing a high level of burnout). Among the six participants who wrote cards but did not receive one, three reported no benefit, one experienced an increase in burnout, and two reported a potential improvement in burnout. Of the 11 participants who both sent and received a card, three felt it made no difference in their sense of burnout, five felt it may have improved, and three reported definite improvement. For participants who neither sent nor received a card, there was no impact on their burnout level. Additionally, 48% of respondents supported the continuation of gratitude cards in the future, while 16% suggested combining gratitude cards with a gift exchange program, and 28% felt neither was necessary. Conclusion: The study found that the gratitude intervention had a positive impact on burnout for some participants, highlighting the potential of gratitude interventions to promote well-being in the workplace. The findings underscore the importance of allowing individuals to choose how they improve their