Prospective pilot study of the Three Good Things positive psychology intervention in short-term stay hospitalised patients.

Abstract

The 'Three Good Things' (3GT) positive psychology protocol developed at Duke University has been shown to decrease depressive symptoms and emotional exhaustion in healthcare providers. Whether hospitalised patients may also benefit from the 3GT protocol has not previously been explored. To determine the impact and efficacy of the 3GT protocol with hospitalised patients experiencing serious/chronic illness. Patient-level randomised control trial. Medical units of an academic, tertiary care medical centre. 221 adults over the age of 18 years admitted to inpatient wards (intensive care units excluded) at Stanford Hospital between January 2017 and May 2018. Patients were randomised to the 3GT intervention arm or the control arm with no intervention. There was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups in the primary outcomes of improved positivity scores, decreased negativity scores or increased positive-to-negative emotional ratios. A journal-based application of the 3GT protocol did not result in a statistically significant improvement in patient's emotional health.