Not everyone finds writing about stressful experiences to be stress-relieving, especially with a sick child in the hospital. However, expressive writing, also known in the medical setting as Narrative Medicine, has been shown to enhance empathy and resilience and mitigate burnout for healthcare practitioners, patients, and their families.
A recent study published in The Permanente Journal sought to determine if a short, three-minute writing exercise led by a healthcare practitioner and performed simultaneously by the practitioner, patient, and their family could improve practitioner, patient, and familial stress and communication.
The study
This study was held at a children’s hospital and included 96 patients and family members and 8 healthcare practitioners, including child development specialists, a pediatric cardiologist, pediatric nurses, and pediatric residents. The participants came from the inpatient pediatric unit, neonatal intensive care unit, outpatient pediatric clinics, and pediatric intensive care unit and engaged in a short expressive writing exercise termed “the three-minute mental makeover.”
Ultimately, the exercise was found to significantly improve stress levels and communication among healthcare practitioners, patients, and their families. This 2019 expressive writing study is unique for its brevity, practitioner guidance, and joint practitioner-patient-family participation.
How expressive writing can alleviate stress
This study reviews the role of expressive writing and narrative medicine programs in the medical setting. Expressive writing is used for stress-reduction to mitigate common practitioner and patient/family stress symptoms, including:
- Decreased concentration
- Decreased exercise
- Demotivation
- Exhaustion
- Forgetfulness
- Frustration
- Getting sick more often
- Increased caffeine intake
- Irritability
- Overeating
- Oversleeping
- Poor work performance
- Sleep deprivation
- Undereating
- Unhealthy choices
Narrative medicine seems to relieve stress by cultivating better recognition and healthier interpretations of experiences of illness and stress.
What the three-minute mental makeover entailed
This brief exercise consisted of taking pre-study and post-study surveys and writing and sharing responses to three standardized prompts:
- Write three things for which you are grateful
- Write the story of your life in six words
- Write three wishes you have
The exercise was preceded by a 15-30 minute training session in expressive writing for healthcare practitioners. Practitioners were encouraged to include their thoughts and hopes concerning the patient and their family in their responses.
Benefits of the exercise
The study found that the exercise significantly improved practitioner, patient, and familial stress and communication. Patients and their families also commented that the exercise seemed to foster a deeper and more compassionate, trusting, and collaborative relationship with their healthcare practitioner. Further research is needed to determine if such an intervention could lead to improved and more cost-effective patient care outcomes.
