Are you already married to someone else? We all have a role to play as part of a family. We stick with them through thick and thin, may it be in sickness and better health. While doing so, inevitable and uncontrollable events may show up while taking care of our families.
Despite the inconvenience of fitting all the tasks at hand into our schedule, we make sure that we never remove our time with our family. While working, we may even think about them and put on our schedule to give them a ring to ask about their health status. We might also have made this a consistent part of our day no matter how many tasks we have at hand.
Read the case study below to know how writing collaboratively and concurrently with family and healthcare providers can help reduce stress.
Impact of brief shared writing activity
A brief shared writing exercise can enhance communication and reduce self-perceived stress. It is helpful even for people who have not used journaling or expressive writing in the past. Its effectiveness has been shown when an expressive writing tool, the Three-Minute Mental Makeover (3MMM) which was developed by a hospital’s narrative medicine group has been evaluated. From December 2016 to July 2017, patients and families were recruited from inpatient and outpatient areas in neonatal intensive care unit (ICU), pediatric ICU, inpatient general pediatric unit, outpatient pediatric clinics, and other metropolitan Chicago-area children’s hospitals. The participants were newborns to 24-year-old individuals. Patients included were diagnosed with prematurity, congenital heart disease, neurodevelopmental disorders, anxiety, cystic fibrosis, and other disorders and were under the direct care of healthcare practitioners. Patients and families who appeared to be experiencing stress, either by appearance as they looked tired, angry, sad, or exhibiting commonly stress-associated behaviors such as restlessness, lack of focus, or emotional outbursts were chosen. Meanwhile, healthcare practitioners who were included as participants and guides were pediatric cardiologists, pediatric residents, child development specialists, and pediatric nurses. When the healthcare practitioner deemed that the patients were healthy enough and able to write, they were invited to join the study. However, others opted not to participate in the activity due to some reasons such as they don’t like to write, they don’t have the time to write and they are unable to concentrate because of their child’s condition. (1)
Before the study began a packet of study materials with study identification numbers was provided to the participant. Then practitioners conducted the 3MMM activity at the patient’s bedside or in the outpatient examination room. The practitioners often guided the expressive writing activity with more than one family member per patient. Using a standardized script, practitioners led the 3MMM activity, while also writing concurrently with patients or families. They all followed the writing prompts of the short writing exercises at the same time. After writing, the healthcare practitioner invited the patient or family to share what they had written. After sharing their responses, participants filled out a post-activity paper survey to evaluate the use of expressive writing, and the 3MMM activity’s helpfulness by rating stress and communication levels. The surveys were not reviewed at the time of study interaction to avoid any instances that may cause disappointments relating to stress relief expectations and therapeutic enhancement. Instead, they were placed back into the study packet at the time of completion. If permission was granted, the practitioner keep copies of the patient’s and family member’s writing. To encourage activity repetition on their own, a brochure was given to participants after the activity. The brochure included an activity description and a list of hospital resources for addressing stress such as social work, pastoral care, and child life services. (1)
The top stress symptoms that the participants experienced before the brief expressive writing activity were exhaustion, inability to get enough sleep, high levels of frustration, irritability, and a caffeine intake increase. However, after the 3MMM activity, there was a decrease in their stress level. This confirms that expressive writing is a helpful way to help patients and families better cope with stress. Moreover, it was observed that there was more stress level improvement among those who had not previously used journaling. Eighty-eight percent of patients or family members said that the 3MMM activity was helpful, despite that only 35% of them had used writing or journaling for stress relief in the past. The result of this study demonstrates that a short shared writing exercise is not just effective in reducing stress but also enhancing communication. After the 3MMM activity, the communication between patients or family members and the healthcare team improved. Thus, this writing activity is helpful for patients, families, and healthcare practitioners in the medical setting. (1)
Reference:
(1) Thoele DG, Gunalp C, Baran D, et al. Health care practitioners and families writing together: The Three Minute Mental Makeover. Perm J 2020;24:19.056. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7812/TPP/19.056
✍️ March 14-15, 2024
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