Kindness as a Wellness Metric in Healthcare
Kindness cannot currently be recommended as a reliable wellness metric in healthcare due to inconsistent effects on health outcomes and lack of standardized measurement tools. 1
Current Evidence on Kindness as a Wellness Metric
The American Psychological Association has indicated that despite the intuitive appeal of kindness as a wellness metric, systematic reviews of preregistered experiments show inconsistent effects of kindness interventions on health and wellbeing outcomes. These studies have failed to demonstrate detectable improvements in positive affect, negative affect, or life satisfaction in multiple controlled studies 1.
Key limitations of kindness as a wellness metric include:
- Lack of standardized measurement tools
- Inconsistent effects on health outcomes
- Expectancy effects that can confound research results
- Difficulty in tracking progress without validated metrics
Benefits of Kindness in Healthcare Settings
While kindness may not be suitable as a primary wellness metric, research does suggest it has some value in healthcare settings:
- Kindness can increase self-reported feelings of happiness, calm, and gratitude 2
- Acts of kindness can positively influence patient satisfaction 3
- Kindness creates positive interpersonal connections that buffer stress and foster resilience 4
- Kindness in healthcare delivery may have a positive influence on medical outcomes 3
A 2022 study found that simply watching kindness media in healthcare settings rapidly increased self-reported positive emotions and even increased generous behavior among viewers 2. However, these benefits appear to be relatively small and require substantial sample sizes (n's > 200) to be detected reliably 1.
Methodological Challenges
Several methodological issues complicate the use of kindness as a wellness metric:
- Expectancy effects: Participants may report feeling happier because they expect to, not because of actual benefits 1
- Measurement inconsistency: A 2023 pilot study attempted to develop a kindness scale for healthcare, but this work is still preliminary 5
- Stronger evidence exists for financial giving than for acts of kindness or volunteering 1
- A 2014 meta-analysis of kindness-based meditation showed moderate effects on depression and increased mindfulness, but noted methodological quality of studies was low to moderate 6
Evidence-Based Alternatives
The American College of Cardiology recommends focusing on positive psychological well-being components with stronger evidence bases 1:
- Optimism
- Purpose in life
- Happiness
More evidence-based strategies for promoting well-being include:
- Mindfulness practices
- Gratitude exercises
- Self-compassion activities
- Online cognitive-behavioral therapy (eCBT)
- Multicomponent interventions that include various positive psychology strategies
Clinical Implementation Considerations
For healthcare organizations interested in promoting kindness despite its limitations as a metric:
- Focus on specific, measurable kind actions such as greeting patients with a smile, asking about their daily life, listening carefully, and showing interest 5
- Consider kindness as one component of a broader well-being strategy rather than a standalone metric
- Implement kindness initiatives with concurrent validated measurement tools to track actual health outcomes
- Be aware that exposure to kindness-based interventions may initially be challenging for some people 6
Healthcare facilities may benefit from cultivating kindness as a guiding principle for interactions 3, but should not rely on it as a primary wellness metric for measuring health outcomes until more robust evidence and standardized measurement tools are available.