1. 1
The Research
Behind Gratitude,
the Grateful
Patient, and
Healing
The Science of Healthcare Philanthropy:
Randall Hallett
CFRE, Ed.D. Candidate, JD, MBA, BS
402.943.6097 randall@gobelgroup.com
3. 3
What we
Hear from Insiders
• Fill gaps
• Buy stuff (equipment, buildings, etc.)
• Makes the bottom line stronger
• Creates funding in perpetuity
(endowments)
• Big dollars, big donors
5. 5
A Grateful Patient and Family’s
Why they give:
• Maintain relationships
• Show gratitude
• Make an impact
• Bring closure, find meaning, create legacy
Perspective
6. 6
Grateful Patients - TRANSFORMATIONAL
Different
Perspectives
• Philanthropy is a natural extension and
continuation of the clinical experience
Organizations - TRANSACTIONAL
• Philanthropy is a financial tool to address
revenue concerns
7. 7
The Power of Philanthropy
To Heal Extraordinary Care
Leads to Gratitude
Gratitude
Leads to
Giving
Giving Creates
Happiness
Happiness
Leads to
Healing
and
Healthier
Behaviors
9. 9
Care to Gratitude
Equity Theory
1965 by J. Stacy Adams
Equity theory explains relational satisfaction in terms of
perceptions of fair/unfair distributions of resources within
interpersonal relationships.
12. 12
Care to Gratitude
Equity Theory
• When individuals find themselves participating in inequitable
relationships, they become distressed.
• Individuals who perceive they are in an inequitable relationship
attempt to eliminate their distress by restoring equity. The
greater the inequity, the more distress people feel and the more
they try to restore equity.
• Both the person who gets "too much" and the person who gets
"too little" feel distressed..
-Adams, (1965)
-Walster, Traupmann and Walster, (1978)
13. 13
Cost of Not Accepting Gratitude
• Gratitude is often expressed, but rarely acknowledged
in an appropriate way.
• Not accepting gratitude is viewed as potentially
dismissive and disrespectful.
• Not allowing or helping someone express gratitude
when they want or need to, can lead to negative
emotions like guilt.
-Walster E., Berscheid E., and Walster G.W., (1973)
Care to Gratitude
15. 15
The Power of Philanthropy
To Heal Extraordinary Care
Leads to Gratitude
Gratitude
Leads to
Giving
Giving Creates
Happiness
Happiness
Leads to
Healing
and
Healthier
Behaviors
19. 19
Gratitude to Giving
• Gratitude appears to best most often
when beneficiary perceives it to
THEIR benefit
• “It is also true that gratitude is a
motive of philanthropy, as in gifts
given to hospitals and schools in
gratitude for what these institutions
may have done for the benefactor or
his or her family.”
-Ceaser (2011)
22. 22
The Power of Philanthropy
To Heal Extraordinary Care
Leads to Gratitude
Gratitude
Leads to
Giving
Giving Creates
Happiness
Happiness
Leads to
Healing
and
Healthier
Behaviors
23. 23
The Power of Philanthropy
To Heal
Giving Creates
Happiness
24. 24
Giving Creates Happiness
• Spending money on other people has a more positive
impact on happiness than spending money on oneself.
• Spending more of one’s income on others predicted
greater happiness both cross-sectionally (in a nationally
representative survey study) and longitudinally (in a field
study of windfall spending).
• Those who were randomly assigned to spend money on
others experienced greater happiness than those
assigned to spend money on themselves.
-Dunn, Aknin, and Norton (2008)
25. 25
Giving Creates Happiness
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) evidence
shows giving money to charity leads to similar brain
activity in regions implicated in the experience of pleasure
and reward.
• National Institutes of Health (NIH) found charitable giving
activates the same part of the brain stimulated by sex and
money.
-Harbaugh, W. T., Myer, U., & Burghart, D. R. (2007).
-Moll, Zahn, de Oliveira-Souza, Krueger F, Grafman (2005)
27. 27
The Power of Philanthropy
To Heal
Giving Creates
Happiness
28. 28
The Power of Philanthropy
To Heal Extraordinary Care
Leads to Gratitude
Gratitude
Leads to
Giving
Giving Creates
Happiness
Happiness
Leads to
Healing
and
Healthier
Behaviors
29. 29
The Power of Philanthropy
To Heal
Happiness
Leads to
Healing and
Healthier
Behaviors
30. 30
Happiness and Health
Those who demonstrate happiness as a predominant
mood show…
• Lower risk of heart disease
• Lower lower blood pressure
• More normal body weight
• Healthier blood fat profiles
• Being less impacted by everyday stressors
• Stronger ability to deflect stress
-Boehm and Kubzansky (2012)
31. 31
Happiness and Health
Those who demonstrate happiness as a predominant mood
show…
• Among those 60 and over, feelings of happiness and
enjoyment are associated with improved mobility and a
lower risk of developing a disability.
• When exposed to cold and flu viruses, happier people
are less likely to get sick and, if they do, exhibit fewer
symptoms.
-Steptoe, de Oliveira, Demakakos, and Zaninotto (2014)
-Cohen, Alper, Doyle, Treanor, Turner (2006)
32. 32
Happiness and Health
Those who demonstrate happiness as a
predominant mood show…
• Have lower levels of inflammation
and stronger antiviral and
antibody responses
— This falls into the realm
of epigenetics—-changing the way
your genes function by turning them
off and on.
Fredrickson, et al (2013)
33. 33
The Power of Philanthropy
To Heal
Happiness
Leads to
Healing and
Healthier
Behaviors
34. 34
The Power of Philanthropy
To Heal Extraordinary Care
Leads to Gratitude
Gratitude
Leads to
Giving
Giving Creates
Happiness
Happiness
Leads to
Healing
and
Healthier
Behaviors
40. 40
• Adams, J. (1963). Towards An Understanding of Inequality. Journal of Abnormal
and Normal Social Psychology. (67), pp. 422-436.
• Boehm J. and Kubzansky L. (2012). Psychology Bulletin. Jul;138(4):655-91.
• Ceaser, J. (2011). No Thanks to Gratitude. Hoover Institute Publications.
• Cohen, S., Alper, C., Doyle, W., Treanor, J., Turner, R. (2006). Positive emotional
style predicts resistance to illness after experimental exposure to rhinovirus or
influenza a virus. Psychosomatic Medicine. Nov-Dec;68(6):809-15.
• Dunn E.W., Aknin LB, Norton MI, (2008). Spending Money on Others Promotes
Happiness. Science 319:1687.
• Fredrickson, A. et al. (2013). A functional genomic perspective on human well-
being. Proceeding from the National Academy of Sciences. August 13, 2013. Vol.
110, no. 33.
References
41. 41
• Harbaugh, W., Myer, U., and Burghart, D. (2007). Neural responses to taxation and
voluntary giving reveal motives for charitable donations. Science. 316, 1622-1625.
• Moll, J., Zahn, R., de Oliveira-Souza, R., Krueger F, Grafman, J. (2005). The neural
basis of human moral cognition. National Revenue of Neurosciences. 6:799–809
• Spector, P.E. (2008). Industrial and Organizational Behavior (5th ed.). Wiley:
Hoboken, NJ.
• Steptoe, A., de Oliveira, C., Demakakos, P., and Zaninotto, P., (2014). Enjoyment of
life and declining physical function at older ages: a longitudinal cohort study.
Canadian Medical Association Journal. Mar 4;186(4): E150-6.
• Walster, E., Walster G. and Bershcheid, E. (1978). Equity: Theory and
Research. Allyn and Bacon, Inc.
• Walster E., Berscheid E., and Walster G., (1973). New directions in equity
research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
References
42. 42
The Research
Behind Gratitude,
the Grateful
Patient, and
Healing
The Science of Healthcare Philanthropy:
Randall Hallett
CFRE, Ed.D. Candidate, JD, MBA, BS
402.943.6097 randall@gobelgroup.com
