Celebrating World Gratitude Day

September is a special month at HonorHealth Foundation. On the 21st, we join people around the globe to celebrate World Gratitude Day. The aim of this day is to remind everyone of the importance of expressing appreciation.

In the philanthropic world, expressing gratitude is truly part of every day. So, do we really need a special day designated for it? I’d argue “yes” as expressing appreciation is good for both the sender and the recipient.

We celebrate with special notecards that each of our team members use to write a personal note of appreciation to their closest donors. We touch ALL our supporters with a special and personalized email message. Here’s what I told our Board of Trustees:

• This is the perfect occasion to tell you how much we appreciate you as a Trustee and supporter of HonorHealth.
• What you contribute to the Foundation matters. YOU help find cures, save lives and transform healthcare through your unique role.
• There are tens of thousands of people who have received care or services from HonorHealth that will never know the part you played in their healing. But we know and we are grateful.

Beyond being a good practice, there are numerous health benefits to giving or performing acts of kindness. While there may not be specific clinical trials dedicated solely to this topic, there is a growing body of research that explores the positive effects of altruism, kindness and giving on your overall well-being.

Expressing gratitude, performing acts of kindness or giving to a person or charity has been shown to...

• Reduce stress. A study published in the Journal of Gerontology found that older adults who volunteered to help others reported reduced stress levels and fewer depressive symptoms.

• Improve Mental Health. Kindness toward others, also referred to as “pro-social behavior,” boosts your mental and physical well-being. Choosing to give directly to a person or charity unlocks maximum emotional rewards, according to a study in the Journal of Social Psychology.

• Improve cardiovascular health. There’s further evidence to suggest that giving and helping others may have a positive impact on heart health. The study published in the American Journal of Public Health explored this in a stress study, finding that helping others predicted reduced mortality specifically by buffering the association between stress and mortality.

• Support longevity. Volunteering may add to your year! A study of people over 50 years old who volunteer for about two hours a week had a significantly lower risk of death.

• Positive Emotions. Several studies have found that acts of kindness, giving and expressing gratitude can lead to an increase in the release of oxytocin, often referred to as the "love hormone." This hormone is associated with positive emotions leading to social bonding, trust and overall well-being. Want to learn more? Search “Oxytocin and the Neurobiology of Prosocial Behavior” for a wide variety of studies in monkeys and humans.

“Humans are social creatures by nature. Perhaps this is why our minds and bodies are rewarded when we give to others,” explains lead author Dr. Eric Kim, of the Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University, and author of the longevity article reference above. “Our results show that volunteerism among older adults doesn’t just strengthen communities, but enriches our own lives by strengthening our bonds to others, helping us feel a sense of purpose and well-being and protecting us from feelings of loneliness, depression and hopelessness.”

It seems kindness and gratitude could be better for us than many of the things we put IN our bodies to feel better. Perhaps the solution is to put something OUT in the world — kindness and gratitude.

Thank you for reading this today. I’m grateful for you and for the good you’ve accomplished today.