THRIVE: Helping Veterans and employees find happiness

Veterans and employees alike are finding happiness through health care thanks to the Transforming Health and Resilience through Integration of Values-based Experience (THRIVE), which has been adopted at 60 VA medical centers to date.

THRIVE is a clinical program that was developed at VA for Veterans and staff members alike. THRIVE aims to bring happiness to health care through the delivery of transformational workshops. The multi-faceted clinical program applies evidence-based principles, including positive psychology, Whole Health, motivational interviewing, and acceptance and commitment therapy concepts.

How does THRIVE work?

Unlike traditional reactive health care approaches, THRIVE proactively guides Veterans and VA employees through a series of clinical workshops. These workshops explore their sense of purpose, self-esteem, whole-health and life satisfaction.

For Veterans, THRIVE offers a 14-week series of growth-oriented clinical workshops delivered as shared medical appointments by a multi-disciplinary team. Group sessions were developed from evidence-based principles of Whole Health, positive psychology, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

The series covers 12 topics, including mental health, financial health, nutrition, spirituality, stress reduction and more. THRIVE also recognizes the importance of community, which is why the program’s group format allows Veterans to connect with each other and develop supportive networks.

Data from sessions has shown significant improvements in Veterans’ mental health, including a 28% decrease in depression, 29% decrease in anxiety and 25% improvement in life satisfaction.

THRIVE also offers various programs for VA employees, including THRIVE Immersion, Mini-THRIVE and Power THRIVE.

These programs extend anywhere from three hours to five days, and each variation provides VA employees an opportunity to revitalize their purpose and passion for care. They also promote wellbeing, increase empathy for others and reduce burnout. Employees experienced a 58% increase in workplace satisfaction and 54% reduction in burnout.

2023 VHA Innovation Fellows

VHA Innovation Ecosystem Fellowships empower VA employees through strategic guidance and relationship development to become change agents and leaders. Fellows are empowered to champion solutions that improve health care for Veterans.

Dr. Jacquelyn Paykel and Dr. Candis Connell were named 2022-2023 Senior Innovation Fellows through the program to grow THRIVE on a national scale. Paykel is the national director for THRIVE and a Navy Veteran with 25 years of experience in clinical medicine. Connell is the national coordinator for THRIVE and the health behavior coordinator at James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Florida.

THRIVE was awarded the 2023 G2X Change Agent Award and the 2023 FORUM Health IT InnovationAward for their noteworthy and innovative work in the federal health care space.

You can learn more about THRIVE on their Diffusion Marketplace page. You can also learn more about VHA Innovation Ecosystem Fellowships on their webpage.