A Pilot Study Investigating the Feasibility, Reach-Out, Acceptability, Fidelity, and Efficacy of a Group Laughie Prescription on the Well-Being of Earthquake Survivors in Türkiye

Mental health and quality of life may be negatively impacted among earthquake survivors. This pilot study evaluates the use of and reports on the preliminary effects of participating in a 1-minute Laughie (Laugh Intentionally Everyday) Laughter Prescription on well-being in earthquake survivors in Türkiye. A Group Laughie intervention was delivered using a within-subject (n = 20; M age = 34.78 ± 6.65; 14 female) pretest-posttest design. Group Laughies were delivered once a day over 2 weeks with participants prescribed to further laugh with the Group Laughie recording twice a day, resulting in 3 minutes of intentional laughter daily. Data were collected using a range of questionnaires to track feasibility, reach-out, acceptability, fidelity, and efficacy, including Laughie Checklists, a Post-Intervention Perceived Impact Measure in the form of the Positive Psychology One-off Post-intervention measure, and the World Health Organization (WHO-5) well-being index. Results indicated high intervention fidelity using Laughie Checklists and positive post-intervention perceived impact using the 11-point Likert-scaled PPOP (x = 7.62 ± 1.44). After the intervention, a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) was found between WHO-5 well-being index pretest scores (x = 2.16 ± 1.00) and post-test (x = 4.08 ± 0.24). This study demonstrated beneficial effects of the Laughie prescription on earthquake survivors. This is the first intervention to explore an online Group Laughie intervention. Health professionals and especially nurses can use the 1-minute Laughie prescription in the form of a Group Laughie intervention to increase the well-being of individuals and improve perceived mental health.