Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Hope Therapy Based on Positive Psychology in the Promotion of Psychological Well-being and Mental Health in Medical Staff during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy and hope therapy based on a positive psychology approach in psychological well-being and improvement of mental health among medical staff during the Covid1-19 pandemic.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted based on a pre-test post-test control group design. In this research, the statistical population included all the medical staff (nurses and doctors) of Valiasr (A.S.) and Samen Ala'mh hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic, and 90 subjects were selected from each hospital via available sampling. They were assigned randomly to four groups, two experimental groups and two control groups (n=30 in each group). The first experimental group (ACT) received 8 sessions (one session per week for 120 min), and the second experimental group received 10 sessions of hope therapy based on positive psychology based on Seligman's treatment protocol, 2011) (one session every week for 90 min).  The tools used in this research were psychological well-being and general health questionnaires. The information obtained in the pre-test and post-test phases were analyzed in SPSS software (version 25) using covariance analysis

 The results pointed out that the therapy of acceptance and commitment and hope therapy based on a positive psychology approach was effective in psychological well-being and improvement of mental health of the medical staff in Valiasr (a.s.) and Saman Al-Aimeh (a.s.) hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic (P<0.01).

As evidenced by the results of this study, the mental health and psychological well-being of the medical staff can be improved by new psychological solutions. These treatments are effective to a large extent in improving employees' individual and social performance.