A study to assess the effectiveness of laughter therapy on stress among school teachers in selected schools at Chennai

Teaching profession has been regarded as the noble profession. Teaching was no longer merely hard work; become a highly stressful profession. Every coin has two faces and this thing goes with stress also. Stress can have both positive and negative aspects. Laughter is surely the best medicine! Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use. With work stress on the rise, laughter therapy sessions are gaining more attention worldwide Laughter promotes positive emotions that can enhance – not replace -- conventional treatments. Hence it was a tool available to fight the stress level. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: “A study to assess the effectiveness of laughter therapy on stress among school teachers in selected schools at Chennai”. OBJECTIVES: To assess the pre test and post test level of stress and find out the effectiveness of laughter therapy, and to associate the post test stress score with their selected demographic variables. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A pre experimental design was chosen. Non probability purposive sampling technique used to select the sample. Sixty school teachers were the sample. Perceived stress scale was used to assess the teachers stress level. RESULTS: In pre test, the school teachers stress score was 22.37, after administration of laughter therapy, the post test stress score was 13.77.So the mean difference was 8.95.It was statistically significant at p < 0.001 level. CONCLUSION: Statistical significance was calculated by using chi square test and student independent t-test. So Laughter therapy has significant impact in reducing the stress among school teachers. Laughter therapy is safer and more effective intervention in all settings