Effectiveness of Play Therapy on Perceived Stress experienced by hospitalized toddlers

A true experimental study to determine the effectiveness of play therapy on perceived stress experienced by hospitalized toddlers was undertaken by Ms.Sheela John in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nursing under Dr.M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai. Objectives of the study 1. To assess the level of perceived stress experienced by hospitalized toddlers in experimental and control group before play therapy. 2. To evaluate the effectiveness of play therapy on perceived stress experienced by hospitalized toddlers in the experimental group. 3. To compare the level of perceived stress between the experimental group and control group after play therapy. 4. To associate the level of perceived stress with selected demographic variables of the hospitalized toddlers in the experimental group. Conceptual framework : Roy’s adaptation model. Research Design : True experimental - pretest posttest control group design. E – R O1 X O2, C – R O3 04. Population : Hospitalized toddlers. Sample Size : 30 in control and 30 in experimental group. Sampling Technique : Simple random sampling. Setting : Children’s ward. Child Jesus Hospital, Trichy. Tool : Observation checklist. DATA COLLECTION: Pre assessment was done for both experimental and control group. Play therapy was given for 20 minutes for 2-3 times a day for 3 days only for experimental group. Then post assessment was done for experimental and control group. DATA ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics (Frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Paired t test, independent t test and Chi square test) were used to test the research hypotheses. MAJOR FINDINGS: 1. There was improvement in the appearance, coping, emotional, psychosomatic and biological responses among hospitalized toddlers in the experimental group after play therapy better than the control group. 2. There was no significant association between demographic variables and the post assessment appearance, coping, emotional, psychosomatic and biological response scores of the hospitalized toddlers in the experimental group. CONCLUSION: Play therapy is the best and most effective intervention. Play therapy improves the appearance, coping, emotional, psychosomatic and biological responses of the hospitalized toddlers. Play therapy is welcomed by all children and their parents