Effectiveness of Art Therapy on Level of Anxiety among Hospitalized Children

Hospital can be a difficult place for the young children and its families. In hospitals, children may find strange faces, different routines, strange beds and equipment, limited family contact, unfamiliar surroundings, different smell, food and sounds. Objectives To assess the existing level of anxiety among the children of experimental group and control group. To evaluate the effectiveness of art therapy on the level of anxiety among the children of experimental group. To compare the effectiveness of art therapy on the level of anxiety among the children of experimental group and control group. Material and method Approach Interventional Design quasi experimental pre-test post-test control group. Sample- 60 school age hospitalized children were selected using Non probability convenience sampling technique in the children of experimental group at selected hospitals of Wardha District. Tool- Modified Spence children anxiety scale. Results The findings show that 17 (56.66 %) of the children in experimental group had severe anxiety in pretest and none of them had severe anxiety in post test. The mean score for experimental group SCAS were 60.435.39 and 27.078.03 whereas the mean score for control group SCAS were 55.509.35 and 55.10 8.39. Conclusion The study findings shows reduction in the level of anxiety after intervention i. e. art therapy. And nurses have to play important role to participate in art therapy in reducing the anxiety of hospitalized children