The effectiveness of therapeutic play, using virtual reality computer games, in promoting the psychological well-being of children hospitalised with cancer
The effectiveness of therapeutic play, using virtual reality computer games, in promoting the psychological well-being of children hospitalised with cancer
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03733.x
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发表时间：
2011-08-01
影响因子：
4.2
通讯作者：
Ho, Eva K. Y.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Li, William H. C.;Chung, Joyce O. K.;Ho, Eva K. Y.
目标。研究使用虚拟现实电脑游戏的治疗性游戏在减少香港华人癌症住院儿童的焦虑和抑郁症状方面的有效性。越来越多地使用治疗性游戏干预来帮助儿童科普住院的压力。然而，目前尚不清楚治疗性游戏是否适合中国癌症住院儿童的心理干预。一个非等效的控制组前测后测，受试者之间的设计。香港华人儿童（8-16岁），在14个月的时间内因癌症入住儿科肿瘤病房，被邀请参加本研究。对照组70例采用常规护理，实验组52例采用治疗性游戏干预。结果显示，在第7天，实验组的儿童报告的抑郁症状比对照组的儿童少，具有统计学意义。两组儿童在第7天的焦虑评分无显著性差异。这项研究提供了实证证据，支持治疗游戏的有效性，使用虚拟现实电脑游戏，在心理准备的儿童住院治疗癌症，从而制定了一条道路，促进整体和优质的护理。这些发现提高了医疗保健专业人员的意识，即游戏是儿童生活中非常重要的一部分，即使他们生病了，他们也需要游戏。
Aims. To examine the effectiveness of therapeutic play, using virtual reality computer games, in minimising anxiety and reducing depressive symptoms in Hong Kong Chinese children hospitalised with cancer.Background. There has been an increase in the use of therapeutic play intervention to help children cope with the stress of hospitalisation. However, it is not clear whether therapeutic play is an appropriate psychological intervention for Chinese children hospitalised with cancer.Design. A non-equivalent control group pretest-post-test, between-subject design was employed.Method. Hong Kong Chinese Children (8-16 years of age), admitted to a paediatric oncology ward for the treatment of cancer during a 14-month period, were invited to participate in the study. Of the 122 children, 70 formed the control group receiving routine nursing care and 52 in the experimental group receiving therapeutic play interventions.Results. The results showed that children in the experimental group reported statistically significant fewer depressive symptoms than children in the control group on day 7. The results, however, find no differences in children's anxiety scores between the two groups on day 7.Conclusion. The study provides empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of therapeutic play, using virtual reality computer games, in the psychological preparation of children hospitalised with cancer, thus charting a path towards promoting holistic and quality care.Relevance to clinical practice. The findings heighten the awareness in healthcare professionals that play is a very important part of children's life and that they need play even when they are ill.