Feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a drum circle activity to improve affect in patients, families and staff of a pediatric hospital

ABSTRACT

Background: Children, families and staff in pediatric hospitals often experience elevated psychological distress. Art-based initiatives, such as group drumming, have been proposed as strategies to support well-being in this context.

Methods: This study evaluated the feasibility and potential benefits of a drum circle activity designed to improve the affective experience of patients, families and staff in a large pediatric hospital. A total of 48 patients, 16 employees and 15 visitors completed questionnaires before and after up to 12 joint drum circle sessions. A total of 12 respondents took part in semi-structured interviews.

Results: Quantitative analyses showed significant pre-post-session increases in positive affect (beta = .48; p < .001) and decreases in negative affect (beta = −.29; p < .001). Qualitative results corroborated these findings, in addition to suggesting the safety of the activity as well as other potential benefits.

Conclusions: This preliminary study supports the usefulness of group drumming to enhance the well-being of pediatric hospital patients, families and staff.

KEYWORDS:

• Pediatric hospitalisation
• drum circle
• affect improvement
• feasibility
• mixed methods

Acknowledgments

We wish to warmly thank all research participants as well as the following precious collaborators: Judith Pelletier, Thierry Arsenault, Bruno Roy, Kevin Jamey, and Sylvie Gauthier.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose, including financial and biomedical interests or relationships and affiliations other than those listed on the title page of the manuscript. They had full access to the data and are responsible for its integrity and accuracy of analysis.

Notes

1. In order to complete the portrait of activity attendance, researchers collected non-nominal notes on the age, gender and status of drum circle participants who were not involved in the study, either because they were too young or did not provide proper consent.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by private and corporate donations administered through the CHU Ste-Justine Foundation, including a specific donation made by the Simple Plan Foundation. The content of this manuscript is the sole responsibility of the authors and was not influenced by the views of the funders.