Music Therapy and Story Telling: Nursing Interventions to Improve Sleep in Hospitalized Children

ABSTRACT

Music therapy and story telling are examples of nursing interventions that facilitate the management of sleep disturbance in children. However, only a few studies have addressed the effectiveness of music therapy and storytelling on hospitalized children. This study aimed to examine the effect of music therapy and storytelling on sleep disturbance in hospitalized children for various medical conditions. This recent study was a preliminary study that included two intervention groups without a control group. This study involved 31 children with ages ranging from infancy to school age who were assigned to a 3-day music therapy or storytelling intervention group. Group 1 received music therapy (n = 16) and group 2 was provided with story telling (n = 15). Data collection was conducted from February through April 2018 in an infectious diseases ward of a hospital in Jakarta. Data related to sleep disturbance in children was collected using GATIA scale, an instrument measuring a sleep disturbance scale. Study results showed a significant change in the average of sleep disturbance scale score in both group 1 and group 2 (p < α; α = .05) which demonstrate that both music therapy and story telling improved scores on a sleep disturbance scale in hospitalized children. Music therapy and story telling were equally effective in managing sleep disturbance in children. Music therapy and story telling are safe, cheap, and convenient interventions that can improve the quality of sleep in children during hospitalization.

KEYWORDS:

• Hospitalized children
• music therapy
• story telling
• sleep disturbance

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express gratitude to the Directorate of Research and Community Services (DRPM) at Universitas Indonesia for the Hibah Publikasi Internasional Terindeks untuk Tugas Akhir mahasiswa Universitas Indonesia (PITTA) grant 2018. We would also like to thank the participating hospital, nurse associates, primary nurses, head nurses, supervisors, children and the parents, and directors for their assistance in this study.

Disclosure Statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by Hibah PITTA 2018 funded by DRPM Universitas Indonesia No. 1837/UN2.R3.1/HKP.05.00/2018.