Emotional problems among children of Thalassemia major in Pakistan: an intervention Program

Abstract

The present study aimed to devise an intervention program for the children with chronic physical illnesses like thalassemia who are vulnerable to emotional and behavioral problems. Although research has demonstrated the negative effects of thalassemia and a life-long dependency on blood transfusions on the psychological wellbeing of patients but rarely have researchers devised some treatment plan for alleviating the psychological symptoms. Quasi experimental research design was used with a sample of homogenous group consisting of 06 transfusion dependent children, ages 5-10, having thalassemia major was enrolled in a group therapy. Focused group discussions were carried out to gather data. Pre and post testing was done by using three tools; Human figure drawing for emotional indicators, Children aggression scale and Kidcope for assessing the coping strategies was used. Focused group discussions were carried out which found a range of psychological issues e.g. anger, low motivation, noncompliance towards treatment and maladaptive coping. Thematic analysis was used to generate the themes from the data being gathered through focused group discussions. Themes were tackled through “Eclectic approach” which included techniques of play therapy, contingency management (token economy) and psychoeducation. Post-testing was carried out where the scores were compared with the pre-testing scores and the results found out alleviation in the group participant’s symptoms. Post-intervention assessment of coping skills indicated that they switched from maladaptive coping towards the adaptive behavioral patterns to deal with their issues.