The Effect of Giving Health Information with Anapanasati Meditation Program on Stress in Caring for Children with Leukemia of Family Caregivers

Abstract

A quasi experimental research, two-groupsand pretest–posttest design, was conducted to study the effects of giving health information with Anapanasati meditation program on stress in caring for children with leukemia of family caregivers. The sample consisted of 50 family caregivers of children age lower than 6 years old diagnosed with acute leukemia, receiving consolidation chemotherapy and admitted in pediatric ward at a tertiary level hospital. Subjects were matched pairs by their educational level and family income. Data collection began with the control group and followed by the experimental group,25 subjects in each group. The control group received routine nursing care while the experimental group received the program of giving health information with Anapanasati meditation program. Research instruments consisted of the giving health information with Anapanasati meditation program, self-reported record form on Anapanasati meditation practice and a stress questionnaire in caring for children with leukemia. All research instruments were validated for content validity. The stress questionnaire has CVI and Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient at 0.94. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, dependent t-test and independent t-test. Findings were as follows. 1. Thestress in caring for children with leukemia of the family caregivers after receiving the giving health information with Anapanasati meditation program was significantly lower than those before receiving the program at a statistically significant level of .05. 2. The stress in caring for children with leukemia of the family caregivers received the giving health information with Anapanasati meditation program was significantly lower than those who received regular nursing care at a statistically significant level of .05.