Objective: 

The Teddy Bear Hospital (TBH) is a worldwide concept of imaginative play therapy. TBH was initiated to address children’s fear and anxiety towards healthcare setting. Children will bring their teddy bears to see the “teddy doctor” and will act as the parents or guardians while observing the main aim of a clinic or hospital visit.  This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the IMACATS’ TBH intervention module on reducing children’s anxiety towards healthcare professionals.   

Methods: 

A pretest-posttest pre-experimental study was conducted in from May to December 2022. Participants were among primary school students in Selangor. This study was approved by Ministry of Education and informed consents were obtained from parents prior to recruitment. 45 participants were recruited with the help of teachers. There were two assessment points, one month before (pre-intervention) and one week after TBH event (post intervention). The same questionnaire was used at those two points. Study instruments consisted of wo sections (sociodemographic background and level of anxiety towards healthcare professionals using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) with 6-point Likert scale. Data will be analyzed using SPSS version 26. To evaluate the effectiveness of TBH, mean scores will be compared between pre and post intervention. 

Results & Conclusion

45 participants were recruited with the help of teachers but only 40 completed the questionnaire. Majority were female (60%) and from low socioeconomic status (45%). All participants were Malay. The mean scores for each item of level of anxiety towards healthcare personnel range from 1.73 to 4.0 for pre-intervention and 1.05 to 3.28 for post-intervention. The total mean score of anxiety level for pre- and post-intervention also reduced from 10.13±3.22 to 7.50±2.31 respectively. Hence, we can conclude that TBH is effective in reducing anxiety level of children towards healthcare setting. 

Keywords: health education, health promotion, anxiety, children, Teddy Bear Hospital

1.  Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 
2.  Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 
3. Department of Public Health Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, UiTM Sungai Buloh campus,  47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia
4. Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah Rembau, 71300 Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
5. Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 

Correspondence to: Dr. Fadzilah Mohamad, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia, [email protected]