Story Telling as Therapeutic Intervention Toward Anxiety Level: A Literature Review

Abstract

Anxiety is one of the common psychological symptoms experienced by children while being treated in the hospital and can cause impairment in growth and development. Hospitalization is considered threatening and has traumatic effects, which can be mitigated using various therapies. Storytelling is one of the therapeutic intervention methods. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the effectiveness of storytelling among preschool children who undergo hospitalization. Literature research conducted on the five largest databases consists of PubMed, Google Scholar, CINAHL, Medline, and PsycINFO using keywords, “Story Telling,” “Hospitalization,” “Anxiety Level,” “Preschool,” and “Story Telling and Hospitalization.” The combination of keywords searches to find more specific literature. We found 25 articles, and five articles are analyzed further. Storytelling is proven effective for reducing the impact of hospitalization, especially anxiety levels for preschool children. It provides a distraction effect and opportunity to develop imagination, opening children mind it and perception or feelings of fear. It is suggested that healthcare professionals implement this intervention to minimize the physical and psychological effects of hospitalization.   Keywords: Preschool Children, Hospitalization and Storytelling