Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Nursing
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Dina Byers, PhD
Presentation Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Description
Social support has a major influence on the health of patients. However, many hospitalized patients receive little or no visits from friends or family. The absence of social support may have negative effects on patients’ health. The knowledge of health benefits from social support are growing, however, there is little research on interventions offering support. The purpose of this research project is to evaluate the intervention of giving handmade cards to patients in the hospital setting on psychological and physiological health. The design will indicate if gifting handmade cards elicits effects of social support. The investigator used a convenience sample of hospitalized patients from a mid-sized rural hospital. The investigator obtained pre and post intervention vital signs to collect physiological data and initiated a pre and post intervention survey to collect psychological data. The intervention was performed after attempting to establish a common and supportive relationship with the participant. Data results revealed that the gifting a handmade card did not elicit the same psychological and physiological effects as social support of family and friends. Psychological data had positive trends, but both lacked psychological and physiological data lacked statistical significance. Patient testimonials and response to the gift revealed appreciation and self-perceived increase of health and happiness. Offering cards to patients provided an organized opportunity for positive social interaction between patients and the health care professional. Nurses and other health care providers should still consider and investigate methods of offering social support to hospitalized patients as a means of holistic care.
Fall Scholars Week 2018 Event
Evidence Based Best Practices in Clinical Healthcare
Included in
Evaluating the Effects of Handmade Cards on Hospitalized Patients’ Health
Social support has a major influence on the health of patients. However, many hospitalized patients receive little or no visits from friends or family. The absence of social support may have negative effects on patients’ health. The knowledge of health benefits from social support are growing, however, there is little research on interventions offering support. The purpose of this research project is to evaluate the intervention of giving handmade cards to patients in the hospital setting on psychological and physiological health. The design will indicate if gifting handmade cards elicits effects of social support. The investigator used a convenience sample of hospitalized patients from a mid-sized rural hospital. The investigator obtained pre and post intervention vital signs to collect physiological data and initiated a pre and post intervention survey to collect psychological data. The intervention was performed after attempting to establish a common and supportive relationship with the participant. Data results revealed that the gifting a handmade card did not elicit the same psychological and physiological effects as social support of family and friends. Psychological data had positive trends, but both lacked psychological and physiological data lacked statistical significance. Patient testimonials and response to the gift revealed appreciation and self-perceived increase of health and happiness. Offering cards to patients provided an organized opportunity for positive social interaction between patients and the health care professional. Nurses and other health care providers should still consider and investigate methods of offering social support to hospitalized patients as a means of holistic care.