The Effect of a Laughter Therapy Program on Self-esteem among Chronic Disease Patients

Abstract

The purpose of this quasi-experimental research was to determine the effect of a Laughter Therapy Program on self-esteem among chronic disease patients. The samples consisted of 64 chronic disease patients receiving service at Phliu Subdistrict Health Promoting Hospital, Laemsing District, Chanthaburi Province. The research instruments were composed of a Laughter Therapy Program, and a questionnaire of self-esteem with the reliability of .74. The implementation and data collection were conducted from October to December, 2016. Statistics used for data analysis included frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and paired t-test.

The research result revealed that after the experiment, the samples had statistically significant higher mean score of self-esteem than that before the experiment (t = 6.144, p < .01).

This research suggested that laughter therapy should be continuously apply to promote self-esteem among chronic disease patients, concerning of various-sector involvement.