The Effect of a Supportive-Educative Nursing Program Using Play Activity on Self-Care Behaviors for School Age Children to Prevent of The Coronavirus Disease 2019

Abstract

This quasi-experimental research aimed to compare self-care behaviors of school-aged children in preventing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) using one-group design. Samples consisted of 48 students in grades 4-6 at Dongyang Scout Camp School, Suan Kluai subdistrict, Ban Pong district, Ratchaburi province. The participants were purposively selected and received the intervention based on the Nursing Supportive-Educative Program for the Prevention of COVID-19 in School-Aged Children. The intervention took 150 minutes. The nursing intervention was divided into three phases: 1) relationship building, 2) implementation phase: involving two play-based learning activities and the use of a cartoon picture book designed for school-aged children, and 3) termination phase where the researcher reviewed key self-care practices with the participants. Data were collected using the self-care behavior questionnaire for COVID-19 prevention in school-aged children at 2-time points: immediately after the intervention and one month later. The instrument had Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.88. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and dependent t-tests.

The results showed that, after participating in the program, the samples’ self-care behaviors to prevent COVID-19 significantly improved compared to before the intervention  (p<0.001). These findings indicate that the supportive-educative nursing program incorporating play-based activities effectively promotes appropriate COVID-19 prevention behaviors in school-aged children.