# Effectiveness of Play Therapy Programme in Promoting Early Child Development of under-5 Children visiting Tertiary Care Hospital in Rural Settings: Study Protocol of  a Randomized Controlled Trial

## TL;DR

This study will test if play therapy in a hospital helps improve development in young children from rural areas.

## Contribution

The study introduces a customized play therapy program adapted for hospitalized children in rural India.

## Key findings

- The study will compare cognitive, motor, and socio-emotional development scores between groups.
- Effect sizes of changes in development will be calculated to assess therapy effectiveness.
- The play therapy program will be improved based on inpatient setting feedback.

## Abstract

Good care and conscious, mindful parenting are the essential requirements of the early childhood period. Good care in early childhood consists of mindful handling of children’s needs like hunger, care in sickness, socio-emotional needs, safety, love and affection. Good care promotes children’s development and provides a favourable environment for learning. It’s a well-known fact that hospitalization is a stressful situation for child of any age. Play is an integral part of early childhood period which is virtually restricted in hospital settings. This study will try to explore the effectiveness of play therapy delivered in hospital settings, on early child development.

This will be a randomized control trial conducted in the Paediatrics department of a tertiary care hospital in Wardha, India. The sample size will be 360 children, 180 each in intervention and control arm. The hospitalized children from intervention arm will receive customized Play Therapy sessions from trained research assistants and will be followed up at scheduled home visits for one year from the date of enrolment. All children will be assessed for changes in cognitive, motor and socio-emotional development scores. The differences in development scores between intervention and control groups will be compared and effect sizes of changes will be calculated.

Implementation of play stimulation activities have been reported as useful strategies for promoting child development and good recovery during hospitalization. This trial will attempt to explore the effectiveness of play therapy on changes in child development scores of children from intervention group compared to the control group. The customized play therapy program will be adapted to paediatric inpatient settings, and attempts will be made to improve the Play Therapy kit for hospitalized children.

Clinical Trial Registry of India Registration No.: C.T.R.I./2022/03/041355, dated 24/03/2022. Protocol Version: v5 Dated 05/09/2023.