TOUCH THERAPY IN COMPACT APPLICATION TO REDUCE ANXIETY LEVELS AMONG PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH CANCER

Abstract

Every year an estimated 400,000 children are diagnosed with cancer with the most common type of cancer suffered by children being leukemia at 58%. This condition can affect parent’s health both the physical and psychological, especially mothers as a caregivers of their children. The psychological disorder that is often experienced by mothers of children with cancer is anxiety. At the same time, a mother is also required to provide emotional support to her child who is sick. Touch Therapy contained in the COMPACT application (Communication On Palliative care Treatment) is one form of digital health that can be done by parents with cancer children to help reduce the level of anxiety. This study aims to investigate Touch therapy in the COMPACT Application on anxiety in children with cancer. The research method used is quantitative Quasi-Experimental with a one-group pre-test, post-test design. The population consists of mother of cancer children at Cahaya Community Foundation, with a sample size of 26 participants using purposive sampling. Data collection was computerized, and analysis was performed using dependent t-test. The results of data analysis show that the average anxiety level of respondents before receiving Touch therapy was 40.31 (mild anxiety), which decreased to 38.08 (mild anxiety) after therapy. It can be concluded that interventions effectively reduce anxiety levels in mothers with cancer children, with a p-value of 0.001. Therefore, it is recommended those parents of cancer children using the COMPACT touch application as an intervention to manage anxiety.