Magic Therapy to Relieve Pediatric Patient Anxiety and Improve the Hospitalization Experience

The use of magic in healthcare has been described across a variety of settings. Several
peer-reviewed publications have described the use of magic to help encourage the recovery of
motor skills 2. Green et al. reported that after the completion of an intense 2-week
magic-theme summer camp, patients with spastic hemiplegia significantly increased the usage
of their affected hand 3. Another investigation sought to study if magic could be used to aid
in communication with mentally-disabled children 4. This study concluded that magic was
effective in building trust, improving the subjects' self-esteem, and enriching their
interpersonal skills.

Magic has also been partially studied in a surgical context for relieving perioperative
anxiety. One study sought to evaluate the efficacy of clowns (whose performance included
magic tricks) in relieving perioperative anxiety 5. Patients that were undergoing surgical
procedures were placed in either a clown group or non-clown group. These patients were not
grouped based on surgical procedures, and patients were included that were undergoing one of
ten different surgeries. Anxiety levels of the pediatric patients were measured in the
waiting room and induction room immediately prior to anesthesia administration. Additionally,
parent state and trait anxiety was measured during their child's induction using the
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Health professionals involved in the surgeries were
also questioned using a questionnaire developed by the authors to obtain health providers'
opinion regarding the presence of clowns as administered in the study. Moreover, clowns
filled out a self-evaluation form regarding how they believed their interaction with the
child went prior to the surgery. The authors found that the clown group displayed decreased
anxiety during anesthesia induction but not in the waiting room. They also documented that
health professionals believed the clowns benefitted the child, but at the same time, a
majority of the staff discouraged continuance of the program due to interference with
operating room procedures.

This study will assess the efficacy of magic therapy services in relieving pediatric patient
anxiety and parent anxiety in an inpatient setting. It will also measure family satisfaction
with child life services during the hospital visit and health professional opinions regarding
such a therapy in an inpatient setting. The primary evaluation method will be through
surveys. No prior investigations have studied using magic therapy as a primary tool to
improve the psychological well-being of pediatric patients over the span of an inpatient
hospitalization. Study and improvement of magic therapy services provides an evidence-based
approach to improve pediatric patient psychological well-being, assist physicians in
obtaining pediatric patient cooperation with procedures, and improving the hospitalization
experience for the family of hospitalized pediatric patients.

Inclusion Criteria:

- All 5-18 year-old patients that are admitted to the general pediatric inpatient
pediatric unit at Stony Brook Children's

- All Caregivers of patients admitted to the general pediatric inpatient pediatric unit
at Stony Brook Children's

- All medical professionals present on the pediatric inpatient unit at Stony Brook
Children's during magic and child life service therapy.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Patients/caregivers who are not able to speak/read English

- Patients under the age of 5 years, as the instruments to be used to measure anxiety
have not been validated in this age group.