Research Information System
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DIABETES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
Background In the nursing care of children with diabetes, therapeutic play can be used to enable children to express their feelings, to cope with the disease and to accept it as a part of their lives by facilitating their adaptation to treatment and thus to improve their quality of life. Objective This study was conducted to understand the effect of structured play therapy education on psychological adjustment, quality of life and metabolic control of children with diabetes mellitus. Methods In the study, quantitative and then qualitative exploratory sequential mixed design was used. The quantitative phase of the study was conducted with a single-group quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test method, and the qualitative phase of the study was conducted with focus group interviews with children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and their mothers who received play therapy and thematic analysis of the interviews. Results Of the children participating in the research, 61.9% are 8 years old, 42.9% are girls and 85.7% are attending school. After the training given with play therapy, the children's HBA1c values decreased from 7.66 to 7.45 (p < 0.001), their psychological adaptation increased (p < 0.001) and the quality of life scale score increased from 81.93 to 85.88 (p < 0.001). In qualitative findings, children expressed feelings such as not being understood, difficulty during school lunch hours and shame. They also stated that learning through games is better. Conclusion In line with the results obtained from this research, it can be said that the game plays a key role in improving the quality of life, increasing psychological adaptation and reducing HbA1c levels.