Children's hospitalization needs psychological intervention to promote patient's better behavior. Experimental and observational procedures were proposed to assess an assistantship program for hospitalized children during an inhalation medical procedure, observing the decrease of concurrent behavior and the increase of adequate behavior. The Observational Scale of Distress Behavior (OSDB) was used to register the infant behavior categories. This research was carried out with 20 children distributed in an experimental group and a control group. Children from the experimental group were submitted to program which included the development of reading related strategies, simulations, relaxation techniques and fantasy. The data analysis demonstrated that the experimental group showed a more adequate behavior pattern. Furthermore, the functional relationships in the hospital environment were better understood thus improving patient behavior. Results from this study may subsidize the development of psychological programs for medical procedures in hospitals.
child; hospital; pediatrics psychology; medical procedures; psychological intervention
