Date of Award

12-1984

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Counseling and Personnel

First Advisor

Dr. Robert F. Hopkins

Second Advisor

Dr. Richard Williams

Third Advisor

Dr. Uldis Schmidens

Abstract

This research was undertaken in order to clarify the relationship between guided imagery and the control of food and liquid intake by hemodialysis patients. There have been a number of studies dealing with the negative psychological states experienced by hemodialysis patients. A behavioral manifestation of these psychological states is the problem of maintaining proper food and liquid intake and this is a major problem for most patients.

One technique used by individuals to cope with negative psychological states and to learn healthy behaviors is guided imagery. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relaxation technique coupled with guided imagery could enable hemodialysis patients to maintain appropriate food and liquid intake.

One research hypothesis for this study stated that hemodialysis patients exposed to a relaxation/guided imagery tape will demonstrate a lower intake of food and liquid than patients not exposed to this tape within the same time period. Another research hypothesis stated that the higher the level of ability at guided imagery the more likely there will be a change in weight and anxiety. Null hypotheses were utilized to test the research hypotheses.

Twenty hemodialysis patients from Lockwood-MacDonald Hospital in Petoskey, MI, were assigned to experimental and control groups. A randomized-experimental-control group-pretest-posttest design was utilized with weight change and anxiety change as criterion variables. A t test and the Spearman-Rank Order Correlation were used to test statistical significance of the null hypotheses.

The results did not support the existence of a relationship between guided imagery and control of food and liquid intake. Also, the results did not support the existence of a relationship between level of guided imagery and change in anxiety. However, there was determined a significant relationship between level of guided imagery and weight change.

It was concluded that the level of ability at guided imagery is related to the ability to control food and liquid intake. Guided imagery may be a valid therapeutic intervention with hemodialysis patients that demonstrate the ability to image.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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