NCT02750982

Laughter Therapy Effects on Mood, Stress and Self-efficacy in People With Neurological Diseases.

A Single-Arm Prospective Investigation of the Effects of Laughter Therapy on Mood, Stress, and Self-Efficacy in People With Central Nervous System Disorders.

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 24 (actual)
• Sponsor: Brown, Theodore R., M.D., MPH · Individual
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This is a prospective investigation of the effects of Laughter therapy (LT) on perceived stress, self-efficacy, mood and other wellness measures in people with the following neurological conditions: Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, brain injury, Huntington's Disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, post-stroke, spinal cord injury.

Detailed description

Laughter therapy (LT) has potential benefits in treating illness. It combines laughter with breathing and body exercises to stimulate laughter, both real and artificial, in a group setting. Laughter therapy may help treating illness by strengthening breathing muscles, improving mood, and providing pain and stress relief. EvergreenHealth has presented laughter therapy classes to patients with Parkinson's disease and Multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions. The therapy will be led by a certified laughter therapist and mental health professional.

Conditions

• Alzheimer's Disease
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• Brain Injury
• Huntington's Disease
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Parkinson's Disease
• Stroke
• Spinal Cord Injury

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Laughter Therapy	Laughter Therapy (LT) involves simple exercises using playfulness, eye contact and chanting in forms of laughter. LT will be taught by a certified LT instructor in a group session. There will be 8 sessions per group with each session attended by 8-12 participants and lasting 60 minutes

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-07-01
• Primary completion: 2018-08-01
• Completion: 2018-08-01
• First posted: 2016-04-26
• Last updated: 2018-09-26

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States