The Role of Token Economy Therapy in Reducing the Psychological Burden of Formal Caregivers

Abstract

Background: The responsibilities of providing care and support for individuals suffering from any form of illness sometimes impose psychological burdens of the care providers. Objective: The major concern of this study was to examine whether token economy therapy (TET) can effectively reduce the psychological burden of formal caregivers in Ibadan, Nigeria. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was adopted. Two secondary health centres in Ibadan were purposively selected, while paid caregivers were randomized into intervention (15) and control (15) groups. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested at a 0.05 significance level using Analysis of Covariance as a statistical analysis. Results: Findings revealed that the main effect of treatment was significant on the psychological burden (F (1, 29) = 725.492, partial; ῆ2 = 0.962). Furthermore, participants in the TET group had a post-treatment mean score of (χ=70.410) and those in the control group had (χ=31.335). Conclusion: The study concludes that TET was effective in reducing the psychological burden among health caregivers in state hospitals in Ibadan and was recommended as a treatment modality to reduce psychological burden.