Impact of Emotional Reactions on Patients’ Recovery from Physical Illness: Implications for the Medical Social Workers

Abstract

The study examined the impact of emotional reactions on recovery of patients from physical illness. It also examined their implications for the medical social workers.The study was carried out among 147 physically- ill patients in six selected government-owned hospitals in Oyo State, Nigeria. A single questionnaire tagged Emotional Reactions and Recovery Assessment Questionnaire (ERARAQ) was developed and used for the study. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested; using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study established that happiness has significant impact on recovery from physical illness (F = 11.589, df = 1/146, p < .05). It also established that anxiety and depression have significant impacts on recovery from physical illness (F = 3.796, df = 1/146, p < .05). These findings have many useful implications for the medical social workers in Nigeria and in other parts of the world. Hence, it was recommended that the medical social workers have to give adequate attentions to the psycho-social needs of the patients. They have to assist the poor and helpless patients to overcome their financial, emotional, social and material problems in order to experience rapid recovery.