The Effect of Group Activity Therapy on Reducing Hallucination Symptoms in Patients with Schizophrenia at Dadi Regional Special Hospital, Makassar

Abstract

Background: Hallucinations are among the most common positive symptoms experienced by individuals with schizophrenia and may impair psychological and social functioning while increasing the risk of harmful behaviors. In addition to pharmacological treatment, Group Activity Therapy (GAT) is a psychiatric nursing intervention designed to improve patients' ability to recognize and control hallucinations.
Objective: This study aimed to analyze the effect of Group Activity Therapy on reducing hallucination symptoms among patients with schizophrenia at Dadi Regional Special Hospital, Makassar.
Methods: This quantitative study employed a pre-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design. A total of 25 patients with schizophrenia experiencing hallucinations were recruited using purposive sampling. Hallucination symptoms were assessed before and after the implementation of Group Activity Therapy. Data were analyzed using the paired sample t-test with a significance level of 95% (α = 0.05).
Results: The mean hallucination symptom score decreased from 62.16 ± 12.37 before the intervention to 50.40 ± 15.94 after the intervention. The paired sample t-test revealed a statistically significant difference (t = 2.373, p = 0.026), indicating that Group Activity Therapy significantly reduced hallucination symptoms among patients with schizophrenia.
Conclusion: Group Activity Therapy has a significant effect on reducing hallucination symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. This intervention may be integrated with pharmacological treatment as part of evidence-based psychiatric nursing care to improve patients' ability to control hallucinations and support the recovery process.