Measuring patient well-being: an exploratory study of the Haptotherapeutic Well-Being Scale (HWS)

Abstract

Background The HWS is developed for measuring patient well-being and may be useful in linking the specific Haptotherapy (HT) interventions – insight-providing conversations, skills exercises, and therapeutic touch – to the various dimensions of well-being. The aim is to obtain insight into the reliability and validity of the newly developed HWS and its potential usefulness in the clinical setting. Method: HT patients aged 18 or older (N = 640) completed a one-time digital questionnaire at home before treatment. A control group of 18 years or older who were not treated by a haptotherapist (N = 151) completed the same questionnaire at home. Results We demonstrated significant medium and strong correlations of four of the five HWS subscales, each with two or more Four-Dimensional Symptom Questionnaire (4DSQ) subscales and the HWS sum score with all 4DSQ subscales. The factor analysis of the HWS yielded one factor, Cronbach's Alpha: .860. The HWS sum score of the No-HT group was significantly higher than the HT group, and the same goes for all HWS subscales. Furthermore, we demonstrated significant strong correlations of all five HWS subscales with the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) sum score and a significant and strong correlation of the HWS sum score with the WHO-5 sum score. Conclusion The Haptotherapeutic Well-being Scale (HWS) appears to be reliable and can be used for measuring well-being from a haptotherapeutic perspective. Further research is needed to confirm the reliability and validity of the HWS, and its sensitivity to detect changes. Appendices HWS in English, Dutch, German and French.