{{Short description|Health care by specially trained clowns}} [[Image:Volontariclowndicorsia.JPG|right|thumb|A clown care troupe at service at the hospital Bambino Gesù in Italy.]] '''Clown Care''', also known as '''hospital clowning''', is a program in health care facilities involving visits from specially trained [[clown]]s. They are colloquially called "clown doctors" which is a trademarked name in several countries. These visits to hospitals have been shown to help in lifting patients' [[Mood (psychology)|mood]]s with the positive power of [[hope]] and [[humor]]. There is also an associated positive benefit to the staff and families of patients.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Battrick |first1=Cath |last2=Glasper |first2=Edward Alan |last3=Prudhoe |first3=Gill |last4=Weaver |first4=Katy |year=2007 |title=Clown Humour: The Perceptions of Doctors, Nurses, Parents and Children |journal=[[Journal of Children's and Young People's Nursing]] |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=174–179|doi=10.12968/jcyn.2007.1.4.24403 |publisher= [[MA Healthcare Ltd]] |issn=2052-2886 }}</ref>
==Background== [[Patch Adams]], considered the first hospital clown, started being a hospital clown in the 1970s. He was portrayed in the 1998 film ''[[Patch Adams (film)|Patch Adams]]'' by [[Robin Williams]], bringing attention to hospital clowning.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.humourfoundation.com.au/resources/history-of-clowning.html|title=History of Clowning|last=Farrell|first=Melinda|website=Humour Foundation|access-date=2017-01-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170105215538/http://www.humourfoundation.com.au/resources/history-of-clowning.html|archive-date=2017-01-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Professional Clown Doctors began working in hospitals in 1986 under a program called [[the Big Apple Circus|the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit]], which was started by Michael Christensen in [[New York City]]. Clown Doctor programs now operate in every state in [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2005278/clown-doctors |last=Mora |first=Jim |date=July 14, 2009 |title=Clown Doctors |website=[[Radio New Zealand National]]}}</ref> the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], [[Canada]], [[Israel]], [[South Africa]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Brazil]], [[Belarus]], [[Taiwan]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=紅鼻子醫生 Dr.Rednose – 台灣唯一專業中立的小丑醫生組織|url=https://drn.org.tw/|access-date=2020-10-12|language=zh-TW}}</ref> and all over [[Europe]] and in some parts of [[India]].<ref name=":0" /> ==Purpose== {{See also|Biopsychosocial model}} Clown Doctors attend specifically to the [[Psychosocial|psycho-social]] needs of the hospitalized child but in some hospitals they also visit adults.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Nuttman-Shwartz|first1=Orit|last2=Scheyer|first2=Rachel |last3=Herzl |first3=Tzioni |editor1-last =Seon Lee |editor1-first =Ji |date=2010 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00981380903520475|title=Medical Clowning: Even Adults Deserve a Dream|journal=[[Social Work in Health Care]]|volume=49|issue=6|pages=|doi=10.1080/00981380903520475|issn=|arxiv=|bibcode=|s2cid=|doi-access=|url-access=subscription}}</ref> They parody the hospital routine to help children adapt to their surroundings, they also distract from and demystify painful or frightening procedures.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Tener, Dafna |author2=Lev-Wiesel, Rachel |author3=Lang-Franco, Nessia |author4=Ofir, Shoshi |year=2010|title=Laughing Through This Pain: Medical Clowning During Examination of Sexually Abused Children: An Innovative Approach |journal=[[Journal of Child Sexual Abuse]] |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=128–140 |doi=10.1080/10538711003622752 |pmid=20390783}}</ref> The atmosphere of fun and laughter can help children forget about the illness and the stress for a moment.
Clown Doctors use techniques such as magic, music, storytelling and other clowning skills to empower children with doses of fun that help them deal with the range of emotions they may experience while in hospital: fear, anxiety,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Vagnoli, Laura |author2=Caprilli, Simona |author3=Robiglio, Arianna |author4=Messeri, Andrea |year=2005 |title=Clown Doctors as a Treatment for Preoperative Anxiety in Children: A Randomized, Prospective Study |journal=[[Pediatrics (journal)|Pediatrics]] |volume=116 |issue=4 |pages=563–567 |doi=10.1542/peds.2005-0466 |pmid=16199685}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Golan, G |author2=Tighe, P |author3=Dobija, N |author4=Perel, N |author5=Keidan, I |year = 2009 |title = Clowns for the Prevention of Preoperative Anxiety in Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial |journal = [[Pediatric Anesthesia]] |volume = 19 |issue = 3 |pages = 262–266 |doi=10.1111/j.1460-9592.2008.02903.x |pmid = 19143948}}</ref> loneliness, boredom.
According to Tan, Metsälä, and Hannula,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tan |first1=Amil Kusain Perez Jr.|last2=Metsälä |first2=Eija |last3=Hannula |first3=Leena |date=2014 |title=Benefits and barriers of clown care: A qualitative phenomenographical study of parents with children in clown care services |url=https://europeanjournalofhumour.org/index.php/ejhr/article/view/58 |journal=[[The European Journal of Humour Research]] |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=10 pp |doi=10.7592/EJHR2014.2.2.tan |access-date=June 3, 2020 |doi-access=free}}</ref> "Clown care creates a positive emotional state, promotes interaction between parents and child, and fosters affirmative environmental conditions."
==Research== {{Main|Humor research}} Research on the physiological health benefits of laughter has been conducted for decades and continues to be carried out by medical physicians internationally. There is also a growing group of researchers that are exploring the psychological benefits of laughter, and specifically the work of Clown-Doctors.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nicklauschildrens.org/news-and-events/press-releases/big-apple-circus-clown-care-celebrates-15-years |title=Nicklaus Childrens, Big Apple Circus Clown Care® Celebrates 15 Years of Bringing Smiles to Hospitalized Children |publisher=[[Nicklaus Children's Hospital]] |date=November 4, 2015 |access-date=2025-03-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.simplycircus.com/sites/default/files/4_3.pdf |title=Clown as interpreters of emotions |author=Alberto Dionigi |publisher=P.A.T. Group, Department of Psychology, [[University of Bologna]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018215310/http://www.simplycircus.com/sites/default/files/4_3.pdf |archive-date=2016-10-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rednoses.eu/news/interview-michael-christensen/#.WAU1KyRmVLI |title=Red Noses, The first Clowndoctor 'on a visit' with RED NOSES, Michael Christensen |access-date=2016-10-17 |work=Red Noses |archive-date=2018-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814064152/http://www.rednoses.eu/news/interview-michael-christensen/#.WAU1KyRmVLI |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Melvin |first=Glenn |last2=Hofmann |first2=Jovell Ling |last3=Pavlou |first3=Christine |last4=Lu |first4=Sinh |last5=Verstandig |first5=Stephanie |last6=Taylor |first6=Ashleigh |last7=Desilva |first7=Deandra |last8=Cameron |first8=Lauren |last9=Evans |first9=Subhadra |date=2025-02-01 |title=The Impacts of a Clown Doctor Program on an Adolescent Psychiatric Unit: A Mixed Methods Investigation |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-023-01545-6 |journal=Child Psychiatry & Human Development |language=en |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=142–152 |doi=10.1007/s10578-023-01545-6 |issn=1573-3327 |pmc=11828834 |pmid=37227620}}</ref>
==See also== *[[Theodora Children's Charity]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite journal |title=A Clown Most Serious: Patch Adams |journal=[[International Journal of Play]] |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=163–173 |doi=10.1080/21594937.2013.849139 |year=2013 |last=Clark |first=Cindy Dell}} * {{cite journal |journal=[[International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being]] |last=Linge |first=Lotta |year=2008 |url=http://www.ijqhw.net/index.php/qhw/article/view/4969/5237 |title=Hospital Clowns Working in Pairs - In Synchronized Communication with Ailing Children |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=27–38|doi=10.1080/17482620701794147 }} * {{cite journal |journal=[[Medical Anthropology Quarterly]] |last=Miller Van Blerkom |first=Linda |year=1995 |url=http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp204-us14/files/2012/06/Blerkom-Clown-Doctors-Shaman-healers-of-western-medicine.pdf |title=Clown Doctors: Shaman Healers of Western Medicine |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=462–475 |doi=10.1525/maq.1995.9.4.02a00030 |access-date=2015-04-23 |archive-date=2015-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226054326/http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp204-us14/files/2012/06/Blerkom-Clown-Doctors-Shaman-healers-of-western-medicine.pdf |url-status=dead}} * {{cite journal |url=https://www.cmaj.ca/content/179/4/313 |title=Clowning Around Sets Patients at Ease |journal=[[Canadian Medical Association Journal]] |volume=179 |issue=4 |pages=313–315 |doi=10.1503/cmaj.080691 |pmid=18695174 |pmc=2492963 |year=2008 |last=Watson |first=Simon}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Clown care}} {{Wiktionary|clown doctor}}
*{{cite web|url=http://e-bility.com/articles/clowndoctors.shtml|title=Clown Doctors|author=Dr. Peter Spitzer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060520002309/http://e-bility.com/articles/clowndoctors.shtml|archive-date=2006-05-20|publisher=The Humour Foundation, Churchill Fellow|year=2002}} *[http://www.iclownyoudoc.com/ Documentary Film "I Clown You"]
{{Clowns}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Clowning]] [[Category:Health care]]