Laughter is the best medicine. This was the theory behind Clown Doctors which was started in USA in 1986.
It is very rarely that an individual associates Doctors and Hospitals with Clowns. However, the use of therapeutic clowns for kids and their families in hospitals has been increasing during the last decade in India. The job of these therapeutic clowns includes entertaining children and their families in outpatient clinic waiting rooms, distracting families in emergency rooms, comforting parents of children in intensive care units, and distracting small children during frightening medical procedures. Basically, the therapeutic clowns are there to lower the anxiety levels and change the moods of child patients and their families during the stressful periods of a hospital stay. I had heard about such forms of therapy being used on children with cancer, however it was quite surprising and interesting to me to learn that the use of therapeutic clowns is prevalent throughout the pediatric unit in many hospitals located in countries across the globe.
I had my first experience with clown doctors (medici clown) in Italy while I was doing my PHD Studies at La Saienza University of Rome. Lots of children came to us for their dental treatment and usually were in pain and were filled with anxiety. Actually, about 60% of children face anxiety in the preoperative period of a procedure due to feelings of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry. Being away from one’s home and family members only increases the anxiety children feel. In some cases, children who exhibit high levels of anxiety in the preoperative period will deal with postoperative trouble lasting for 6 months after the surgery/procedure. Considering such facts, it becomes clear that the children, at a time in their life where they shouldn’t face such anxiety, need some sort of outlet to decrease the anxiety they are feeling and this is where the therapeutic clowns come in.
By creating contexts that enable individualized, improvisational, often humorous social exchanges, Therapeutic Clowns helped to change the social and physical hospital environment in order to enhance the physical and mental well-being of children. The focus of the little ones was more on the fantasy and play rather than the pain being caused.
Studies of therapeutic clowning have shown that this intervention facilitates verbal and nonverbal communication; improves mood and attitude; increases expressions of emotion such as laughter, joy and humor; supports empowerment and active role-reversal.
At Crown Corner we have introduced clown nursing where our clown nurses use techniques such as magic, storytelling and other clowning skills to empower children with doses of fun and laughter that help them get through their treatment. We feel that humour definitely has therapeutic value and is a great help especially when dealing with difficult children. It helps convert a negative experience into a positive one. Clowns change a clinic to a magical setting where laughter becomes an instrument of joy and we try to establish a relationship of trust and confidence with the child. On seeing the clown and his tricks, a child is able to overlook his fears and is much more cooperative. Recently I had a three year old girl as a patient who was afraid to get her fillings done. It was impossible to get her to sit still through the procedure, but as soon as the clown nurse was brought into the room, the distraction worked perfectly. Clowns need to use the right technique for every child. Bubbles may work with a two year old whereas Magic Tricks for an older child. I have worked intensively with Clown doctors in Italy at my university and had also enrolled in their clown training programme there. Thus I impart the essence of what I have learnt here in India and have strongly been promoting the use of Clown Therapy. As long as a Doctor or a nurse has the passion to work with kids, Clown Therapy is not a very difficult task. There are not any negative effects to this apart from the fact that sometimes, very young children may get scared of the clown costume due to its vibrancy, and so in such cases we avoid it.
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We strongly believe in the healing power of laughter while treating our little patients and will continue to spread smiles through clown therapy.