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In various cultures, clowns have been associated with healers, shamans, and other social figures connected to health care. In the West, circus clowns began visiting hospitals on an irregular basis a century ago. Among the first were the Shriners’ clowns, who visited hospitals at the beginning of the 20th century.
Starting in the sixties, the idea of incorporating laughter into a more human approach to hospital care took hold, primarily in the United States and Switzerland. Two types of clown appeared in hospitals as a result of this movement: volunteers and hospital staff.
Volunteers
Volunteers, who were usually retirees, visited hospitalized patients on a regular basis. In the United States, they were often called “caring clowns.” There was also a “clown ministry,” including clowns who appeared in American and Canadian churches and who then extended their ministry to hospitals.
Hospital staff
Members of the hospital staff (doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, etc.) started dressing up as clowns, either to make patients’ hospital stay easier (like Dr Patch Adams, now famous because of the film of the same name, starring Robin Williams) or to use a clown character as part of a particular therapy (such as the psychotherapist and famous novelist Howard Buten). Nurses, like Patty Wooten, R.N., travelled all over the world to give talks on the benefits of laughter and tenderness.
Professional artists
Clowns did not have any special training for hospital work until the 1980’s, however. Gradually, certain requirements regarding hygiene and familiarity with the medical environment were instituted, which made therapeutic clowns professionals in their own right. There are two main models of therapeutic clowns: clown-doctors and therapeutic clowns.
Clown-doctors
Clown-doctors came into being in 1986 at the Clown Care Unit of the Big Apple Circus, New York, under the direction of Michael Christensen.
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These clowns wear little make-up (they usually wear only a red nose), communicate verbally, and always work in pairs. |
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They are caricatures of the staff members at the top of the ladder: doctors. They are dressed like doctors and misappropriate medical equipment, spraying water from rubber syringes and transforming stethoscopes into smile detectors or musical instruments. Another popular specialty: the nose transplant! |
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This program has been a model for the Theodora Foundation (operating in more than 30 hospitals in Switzerland and now on four continents), and for L’association Le Rire Médecin in France (created in 1991 by Caroline Simonds and operating in more than 6 hospitals around the country). Other organizations who have followed this model include: Die Clown Doktoren (Germany), Doctor Clown (England), Clowndoctors (Scotland), l’Association Docteur Clown (Lyon, France), Clown Docs (St Louis, Missouri), Clowns on Rounds (Upper State New York), Doutores da Alegria (Brazil), Fools for Health (Windsor, Ontario), and Doc Willikers (Vancouver, BC). |
Therapeutic clowns
In 1986, at the same time as clown-doctors appeared in New York, the Robo Project began in Winnipeg at the Child Life Department of the Children’s Hospital of the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, that hired a professional clown, Karen Ridd.
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Clowns of this style are typically more made-up and look more like traditional clowns. They work alone and are often silent, communicating with signs, toys, and various gestures. They call themselves "therapeutic clowns". |
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they are usually hired by the hospital as childlife specialists. This model is specific to Canada, with programs in Winnipeg (David Langdon), Ottawa (Ruth Cull), Mississauga and Toronto (Joan Barrington) – see Hospital for Sick Children's Therapeutic Clown Program. |
Dr Clown draws its inspiration from both of these lines of therapeutic artists.
the benefits of laughter < top > Dr Clown
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