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The program
 Dr Clown launched its pilot project at the Montreal Children’s Hospital in May 2002, with the financial assistance of the Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada. Our work falls under the responsibility of the Child Life and School Services, which takes care of all non-medical matters during a patient’s stay. Its mandate includes supporting families, explaining medical procedures to the children in comprehensible terms, providing opportunities for play, and reducing stress. At the beginning of the day, the staff give the clown duo a list of children to visit and circle the names of priority cases. They are also available at the beginning and at the end of the day, should the clowns want to discuss any particular cases or situations.
The Montreal Children’s Hospital is a huge and varied establishment. The children come from many different cultural backgrounds, and they can be in- or outpatients and acutely or chronically ill. To make the pilot project start-up easier, Dr Clown and the staff at the Child Life and School Services agreed to concentrate their efforts on long-term patients. The clown visits were thus limited to the intermediate care, oncology, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, and dialysis departments.
After an evaluation of the first seven months of our program, almost all of the staff in these departments agreed that our services were “necessary” and concluded that one weekly visit per department was not enough. As a result, in June 2003, a second program was added, with the financial assistance of the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. A pair of our artists now visits each department at least twice a week, as well as visiting the intensive care unit and, on some occasions, external clinics or the emergency department.
What they have to say
“A little girl sees the clowns go by her door. ‘Ha, those funny clowns!’ she says. She gets out of bed to watch them parade down the corridor.”
“There was a doctor who was in a bad mood - she was really stressed, she had a very sick patient – and when she saw the clowns coming, she said to me, ‘We don’t have time for all this nonsense!’ But in the end they had managed to make her burst out laughing. Afterwards, she said to me, ‘We have to evaluate the clowns? As far as I’m concerned, they get an A +++!’” (An oncology nurse)
“Keep up the good work! What you do is important!” (A 7th floor nurse)
“Hurray for the clowns! They’re fantastic!” (An intensive care nurse)
“Everyone can’t wait for these exceptional doctors to come visit.” (A nurse)
“Excellent, absolutely necessary in a pediatric facility. Keep up the good work."
“A mother told me the other day that the clowns distract her child during his treatment. During the procedures, he keeps his eyes wide open to watch the bubbles. It’s such a relief for her to see him like that.” (An oncology nurse)
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