Clown humour: The perceptions of doctors, nurses, parents and children

Abstract

Clowns have entertained people for millennia. However, the use of humour as a therapy is receiving increasing attention from health-care professionals who are interested in both the psychological and physical effects on patients’ wellbeing. Nevertheless, there is however a paucity of English-language empirical data to underpin the use of clown humour in children’s health-care settings. The primary objective of this study was to elicit the perceptions of doctors, nurses, parents and children regarding the efficacy of performances by Theodora Trust Special Clowns to sick children in a children’s hospital in the south of England. Participants included 49 children, 43 parents/carers, 17 doctors and 93 other health-care staff. A questionnaire was used that employed a mixture of closed and attitudinal Likert-type questions, and descriptive statistics were calculated of how individual groups of respondents view the efficacy of clown doctor humour delivered to sick children in hospital. The majority of children indicated that they liked playing with clowns during their hospital stay, and the majority of parents agreed that the presence of clown doctors has a positive impact on sick children and their families. The majority of the paediatricians who participated also agreed that the presence of clown doctors has a positive impact on sick children and their families during a hospital stay. However, six of them revealed that they did not personally like clowns. Among the other health-care staff, a large majority agreed that clown doctors have a positive impact on the child and family and that the clown encounter was helpful to the sick child, although 22 did not personally like clowns. The results show that the parents and children are enthusiastic about the presence of clown doctors in clinical environments where sick children are cared for. The majority of health care professionals including paediatricians are supportive of clown doctor activities for children, despite some of their own personal prejudices.