Israeli medical clowns want to be recognized as "para-medical"
Studies show that the medical clown profession demands a stunning array of skills and its effects extend far beyond improving the patients' mood
From the moment Shoshi Ofir enters a hospital ward, she connects with patients through music, humor and imagination. Yet it's no laughing matter. Medical clowning is part of the treatment that patients receive in medical centers and hospitals.
"To work as a medical clown, I think you have to know about medicine," Ofir told us.
"We work in pediatrics, in intensive care units, in the ER, with patients on dialysis, adults, children... It's like finding where is your battery, how do I charge your battery, how do I connect your USB, how do I connect with you. It's about communication and connection."
Ofir said she also works with sexually abused children and teenagers.
"When I come to these children, they're not interested in me. If they're interested, it's because they're scared," says Hamutal Steinde. "I have to really work hard to reach them," and added, "The clown doesn't live if he doesn’t interact. That's his bread."
Steinde mainly works with autistic children.
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Now, Israeli researchers have published a new study trying to decode the secret magic of medical clowns in hospital settings, in order to garner official recognition of the vocation as a para-medical profession.
The study categorized the skills of medical clowns, and found that their importance extends far beyond raising a patient's mood. In fact, Professor Orit Karnieli-Miller's research identified forty different communication skills used by medical clowns.
"They have to actually juggle between various communication skills and various therapeutic goals," she says. "The first goal is connecting to the patient. The second is dealing with emotions. The third is moving the patient forward toward their treatment goals and the fourth is empowering the patient and bringing some control in that very chaotic and difficult environment."
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Other studies, including the one by Professor Giora Pillar, the head of pediatrics at Carmel Hospital, showed that medical clowns contribute significantly to achieving medical therapeutic goals.
Over the last two decades medical clowning changed its role enormously from a sideshow in the hospital corridors to an active and meaningful role in medical procedures and therapy.
"We already published four scientific papers," Pillar said, "we have evidence that children cry less and feel less pain when they're undergoing blood-taking when clowns are involved."
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Professor Pillar and Professor Karnieli-Miller are certain that medical clowning is a para-medical profession. "It's proven scientifically, it's proven clinically. When you convert an issue to a scientific issue with proven publication, peer-reviewed publication, this is a step towards official recognition."
And it seems that there's a world movement towards including clowns, at least in pediatric wards.
"One of the largest hospitals in Switzerland actually called us to share our experience with clowns in their department," Pillar concluded, "they liked what we presented and currently, they're incorporating clowns in their hospital as well."