The clown, a pure embodiment of vitality, transports the patient from the confines of the hospital room into a world without limitations.
Zachary Steel, Program Director
The Power of Medical Clowning
Utilizing the universal language of play and humor, medical clowns have helped improve health outcomes for a variety of populations around the world. As discussed in Norman Cousins “Anatomy of an Illness,” a patient’s emotional state can greatly affect the course of a disease, and laughter has been proven to improve immunological and endocrinological responses as well as increase pain tolerance. Additional physiological benefits include decreased blood pressure, boosts in immune system responses that produce increased levels of infection fighting antibodies, enhanced respiration, and reduced muscle tension. Psychologically, medical clowns have helped increase patient’s endorphin levels and significantly reduce stress, depression, and despair. Socially, medical clowning has positive effects on patient’s self-esteem by increasing positive communication between the provider and family and empowering the patient to shape the interaction based on what they feel is fun, providing children with a sense of authority in a hospital environment that, by its nature, disempowers the patient. Overall, the essence of the child, in spite of adversity, comes out to play as the focus on suffering is redirected to the patient’s capacity to connect and feel joy. The magic in the room during each patient-centered interaction with the clown is palpable and echoes throughout the hospital corridor, leaving a positive lasting effect on the patients, their family members, and the medical professionals.
USC Comic+Care
USC Comic+Care, previously known as the Medical Clowning Program, uses laughter and humor to improve the physical and mental well-being of hospital populations and communities in need. By blending the arts of clowning and improv with the sciences of psychology and medicine, the program aids in the recovery and healing process for people of all ages and backgrounds. Founded in 2014, the program was inspired by a visit from Atay Citron, co-creator of the BA Medical Clowning program at Haifa University in Israel. During his visit he described how powerful the arts are in healing. “They’re [patients] stripped of their individual identity, forced to wear hospital gowns instead of their personal clothes, and are exposed to unpleasant and often painful procedures,” Citron explained. In an atmosphere where patients can feel helpless and fearful, the magic of the Medical Clown is that they possess the ability to give patients back their agency, their vitality, their ability to play. The moment the medical clown walks into the room, they climb onto the bottom rung of the social ladder, embracing that lowest status in the pecking order and elevating the patients’ standing in the hospital hierarchy.
The program’s established partner hospitals include the LAC+USC Medical Center (LAC+USC), the county’s largest provider of healthcare, the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA), and the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center (NCCC). The program has certified 25 undergraduate medical clowns and 10 professional performers who clown regularly at the program’s partner hospitals, serving over 3,000 patients annually.
The USC School of Dramatic Arts believes that medical clowning plays a transformative role in improving the patient experience and shaping a healthier humanity. Through training, on-site professional work, and diligent research, the program is advancing the field by employing passionate community-based artists to radically transform the wellness of all those in need.
USC Comic+Care has been made possible through grants and donations, with lead funding from the Albert & Bessie Warner Fund, the Edit & Edward Komberg, and the Joshua & Siobhan Korman Philanthropic Fund.
Listen to Director Zachary Steel speak on Medical Clowning on the PsychoEducation Podcast.
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Photography by Brian Sacca