HOSPITAL CLOWNS GET SERIOUS
Argentinian lawmakes laughter and bonding the best medicine
Argentina has a new law for treating children in hospitals that requires doctors to literally send in the clowns.
The groundbreaking law — the first in the world — for Argentina’s largest province, Buenos Aires, was inspired by the “laughter therapy” of U.S. physician Hunter “Patch” Adams and was implemented in August. All public hospitals in the province that have pediatric services are required to work with specially trained clowns.
The project is “complementary medicine to bring joy to sick children in hospitals, their families and the medical and nonmedical personnel,” according to the Argentine Senate.
Ezequiel Belsu, 12, was crippled by pain from a pulmonary disease in intensive care at Hospital Piñero. He was notmoving.
But his eyes suddenly widened and he smiled when three clowns stepped into his room.
“Up until the clowns got in, he felt desperate. It’s the first time he spent so much time away from his home, so it made him feel better,” said the boy’s mother, Rosana Belsu.
The three go by Dr. Lala, Dr. Azul Primavera ( blue spring in English) and Dr. Lulo Alegre. Their real names, respectively, are Evelyn Smink, María Asunción Giardina and Miguel Alegre. And they are trained by the organization Puente Clown in Buenos Aires.
José Pellucchi, a physician who is director of Payamedicos, an organization of medical clowns, said clowns have been working in more than 150 hospitals in Argentina and Chile since 2002.
The clowns consult with pediatricians to know which patients they can entertain without disturbing them — or being exposed to a disease.
“We do an activity with everyone in the hospital, from the cleaning employees to the security officers and the doctors, to … generate well-being in the workplace,” said Gustavo Iribarne, another Puente Clown professional.
The doctors believe the clowns benefit the patients.
“The fact that someone comes in with a white medical coat and a red nose saying the same things (as a doctor) but with a distinct language changes everything,” said Daniel Rivero, head of pediatrics atHospital Piñero.
“That someone in a white coat and a red nose says the same things (as a doctor in) a distinct language changes everything.”
Physician Daniel Rivero
“Health issues are not just related to our body. Determining factors include our sensations and human contact, which can change how our body works.”
Clowns are important because “the hospital’s environment is very strict with white doors and aggressive people who put needles in children’s veins, tell them bad news and make them swallow awful medicine,” he added.
To build a bridge, clowns give patients in neighboring rooms each end of a rope. The clowns then relay jokes and messages between rooms.
This way, Ezequiel can communicate with his hospital neighbor, 12-year-old Sofia Benites from Paraguay who had her appendix removed.
With some patients, the clowns know that laughter isn’t always the bestmedicine.
“We don’t necessarily want to make people laugh. Although laughter is always curative, we want people to reconnect with their childhood’s world, dreams and fantasies,” Smink said.