06.10.2011 09.Cheschwan. 5772
Gesundheitswesen:
The world’s first International Conference on Medicine and Medical Clowning, held recently near Jerusalem, attracted some 200 professional clowns and 15 physicians from 25 countries.
Medical clowning is no laughing matter (or at least it’s not only that). With some 5,000 trained professionals with red noses, funny hats, floppy shoes, stethoscopes, makeup and outlandish hairdos working in hospitals around the world, enough scientific evidence has accumulated to prove that they benefit patients, both young and old.
Serious studies have shown that such programs reduce pain and anxiety in both children and adults, increase the success rate of in-vitro fertilization, lower blood pressure and pulse rates in patients undergoing cataract surgery, facilitate examination of sexually abused kids and improve the care of elderly suffering from dementia. Even the IDF has appointed its first reserve-duty medical clown to visit ill and wounded soldiers in hospitals….