Second Shift at Christchurch Hospital Is Just What The Clown Doctor Ordered.

Clown Doctors are now visiting sick children in Christchurch Hospital twice a week, thanks to a grant from the Canterbury Community Trust Need Help Now Fund. For one year, starting on November 20 additional shift every Thursday.

Since the earthquakes, many Cantabrians have suffered from an increase in health problems as a result of long-term stress. This is especially pronounced among the most vulnerable in our society, the children. Children have been arriving in hospital with compromised immune systems, worn down by stress, making them more susceptible to illness. Medical clowning is based on international research that has proven the positive effects of humour and laughter on health by reducing the levels of stress hormones and boosting the immune system. In post-quake Christchurch, the need for this stress relief provided by Clown Doctors is greater now than ever before.

“I think it’s wonderful that Clown Doctors are now able to give the patients, their families, and the staff in Christchurch Hospital’s Children’s Wards a much needed extra emotional boost through this second shift,” says Founder and CEO, Professor Thomas Petschner. “We want to contribute to a more heartfelt and humorous society. We thank the CCT for generously giving us and the people of Christchurch this opportunity. "

Programme Director Rita Noetzel likens Clown Doctors to the Butterfly Effect – That a single occurrence, no matter how small, can change the world. Clown Doctors have a positive effect on patients, something as small as a smile, which spreads to their siblings, their parents, the doctors, nurses and hospital staff, to the public visiting the hospital, eventually reaching the wider community.

Clown Doctors are professionals who receive an academic training in Medical Clowning through the International Institute for Medical Clowning at Steinbeis University, Berlin. They use humour to promote healing, reduce stress, and de-mystify the potentially frightening hospital experience.

ends

© Scoop Media