I’ve had the privilege of living in Israel twice, and have spent some time in Israeli hospitals. These hospitals are special places that care for anyone and everyone who needs treatment – Israelis, Arabs, Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, foreigners, etc. I’ve previously blogged about my day spent in a Jerusalem children’s hospital’s Physical Therapy ward, but I once also had the opportunity to follow a few Israeli medical clowns around the children’s ward of another Jerusalem hospital back in 2006. While these clowns may not be for everyone, almost every sick child I saw was excited to spend time with the clowns. I saw these kids brighten up and smile while the clowns did tricks and made them laugh.
These professional clowns in Israel are specially trained by the hospitals to help patients recover, and there is a lot of evidence that their presence helps. From what I saw, the program is truly remarkable and I’m sure it could also work well in the US.
(Also, as a news junkie, I have to note that while the article is posted onto the HuffPost website, it is an Associated Press article and not a Huffington Post story. Most news organizations are part of the AP, and any member is able to post their articles.)
mobilityequiptraining:
“They say it’s time for the medical community to recognize medical clowns as legitimate paramedical practitioners, like occupational or physical therapists.”
As I read this in an article in the Huffington Post, my blood pressure clicked up several notches; I spent a lot of time in…
Clowns as Legitimate Paramedical Professionals in Israel
Like this:
Like Loading...