Healthcare clowns help patients laugh and recover

 

Healthcare clowns help patients laugh and recover

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-M1D2OG8mA

An English adage says, "laughter is the best medicine". In these troubling times, good humour is in need more than ever. Doctors and medical staff are taking heed of this and incorporating it into their care treatments. One product of this is the emergence of clown doctors and healthcare clowns in hospitals around the globe. There is even an organisation that sets standards. The European Federation of Healthcare Clowns Organisations was established in 2011. It says: "Healthcare clowns bring moments of happiness and distraction to children who are ill or who have special needs....Clowns also bring smiles to vulnerable adults, including seniors and people with dementia who are in hospital care."

Healthcare clowns are becoming especially popular in Israel, which is considered a world leader in the field. The first university ever to offer a Bachelor's degree in medical clowning was Haifa University, in 2007. One healthcare clown in Jerusalem, Leah Weiss, decided to divert her inner clown to help patients after a COVID-19 ward opened in March. She said she knew the clown in her would have therapeutic benefits for her patients. She wants to reduce their anxiety and improve their wellbeing. She enjoys working alongside doctors and said: "Obviously, the doctors, they take care of the body. And we come in and take care of the soul. And it integrates together - the doctors understand this."

3. THE BEST MEDICINE: Students A strongly believe laughter is the best medicine; Students B strongly believe the opposite. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. CLOWN AID: How could clowns help these people? Why?  

 

How?

Why?

Children

 

 

World leaders

 

 

Teachers

 

 

Prisoners

 

 

Soldiers

 

 

Pilots

 

 

5. LAUGHTER: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "laughter". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
6. MEDICINE: Rank these with your partner. Put the best medicine at the top.  

  • Laughter
  • Sleep
  • Hiking
  • Vitamins
  • Healthy food
  • Reading
  • TV
  • Exercise

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

      1.

taking heed of

a.

A thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.

      2.

incorporating

b.

A serious disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and poor reasoning.

      3.

emergence

c.

Paying attention to.

      4.

standards

d.

Combining different things into one.

      5.

distraction

e.

Required or agreed levels of quality.

      6.

vulnerable

f.

Of a person in need of special care, support, or protection because of age, disability, or risk of abuse or neglect.

      7.

dementia

g.

The process of coming into being, or of becoming important.

    Paragraph 2

      8.

considered

h.

A feeling of great worry, nervousness, or unease.

      9.

degree

i.

Having a good effect on the body or mind; contributing to a sense of well-being.

      10.

divert

j.

A separate room in a hospital, typically one allocated to a particular type of patient.

      11.

ward

k.

Thought to be.

      12.

therapeutic

l.

Combines one thing with another so that they become a whole.

      13.

anxiety

m.

An academic qualification given by a college or university after a course of study.

      14.

integrates

n.

Cause something to change course or turn from one direction to another.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

  1. The article says laughter is needed with troubled people.     T / F
  2. Healthcare clowns are becoming more and more common worldwide.     T / F
  3. There is a European healthcare clown organisation that sets standards.    T / F
  4. The organisation says healthcare clowns help those with dementia.     T / F
  5. The article says Israel wants to be a world leader in healthcare clowning. T / F
  6. The first healthcare clown degree started in Israel.     T / F
  7. A healthcare clown wanted to use her outer clown to help patients.     T / F
  8. A woman said healthcare clowns take care of the soul.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

  1. adage
  2. taking heed of
  3. treatments
  4. sets
  5. dementia
  6. considered
  7. divert
  8. therapeutic
  9. anxiety
  10. integrates
  1. therapies
  2. healing
  3. mental illness
  4. reroute
  5. paying attention to
  6. worry
  7. saying
  8. thought
  9. combines
  10. establishes

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

  1. laughter is the
  2. In these troubling times, good
  3. medical staff are taking
  4. bring moments of happiness and
  5. Clowns also bring smiles
  6. considered a world leader
  7. divert her inner clown
  8. the clown in her would have
  9. reduce their
  10. we come in and take
  1. distraction to children
  2. to vulnerable adults
  3. care of the soul
  4. heed of this
  5. to help patients
  6. anxiety
  7. best medicine
  8. in the field
  9. therapeutic benefits
  10. humour is in need

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

medicine
emergence
established
needs
dementia
heed
distraction
globe

An English adage says, "laughter is the best (1) _____________________ ". In these troubling times, good humour is in need more than ever. Doctors, and medical staff are taking (2) _____________________ of this and incorporating it into their care treatments. One product of this is the (3) _____________________ of clown doctors and healthcare clowns in hospitals around the (4) _____________________. There is even an organisation that sets standards. The European Federation of Healthcare Clowns Organisations was (5) _____________________ in 2011. It says: "Healthcare clowns bring moments of happiness and (6) _____________________ to children who are ill or who have special (7) _____________________....Clowns also bring smiles to vulnerable adults, including seniors and people with (8) _____________________ who are in hospital care."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

inner
anxiety
body
popular
integrates
benefits
field
alongside

Healthcare clowns are becoming especially (9) _____________________ in Israel, which is considered a world leader in the (10) _____________________. The first university ever to offer a Bachelor's degree in medical clowning was Haifa University, in 2007. One healthcare clown in Jerusalem, Leah Weiss, decided to divert her (11) _____________________ clown to help patients after a COVID-19 ward opened in March. She said she knew the clown in her would have therapeutic (12) _____________________ for her patients. She wants to reduce their (13) _____________________ and improve their wellbeing. She enjoys working (14) _____________________ doctors and said: "Obviously, the doctors, they take care of the (15) _____________________. And we come in and take care of the soul. And it (16) _____________________ together - the doctors understand this."

Comprehension questions

  1. What does an adage say is the best medicine?
  2. What are hospitals incorporating in their care?
  3. When was a healthcare clown organisation established?
  4. What do the clowns bring children besides moments of distraction?
  5. What vulnerable adults did an organisation mention besides seniors?
  6. Where are healthcare clowns becoming particularly popular?
  7. When did the first healthcare clown degree start?
  8. What did a healthcare clown want to divert to help patients?
  9. What did a healthcare clown say she could reduce in patients?
  10. What did a healthcare clown say she took care of?

 

Role play

Role  A – Laughter
You think laughter is the best medicine. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least medicinal of these (and why): sleep, healthy food or reading.

Role  B – Sleep
You think sleep is the best medicine. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least medicinal of these (and why): laughter, healthy food or reading.

Role  C – Healthy Food
You think healthy food is the best medicine. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least medicinal of these (and why): sleep, laughter or reading.

Role  D – Reading
You think reading is the best medicine. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their things. Also, tell the others which is the least medicinal of these (and why): sleep, healthy food or laughter.

Discussion - Healthcare Clowns

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

  1. What did you think when you read the headline?
  2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'clown'?
  3. What do you think of clowns?
  4. What do you think of the idea of healthcare clowns?
  5. Do you think laughter is the best medicine?
  6. Why might laughter be the best medicine?
  7. What kind of training might a healthcare clown need?
  8. Would you be a good healthcare clown?
  9. What else could hospitals do to bring smiles to children?
  10. What else can we do to make people with dementia laugh?
  1. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
  2. What do you think of when you hear the word 'laughter'?
  3. What do you think about what you read?
  4. Why do many people think clowns are scary?
  5. What might you learn on a healthcare clown degree?
  6. To what extent is there an inner clown in you?
  7. What other things could clowns do to help society?
  8. What do you need to take care of your soul?
  9. What helps reduce your anxiety?
  10. What questions would you like to ask a healthcare clown?

Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

An English adage says, "laughter is the best (1) ____". In these troubling times, good humour is in need more than ever. Doctors and medical staff are taking (2) ____ of this and incorporating it into their care treatments. One product of this is the (3) ____ of clown doctors and healthcare clowns in hospitals around the globe. There is even an organisation that (4) ____ standards. The European Federation of Healthcare Clowns Organisations was established in 2011. It says: "Healthcare clowns bring moments of happiness and (5) ____ to children who are ill or who have special needs....Clowns also bring smiles to vulnerable adults, including seniors and people with (6) ____ who are in hospital care."

Healthcare clowns are becoming especially popular in Israel, which is considered a world leader in the (7) ____. The first university ever to (8) ____ a Bachelor's degree in medical clowning was Haifa University, in 2007. One healthcare clown in Jerusalem, Leah Weiss, decided to divert her (9) ____ clown to help patients after a COVID-19 ward opened in March. She said she knew the clown in her would have (10) ____ benefits for her patients. She wants to reduce their anxiety and improve their (11) ____. She enjoys working alongside doctors and said: "Obviously, the doctors, they take care of the body. And we come in and take care of the (12) ____. And it integrates together - the doctors understand this."

Which of these words go in the above text?

  1. (a)     drugs     (b)     medicine     (c)     cure     (d)     antidote    
  2. (a)     head     (b)     herd     (c)     heed     (d)     hind    
  3. (a)     emerges     (b)     emerged     (c)     emergence     (d)     emerge    
  4. (a)     wets     (b)     lets     (c)     bets     (d)     sets    
  5. (a)     distraction     (b)     disruption     (c)     distinction     (d)     derision    
  6. (a)     absentia     (b)     dementia     (c)     militia     (d)     inertia    
  7. (a)     patch     (b)     paddy     (c)     pitch     (d)     field    
  8. (a)     refer     (b)     offer     (c)     defer     (d)     infer    
  9. (a)     sinner     (b)     winner     (c)     inner     (d)     dinner    
  10. (a)     reputation     (b)     pneumatic     (c)     thesis     (d)     therapeutic    
  11. (a)     goodly     (b)     betterment     (c)     well done     (d)     wellbeing    
  12. (a)     soul     (b)     sole     (c)     soil     (d)     seal

Spelling

Paragraph 1

  1. An English gdaae
  2. crnrpoaiitong it into their care
  3. the eeegrnmce of clown doctors
  4. an organisation that sets adntasdrs
  5. tdcrastiion to children
  6. people with emdneita

Paragraph 2

  1. clowns are becoming cpeislaely popular
  2. a Bachelor's ergdee
  3. rteapeuthic benefits
  4. reduce their nxiatey
  5. improve their elwebling
  6. it neiargttes together

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