“Nothing seems funny anymore”: Studying Burnout in Clown-Doctors

Gervais, Nicole; Warren, Bernie; Twohig, Peter L.

doi:10.1163/9789401203951_014

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Children are the primary target for most therapeutic clown programmes in acute care hospital settings (Warren ), although medicalised settings have seen clowns used for adult care in rehabilitation (Gervais et al . ) and assisted reproduction (Friedler et al . ).…”

Section: Therapeutic and Elder‐clown Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Relational citizenship: supporting embodied selfhood and relationality in dementia care

Kontos

Miller

Kontos³

2017

Sociology Health & Illness

113

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We draw on findings from a mixed-method study of specialised red-nosed elder-clowns in a long-term care facility to advance a model of 'relational citizenship' for individuals with dementia. Relational citizenship foregrounds the reciprocal nature of engagement and the centrality of capacities, senses, and experiences of bodies to the exercise of human agency and interconnectedness. We critically examine elder-clown strategies and techniques to illustrate how relational citizenship can be supported and undermined at the micro level of direct care through a focus on embodied expressions of creativity and sexuality. We identify links between aesthetic enrichment and relational practices in art, music and imagination. Relational citizenship offers an important rethinking of notions of selfhood, entitlement, and reciprocity that are central to a sociology of dementia, and it also provides new ethical grounds to explore how residents' creative and sexual expression can be cultivated in the context of long-term care.

show abstract

Section: Therapeutic and Elder‐clown Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Relational citizenship: supporting embodied selfhood and relationality in dementia care

Kontos

Miller

Kontos³

2017

Sociology Health & Illness

113

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The most important factor seems to be reflective awareness, which is highly related to the shift from the own persona to a clown persona and vice versa, by taking a specific amount of time for mental preparation, using rituals, doing exercises of concentration and meditation, both before and after the activity. Previous studies show that clinic clowns play a role and are protected by it (Gervais et al 2006;Grindberg et al 2012). Maintaining the line between reality and play is important to respect the patient's emotional and physical boundaries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Components and determinants of the shift between own persona and the clown persona: A hierarchical analysis

Dionigi

Ruch

Platt

2013

EJHR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Working in health settings as a clown requires the ability to differentiate between the own persona and the clown persona and to stay in the role, despite a variety of challenging situations. This passage requires a cognitive shift that can be interfered with, or facilitated, by several variables. This study aims at operationalising the components involved in the shift and relating them to psychological characteristics and other relevant aspects of the training necessary to become a clinic clown. A preliminary 34-item version of the Clown Shift Questionnaire (CSQ) was developed and administered to a sample of 130 Italian clinic clowns. Relevant information such as sociodemographic characteristics, various aspects related to the training received such as length, issues taught, internship carried out, psychological knowledge, and competences in clowning were collected. Four dimensions in the shifting process were identified: reflective awareness, positive beliefs, interference, and anxiety. These dimensions represent a profile of individual differences that may be used to predict the success of the clown intervention. Reflective awareness positively correlates with the aspects related to the training and the years of clown activity, while positive beliefs is a dimension not related to training. Anxiety is higher among females and younger people and correlates negatively with training aspects and years of activity. Interferences are more frequent among those who received higher psychological knowledge and lead to less satisfaction. Further implications for using the concepts of CSQ in research and in the work of clowns in health settings are discussed.

show abstract

“…It is important to be able to manage one’s own fears and not have important reasons for individual suffering in order to be able to appropriately mitigate experiences of human contact in highly problematic contexts, such as hospital wards for children, facilities for the disabled, psychiatric patients and the elderly. Some scholars have stressed the risk of emotional exhaustion for clown therapists and the need to have appropriate coping strategies to compensate for their vulnerabilities [ 57 ]. Dionigi had shown that the best predictor to keep in mind for emotional exhaustion in clown therapists was the neuroticism trait [ 58 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivations and Personal Traits Can Predict Self-Efficacy of the Clown Therapist: A Descriptive Study

Diotaiuti

Mancone

Corrado

2022

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The individual and collective perception of self-efficacy in clown therapists is fundamental in order to be able to be active, restrained, energetic and defocused, if necessary, without being overwhelmed by any problems patients might have. The present study evaluated both the incidence of motivational and dispositional functions on the level of perceived self-efficacy with a sample of 259 Italian clown therapists who were administered The Volunteer Self-Efficacy Scale, the Volunteer Process Model and the Italy Personality Inventory. The significance of a hierarchical linear regression model of perceived self-efficacy was tested. The results showed that the value orientation of the operators mainly influenced the level of perceived self-efficacy, that is, the search for actions with a high social meaning, rather than the orientation towards situations and experiences that allow one to expand one’s knowledge and promote one’s own person. Profiles with higher perceived self-efficacy were associated with the trait of dynamism and conscientiousness, while a person’s vulnerability was found to be a significant negative predictor of self-efficacy. An additional significant predictor was the experience of the clown therapist. The results of the study also showed a positive and functional role of the synergy conferred by teamwork. The group mitigates the emotional difficulties of the individual and supports him/her by orienting him/her technically and compensating for any inexperience in the field of animation in sensitive contexts, such as hospital wards with serious and vulnerable patients, such as children.

show abstract

“Nothing seems funny anymore”: Studying Burnout in Clown-Doctors

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Relational citizenship: supporting embodied selfhood and relationality in dementia care

Relational citizenship: supporting embodied selfhood and relationality in dementia care

Components and determinants of the shift between own persona and the clown persona: A hierarchical analysis

Motivations and Personal Traits Can Predict Self-Efficacy of the Clown Therapist: A Descriptive Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About