Send in the clowns
The challenge: Hospitalized children with profound disabilities can’t show or tell us if they’re benefiting from interaction with therapeutic clowns.
The solution: A Bloorview team designs the first study to measure the long-term physiological effect of therapeutic clowns.
How it works: Scientists measure physiological arousal, emotion and behaviour in eight inpatients. On two days, they track children’s responses to 10-minute visits with Ricky and Dr. Flap. On two days they measure reactions to watching 10 minutes of television.
The results: Every child shows unique patterns of skin temperature, sweat level and heart and breathing rates during clown visits that are not seen while watching television. Behavioural and emotional data suggest the children’s physiological responses to the clowns are positive.
LEARN MORE: CTV National News
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