Clowns are good for health

Courtesy of Alicia Alcamo A group of Ohio State medical students are bringing smiles and silliness to children in hospitals and the elderly in senior centers.

A hospital's children's wing, a senior center and a clown with a bright-red nose, purple wig and florescent colored outfit do not seem as though they have anything in common. They are, however, the sights of an event organized by Clowning in Columbus.

CNC is a group of Ohio State medical students who are bringing smiles and silliness to children in hospitals and the elderly in senior centers.

According to its Web site, the group dresses up in brightly colored clown outfits and talks and jokes with patients. The members believe in the health benefits of humor and try to get patients to forget their troubles even if only for a little while, said Linda Stone, associate dean for Student Affairs and co-advisor for CNC.

"The clowns help build relationships with the patients and the patients often reveal things to the clown that they don't feel comfortable telling their physicians," she said.

Clowns are not judgmental or threatening to patients and they often open up about their life stories, Stone said. The clowns can act as an important connection between the patients and doctors because they encourage the patients to share important information with their doctors.

Kavita Ponnappa, an OSU medical student, and a few of her colleagues started the group in spring 2006 after learning about the philosophies of Hunter "Patch" Adams during a visit to his Gesundheit Institute in Arlington, Va. "Patch believes in a sense of humanness and that you can play and have fun even in the most serious situations," Stone said.

CNC participated in Nationwide Children's Hospital's annual Cancer Survivor Celebration held in Homestead Park in Hilliard in 2007. "We just went around and interacted with the participants. I think overall we got a good response and the children liked our presence," said Alicia Alcamo, an OSU medical student and president of CNC.

The group does not have set routines but goes in with the intention of having a good time, according to its Web site. The students learn about listening and create situations in which people can be themselves, Stone said. "The main goal of CNC is to bring cheer and happiness to patients of all age groups," Alcamo said.

The group is part of a larger initiative in the College of Medicine called Project Professionalism, a student-driven curriculum that deals with "putting the heart and soul back into the medical profession," Stone said. The project began in 2001 when Stone gave a lecture on medical professionalism. Afterwards, she asked 20 students to help her redesign the lecture. The 20 have grown to 200 students. The main goal of Project Professionalism is to teach medical students not only the science of medicine, but the science of kindness and compassion, Stone said.

"If we teach our students to treat mind, body and spirit, then they aren't going to miss anything," she said.

First-year medical students are required to complete a community service project and taking a trip to the Gesundheit Institute is one of the options. After the trip, students can join CNC and teach each other the art of clowning.

The success of Project Professionalism and Clowning in Columbus is based on student involvement and organization.

"The project is driven by future generations, and each will put their own stamp on it," Stone said.

According to the group's Web site, they plan to continue making semi-regular trips to senior centers, children's wings in hospitals and improving on their clowning and interpersonal skills.

Alina Sumajin can be reached at sumajin.1@osu.edu.