Clowns brighten up days in Quebec’s hospitals

Therapy clowns have been working to improve the quality of life of those at specialized schools and children’s health centres and their efforts also extend to p

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you,” said one palliative care patient during the Dr. Clown Foundation’s visit.

Performers from the organization have been bringing characters to life in hospitals in celebration of life since 2002.

“We always work in a duo,” co-founder and co-artistic director Melissa Holland said. As a performer herself, she added, “we get an idea of, you know, what [patients’] interests are, what their background, what their lives have been like.”

The foundation’s mission entails spreading joy through joke, song and dance in what can be an overwhelming setting.

“We’re in about 70 different medical and special education establishments in Montreal and Quebec City,” Holland said.

The organization’s therapy clowns have been working to improve the quality of life of those at specialized schools and children’s health centres. Their efforts also extend to palliative care centres like Montreal’s Marie-Clarac Hospital.

Holland says these moments can be a breath of fresh air for patients and their families.

“Most people would think clowns in palliative care might not necessarily go well together. However, we’re naive characters that are coming in really just to give them a choice, whether or not they want to interact with us, first of all. And second of all, just to get a sense of who they are,” the co-founder told CTV News.

Each of the team’s 54 clowns are professional performers. They also have extensive psychosocial training that allows them to gauge whether or not a patient is open to a visit.

In 2021 - the last year statistics were collected - those aged 65 and over represented roughly 20 per cent of Quebec’s population, according to the Institut de la Statistique du Québec. The need for this type of service is growing.

“As an organization that’s contracted by the hospital, we work very hard to work in collaboration with the health care staff,” Holland said.

Even the staff gets to laugh, as the foundation provides comfort, memories and precious moments.