{"id":111,"date":"2017-02-13T11:11:54","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T13:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/?p=111"},"modified":"2023-04-14T11:45:16","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T14:45:16","slug":"what-is-the-possible-effect-of-clown-interaction-on-vital-signs-and-nonverbal-communication-of-hospitalized-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/2017\/02\/13\/what-is-the-possible-effect-of-clown-interaction-on-vital-signs-and-nonverbal-communication-of-hospitalized-children\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the possible effect of clown interaction on vital signs and nonverbal communication of hospitalized children?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ana Cl\u00e1udia Puggina, professor, researcher, Universidade Guarulhos (UNG), Guarulhos, SP, Brazil<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The authors highlight that Joy Therapy, Laugh Therapy or Laughter Therapy is a therapeutic method that exists since the 1960s. The physician Hunter Adams, called \u201cPatch Adams\u201d propagated it. Since he was a student, he had already implanted the method in hospitals and schools. Laughter has the ability of decreasing the harmful effects that stress creates in the organism. When a subject laughs, his\/her parasympathetic system acts in the immune system through enkephalins, thus increasing the concentration of antibodies and relieving pains caused by the sympathetic system. Additionally, the level of serum cortisol decreases, the brain releases endorphins, which are substances that relieve pain and ensure a sensation of well-being. Laughter also provides benefits to the subject regarding social aspects. It improves people\u2019s connections and clarifies interpersonal communication; therefore, it becomes a nonverbal communication of well-being. Nonverbal body language brings several messages to good watchers through the acts of completing, replacing or contradicting the verbal language; so, the health professional is in charge of noticing such signs and interpreting them. Thus, one of the ways of minimizing the harmful effects of hospitalization is playful activities, which is a strategy that helps children to express their own feelings. Hence, the study from the Faculdade de Medicina de Jundia\u00ed was carried out with the aim of learning more about the effects of the playful interaction with clowns in nonverbal communication and physiological parameters of hospitalized children.<\/p>\n

A study was conducted from November 2014 to March 2015 in the Pediatric Unit of a university public hospital, including 41 children aged 2 to 11 years old. The study did not include children with intellectual disability and blindness due to the difficulty of their interaction with clowns and of identifying the pain facial scale drawing. A researcher wearing common clothes informed the children about the measurements. After checking their vital signs and early observation of the nonverbal communication, a playful interaction of 20 minutes took place with students who are members of the Joy League of the Faculdade de Medicina de Jundia\u00ed. The researcher observed and noted the nonverbal language throughout the interaction. Then, she checked once more the children\u2019s vital signs.<\/p>\n

The authors show that there were statistically significant alterations during the comparison of means before and after the interaction. After the playful interaction, the systolic and diastolic pressures increased and the pain decreased. \u201cThe nonverbal behavioral changes found in children who interacted with clowns show the effectiveness of such playful activity as a therapeutic resource. Children, in general, were more relaxed, open-minded, and smiley. The intervention was capable of modifying the initial context,” states Ana Claudia Puggina, PhD in Nursing and one of the research authors.<\/p>\n

According to Ana Claudia, only a few scientific studies have sought to investigate the effects of clown interaction using objective indicators (vital signs and nonverbal communication). \u201cThis study brings a pertinent analysis of the playful interaction with clowns as a therapeutic resource to minimize the effects of a stressful environment during hospitalization, to improve the children\u2019s emotional condition, and to decrease pain perception. It contributes to popularize the scientific knowledge, because the study objective, i.e. playing, is an important therapeutic resource to children’s development, with low cost and viable in the hospital environment,” highlighted Ana Cl\u00e1udia Puggina.<\/p>\n

To read the article, access it<\/h3>\n

ALCANTARA, P.L., et al<\/em>. Efeito da intera\u00e7\u00e3o com palha\u00e7os nos sinais vitais e na comunica\u00e7\u00e3o n\u00e3o verbal de crian\u00e7as hospitalizadas. Rev. paul. pediatr<\/em>. [online]. 2016. vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 432-438, ISSN: 1984-0462 [viewed 08\u00a0January\u00a02017]. DOI: 10.1016\/j.rppede.2016.02.011<\/a>. Available from: http:\/\/ref.scielo.org\/cjwrdf<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

External link<\/h3>\n

Revista Paulista de Pediatria – RPP: <http:\/\/www.scielo.br\/rpp<\/a>><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the Faculdade de Medicina de Jundia\u00ed [Jundia\u00ed School of Medicine], in the city of Jundia\u00ed (State of S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil) and Universidade Guarulhos [Guarulhos University], in the city of Guarulhos (State of S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil), published a study that shows the positive and beneficial effects of the interaction of hospitalized children with clowns using as indicators nonverbal communication and vital signs of these children. …<\/span> Read More →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[8,12,37],"tags":[191,38],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-sciences","category-press-releases","category-rpp","tag-medicine","tag-revista-paulista-de-pediatria"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions\/222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.scielo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}