text: Li Yizhen
(All pictures in this article: Photo by Huang Jianbin, Parent-Child World)
In order to break the cold experience of children being hospitalized, there is a group of clown doctors in Taiwan called and trained by the theater troupe. They use music, magic, and hand dolls to play with their children in the hospital, so that they can regain their smiles and make the ward lively and warm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Wednesday afternoon, two colorful red-nose clowns appeared in the corridor. They sang in Uklili with a loud voice: "Mr. Wang has a piece of land, ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya
They are clown doctors "Xiaohua" and "Hijiu". After they ran into the orange curtain of Junming (pseudonym) hospital bed, Hijiu tidied up the long braids thirty centimeters tall on his head and spoke seriously to the sick child. Xiaohua pretended to record his condition seriously (but she later found out that she didn't hold a pen at all).
"Hello Junming, are you doing well today? Well, very good. I am your real attending physician Hi, I am too busy. I usually send that (suddenly paused, my eyes were crooked, and I secretly glanced at the famous brand of the attending physician on the wall and said that... Shenglin came, Shenglin was my assistant, I was the real attending physician... "After talking nonsense, Xiaohua secretly played pass and said, "Someone is here." Hi, shouting, "What? The real doctor is here, then go!" The fake business card was halfway through, and the two hurriedly escaped from the ward, but left their real smiles to Junming and their family.
clowns give sick children the right to say no
Of course, they are not "real" doctors, but they are "not just" clowns. They are the "Red Nose Doctor" program organized by the Sadine Pangke Troupe, and the second of the seven professional clown doctor performers in Taiwan were trained. Ma Zhaoqi, the leader of the group of Sadine Pangke and the first clown doctor in Asia, said: "The clown is not a therapist, and it is impossible for children to lose pain when they see them. However, clowns can make children laugh. Although laughter does not have a healing function, they can make children concentrate on happy performances and no longer be trapped in illnesses."
Seven clown doctors wearing "little red balls" on their noses are currently in a group of two, and they perform for half a day every week in the children's wards of National Taiwan University, Taichung General Rong, and the affiliated hospitals of China Medical University. They play with the hospital in various ways such as music, magic, hand puppets, improvisation, etc., trying to wipe away the tears of the sick children with joy and make the hospital no longer so cold. They not only accompany children and family members, but also medical staff, making the ward lively and energetic, and no longer sick.
"In the past, when the child cried, many people would go to pressure, but the more he pressed, the more he cried, the more he cried, the harder he could not find the blood vessels; when the clown came and the child was in a relaxed mood, the blood vessels were easy to find." Hou Huiming, the nurse of the children's ward who had served for more than 20 years, humorously portrayed the "most practical benefits" of the clown doctor.
Of course, Hou Huiming also observed that sick children have many movement restrictions and cannot go to public places or cinemas. In the ward, in addition to watching TV and sliding tablets, they are in a daze and sleeping. Parents can only talk seriously about the condition and treatment plans with medical staff. "On the day when the clown comes, the children will be happy and look forward to it and smile. Some children will stand in the corridor early and tilt their heads to wait to see if the clown is here."
In addition to making the sick children laugh, the clown also retains their autonomy to say "no". When the sick child comes to the hospital, he cannot say "no" to any medical treatment, and he has to bear the burden no matter how hard he is. However, the child can order the clown to sing the "Monster Watch", designate a certain magic trick, or refuse the clown and say "no" to them.
However, it is not so easy for the clown to get rid of it."If the clown asks at the door of the ward, 'Can we go in?' The child replied, 'No', we will still walk in and start playing the 'No' game with the child," said Xie Huijun, who is the clown's name "Xiaohua". They will carefully observe the child's reaction while walking in. Sometimes the child wants to play with the clown, but if he slowly gets closer, he finds that the child's face begins to twist and shows a fearful expression, they will retreat immediately.
You must understand medical knowledge and child psychology
In addition to the professional ability of improvisation, the clown doctor must receive training in medical education, basic medical knowledge, child psychological development, how to face stress and sadness, and even participate in the morning meeting of the "real doctor". Before the performance, you must ask the nurse to ask the nurse to master the condition, age, and family status of each child, and make appropriate and improvised observations and reactions. The clown doctor is not as simple as making people laugh.
The clown doctor performance, which has been popular in Europe and the United States for many years, has also encountered difficulties in promoting it in Taiwan. For example, some relatively conservative medical units will think that clown performances are "outside medical care" and there is no need to provide them; some parents think that their children are seriously ill, have poor physical strength, and are afraid of infection, so they can just play for a while, or hope to not be disturbed at all. Fu Yunqing, director of Zhongrong Children's Medicine Department, said: "We hope that the clown doctor is an important part of friendly children's medical care. We hope to break the previous bad experience of taking children to hospital, but the boundaries of infection control will indeed be the biggest consideration at present."
"No problem, the clown pays great attention to hygiene details. Come on, let's wash your hands together!" Xiaohua fell in love with Mingjie (pseudonym) who had been waiting in the corridor for half an hour at first sight. Mingjie had just finished the surgery, and he was dragging a little bottle with his right hand and wearing a mask on his face. He was a cool guy with zero expressions. Xiaohua washed his hands with anticipation and then turned around and asked Hijiu: "Doctor, is it normal for him to wash his hands and wash a lot of 'xian' (sweat dirt)?" Xiaohua shyly stretched out her hand and retracted it, but was the one next to her who was quick to get up first. The two of them couldn't close and almost started to fight. They just played "handshake" like this for almost five minutes. Mingjie, with zero expressions, laughed until his body trembled, and she laughed out loud. Mingjie and his mother standing next to her instantly seemed to be an ordinary mother and son watching street artists in the park, so happy.
▲Creating the child to laugh also heal the hearts of parents
1-year-old and 6-month-old Xiaowei (pseudonym, picture above) got a brain tumor and was hospitalized for chemotherapy. Xiaowei's father was in a low mood and was unwilling to be interviewed. The clown doctor played "Baby" gently and slowly approached Xiaowei's bed. Xiaohua held the giraffe balloon that made a chirping sound and touched Xiaowei's hand on the hospital bed. Xiaowei made a happy voice of "Yeah, um" to respond to the clown. At the end of "Baby", Xiaohua took out a red nose from her waist pocket and put it on her father's nose. Xiaowei excitedly kicked the bed with her feet. Her father's facial muscles and eyebrows slowly loosened, and Xiaowei and dad laughed.
When the performance ended, my father nodded to the medical staff frequently and thanked him: "Xiaowei is really happy, so he makes a ummy sound." Xiaowei is the third child in the family, and Xiaowei's mother is accompanying the same seriously ill boss in another hospital... After just 3 minutes of performance, the clown left. His father hugged Xiaowei on the hospital bed, happily pinched his red nose, continuing the laughing time.
▲The clown doctor 20 various props and equipment
Xiaohua (right) and Hijiu (left) have more than 20 professional props on her body: Uklili, giraffe balloons that make noise, bubble blowing bottles hanging around her neck, red nose, white cat face makeup, backpack, long braids and big bows on her head, red nose and stickers that can be used as small gifts, sandbags, waist backpacks, bright dresses, close-fitting socks, scarves, big flower cartoon underwear, red nose doctor badges and masks, etc. Everyone has their own equipment and talent props. As long as you pass through the toy store, you will have occupational diseases and run in to replenish new products. From time to time, you have to learn new talents and increase the richness of your performance.
▲The four majors of the Joker Doctor
1. The tacit understanding
The Joker Doctor is usually performed by a white-faced clown and a red-nose clown.Xiaohua is a "Red-nosed clown". The character is set as a girl who is old but likes to pretend to be cute. Xiaohua's tricks and desperation is handled by the more powerful "white-faced clown". The clown has its own character settings, but when he wins it with Hong Nose, Xiaohua (Xie Huijun) and Hijiu (Zeng Guifang) are another person.
2. The roundabout performance
When shaking hands, the clown will immediately exert his right hand and then change his left hand immediately. The clown doesn't like to go straight, otherwise the performance will be over.
3. Master the condition
There is a notebook before the performance of the clown. It says:
Latest condition (what treatments have just been received, fever, anesthesia has not subsided, etc.), and determine whether it is suitable for certain performances;
Gender and age (deciding to perform "Missing You So Much", "Shirting" or "Baby");
Family status (if the new resident mother is not good in Mandarin, single parents should avoid asking questions from parents);
Limb disability (if the left foot is inconvenient, avoid asking the child to raise his left foot).
4. Regular experience exchange
The clown doctor will be rejected, the performance will be unsuccessful, and the child's condition will become weak. The clown doctor needs to meet regularly and exchange experiences. When a clown fails, he is most often encouraged by sick children: "Clown, it's okay!" Xiaohua said that she would be "touched by goosebumps."
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