Feeling happy and carefree: a qualitative study on the experiences of parents, medical clowns and healthcare professionals with medical clowns

Figures & data

Figure 1. Model of actors and conditions related to the effect of medical clowns.

Table 1. Topic lists for the interviews with parents and focus groups with clowns and healthcare professionals.

Topic list for interviews with parents

1. Child’s problem

2. CliniClown activities that parents have experience with

3. Description of the encounters with the CliniClowns:

– Clown characteristics

– Child’s response

– Response of the parent/caregiver

– If applicable: differences between different encounters/activities

– Effect on parent–child relationship

4. Positive aspects of clown activities

5. Negative aspects of clown activities (room for improvement)

6. Added value of CliniClowns compared with alternatives (for instance, pedagogical staff)

7. When can children benefit from a clown performance? What groups of children?

Topic list for focus groups with clowns and healthcare professionals

1. Round 1: introduction

– Years working as/with CliniClowns

– Experiences with/familiarity with different clown activities

2. Round 2: experiences with CliniClowns

– Example of successful clown performance, that is an example in which the clowns had a positive effect

– Example of unsuccessful clown performance

3. Round 3: facilitators and barriers

– What is important for a successful clown performance?

– What is important for cooperation between clowns and healthcare professionals?

4. Round 4: target groups

– What groups of children can benefit from a clown performance

5. Round 5: the future

– Where or when do CliniClowns have to stay?

– Where or when are CliniClowns missed?

Table 2. Number of participants having experience with the different types of clown activities.

Activities	(Grand)parents n = 14	Clowns n = 7	Pedagogic staff in hospitals n = 7	Healthcare professionals for mentally disabled children (day-care centre employees) n = 10	Healthcare professionals for long-term and chronic care (doctors, nurses and teachers) n = 8
CliniClowns in hospital	10	6	7	1	7
Clowns visit children’s wards in hospital. Main service: two clowns perform for each child individually
Attending a CliniClowns activity	8	6	2	5	4
Children and their parents attend an activity, for example the CliniClowns circus or college
Performance in a school or day-care centre for children with disabilities	7	7	1	9	4
CliniClowns perform for a group of children
Online CliniClowns Club	3	2	0	0	0
CliniClowns have an online community where children can watch movies and interact with CliniClowns and other children