McMahan Selena Clare
Care Manag J. 2008;9(1):19-24. doi: 10.1891/1521-0987.9.1.19.
Over the past 30 years, there has been aplentitude of research into the health benefits of humor and laughter for healthy, sick, or depressed adults and children as well as for senior citizens. Medical research supports our human instinct that people who smile and laugh are happy, whereas those who are inexpressive are usually not happy. Research shows that humor stimulus results in mirth, which elicits a primarily emotional response with psychological efects, and laughter, which elicits a physical response with physiological effects. The many physiological benefits of laughter in older adults have been clearly demonstrated. Yet much of the medical research is based on experiments using funny videos and cartoons for humor sessions. I argue that "clowning around" with elderly people brings greater benefits than laughter alone. These benefits are clearly evident, though they may not be scientifically measurable: When the game is rooted in the patient's own imagination, thereby giving agency to a powerless individual it is many times more personal and transformative. In this article, I focus on my experiences with older adults while working with Clowns Without Borders and Risaterapia as well as on my own relationship with my grandfather. I provide a framework for why humanitarian clowning and the principles behind it can be incredibly well suited for working with the elderly.
在过去30年里，针对幽默和笑对健康、患病或抑郁的成年人、儿童以及老年人的健康益处，已经进行了大量研究。医学研究支持了我们的人类本能，即微笑和大笑的人是快乐的，而那些面无表情的人通常不快乐。研究表明，幽默刺激会引发欢笑，欢笑主要引发一种带有心理效应的情感反应，而笑则引发一种带有生理效应的身体反应。笑对老年人的诸多生理益处已得到明确证实。然而，许多医学研究是基于使用有趣视频和卡通进行幽默环节的实验。我认为，与老年人“扮小丑逗乐”带来的益处比单纯的笑更大。这些益处显而易见，尽管可能无法科学测量：当游戏植根于患者自己的想象，从而赋予一个无力的个体能动性时，它会更具个人色彩且更具变革性。在本文中，我将重点讲述我在与“无国界小丑”组织和“笑疗法”合作时与老年人相处的经历，以及我自己与祖父的关系。我提供了一个框架，解释为什么人道主义小丑表演及其背后的原则非常适合与老年人打交道。
