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Ap

ril 2

014

NEW ZEALAND ORGANISATION FOR QUALITY

is the best medicine!is the best medicine!

Clown DoctorsClown DoctorsCharitable Trust Charitable Trust

LAUGHTERAUGHTERLLAUGHTERAUGHTER

Official Magazine of the New Zealand Organisation for Quality – April 2014 | 11

Q share: Health sector

Humour in healing and healthcare

The old adage suggests laughter

is the best medicine, but in this

modern age of research and

science is that still the case? Yes, as

Cameron Taylor, Communications

and Marketing Co-ordinator for the

Clown Doctors Charitable Trust

explains:

Early history of ‘clowning’ in medicineClowning originated in ancient Greece, where comedic plays

were staged to bring relief and release from the daily grind.

Some ancient Greek physicians actually prescribed that

their patients go to a comedy as part of treatment. Clowns

held high stature in Native American society, usually fulfi lling

the roles of teacher, priest and doctor, using humour as a

healing tool. During the Middle Ages, court jesters were

popular in throne rooms to relieve the royalty’s stress.

In the 14th Century, French surgeon Henri de Mondeville

prescribed laughter for recovery. “Let the surgeon take care

to regulate the whole regimen of the patient’s life, for joy and

happiness allowing his relatives and special friends to cheer

him and by having someone tell him jokes,” he said.

Prior to challenging the Catholic Church in the 16th Century,

Martin Luther advised depressed members of his parish to

surround themselves with people who could joke and make

them laugh, because he believed it could help cure their

depression. With this rich historic background, humour in

healthcare is clearly not a recent concept.

The science of laughter as medicineSince the 1960s, experiments and scholarly articles have

confi rmed there is a connection between our health and

having a laugh. Clown Doctors New Zealand’s CEO and

Creative Director, Prof. Dr Thomas Petschner is passionate

about this topic: “There is an actual chemical reaction in the

body that happens when you laugh, or even just smile, and

the different hormones that are released actually make you

feel better. It alleviates fear and pain.”

Science has proven that a good belly-laugh produces

endorphins, a chemical which makes you feel good, blocks

pain, and decreases stress. One of the modern pioneers

of healing through humour, Norman Cousins made this

discovery for himself. He had severe spinal arthritis and

found that watching Marx Brothers fi lms gave him genuine

pain relief. He writes in his book Anatomy of Illness

(published 1979) that: “I made the joyous discovery that ten

minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anaesthetic effect

and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep.

When the pain-killing effect of the laughter wore off, we

would switch on the motion picture projector again and not

infrequently, it would lead to another pain-free interval.”

Prof. Dr Thomas Petschner, founder of the International

Institute for Medical Clowning that integrates the science

with applications for patients, writes that “Laughing is also

scientifi cally proven to create more blood cells, boost

your immune system, improve respiration and lower your

cholesterol. So much research has been done in so many

universities around the world, that to dispute a connection

between healing and humour would be like suggesting the

world is actually fl at.”

The NZ clown doctors In 1996 German psychologist Dr Michael Titze proved that

a good chuckle reduces high blood pressure. It’s something

Lisa Wingfi eld, AKA Clown Doctor Bluebottle has seen many

times, commenting that once when a child having her blood

pressure taken it went right down while she was chuckling

away.

Besides the direct chemical and biological responses

caused by laughter, humour can play a much larger role in

the healing process.

“We can use it in hospitals as a distraction for people who

are going to have a painful or a scary procedure,” says

Clown Doctors New Zealand Programme Director Rita

Noetzel. “We’ve seen it time and time again. The staff know

the Clown Doctors are going to be on the ward that particular

day and they just wait until the Clown Doctors are there so

continued on page 10

Prof. Dr Thomas Petschner entertains as Clown Doctor Exami-Nation

10 | Official Magazine of the New Zealand Organisation for Quality – April 2014

Q awards: Conference scholarship

there’ll be a bit of a distraction. It won’t be as traumatic for

the child, it won’t be as traumatic for the family, everyone will

just be happier,” she says.

According to Anne Morgan, Child Services Manager at

the Canterbury District Health Board, being happier also

means being healthier: “Laughing de-stresses you. If you

are de-stressed then you heal faster and that’s the aim of

distraction. If you are going into a procedure or something

and you are really wound up and up-tight, your recovery time

is potentially a little bit longer.”

Lisa Wingfi eld has helped distract many patients from

potential pain and trauma. She shares with me a story about

a little child going to theatre who didn’t want to get on the

bed. Lisa said: “Well I’ll go down to theatre. Oooh it will be

like the movies.” She sat on the bed, and the child sat beside

her with her teddy. They rode to theatre together – having

fun along the way to distract the child. This was supportive

for the parents and staff as it meant they didn’t have a really

scared, anxious child prior to an operation.

Laughing can even help you lose weight. Dr Maciej S.

Buchowski of Vanderbilt University monitored people

watching funny movies and noted that because of the

increased heart rate, they burned about 1.3 calories per

minute. Jogging burns around 10 calories a minute, so do

not expect funny movies to replace time at the gym. But

chuckling for 15 minutes every day for a year could help you

shed nearly two kilograms.

Having a good laugh will not replace antibiotics, time at the

gym, or necessary operations, but it is well documented and

proven that a good giggle can reduce recovery times and

improve your overall well-being. Given the incredible list of

mental and physical health benefi ts, perhaps there is more

than just a grain of truth to that old cliché after all: laughter is

the best medicine!

For further information please contact

cameron@clowndoctors.org.nz

continued from page 11

NZOQ-Lysaght Conference Scholarship 2014Purpose: The aim of this scholarship is to provide an opportunity each year for a person(s)

employed in quality management, and who is (are) a member(s) of NZOQ, to attend a selected Australasian quality conference

to improve their knowledge of contemporary quality management practices and associated topics, meet other quality

professionals and working networks and other ‘centre approaches’ in Australia and New Zealand.

Value: This scholarship has a value of up to NZ$1,500 towards the cost of the conference attendance (to include registration,

travel, accommodation and subsistence costs, etc).

Eligibility: Candidates are invited to apply to NZOQ for consideration for the scholarship. The scholarship criteria are as

follows: 1. Only one nomination per individual and/or company member is permitted each year.

2. Scholarships will normally be granted to an individual only once.

3. Candidates must be an individual member of NZOQ and/or an employee of a company member of NZOQ. If the candidate is not

already an individual member of NZOQ, then the host company member is to arrange for the candidate to become an individual

member of NZOQ.

4. Candidates must be operating at a junior or middle level of quality management or supervision and have a minimum of three (3)

years’ experience within a quality management environment.

5. Candidates will be required to nominate in their application for this Scholarship, the specifi c area of interest that they wish to

concentrate on at the conference of their choice.

6. Candidates must agree to provide a written report on their conference experience. The report is to be of no fewer than 300 words

and suitable for publication in QNewZ. It is expected that the report will be submitted to NZOQ within four (4) weeks of completing

their Scholarship / attendance at the conference.

7. Scholarship applicants may be required to undertake an interview.

Evaluation: An evaluation of scholarship applications will be conducted by a Review Panel, established by the NZOQ Board.

The Review Panel will make recommendations to the Board for scholarship(s), who will then make the fi nal decision on the

award. More than one Scholarship can be awarded in any calendar year.

The successful applicant(s) will be required to produce a written report within four (4) weeks of attending the conference, giving

an outline of the conference programme, highlights, information obtained and how the new knowledge will be applied to the

applicant’s work. The report shall be no fewer than 300 words and will be published in the NZOQ newsletter (QNewZ).

Administration: Successful applicant(s) are expected to make their own conference attendance arrangements. A successful

applicant or their employer should pay for all travel costs and those other costs associated with the conference attendance. The

successful applicant(s) or their employer would then forward a copy of the claim/appropriate invoices to the NZOQ Executive

Director for reimbursement of the NZOQ (Scholarship) contribution.

In the normal course of events, NZOQ will pay 80% of the scholarship amount upon receipt of copies of conference-related

invoices, with the balance of 20% paid upon receipt of the written report.

Closing Date for 2014 Scholarship is September 30, 2014.

For further information contact: membership@nzoq.org.nz