Small JOY is a BIG thing
The Finnish Hospital Clowns Association Sairaalaklovnit ry is a non-profit organization, whose trained clown doctors visit children’s wards entertaining and cheering up the little patients and their families. The hospital clowns help the children forget their illness for a moment, and to be cheerful, laugh freely, and clown around during their hospital stay.
The hospital clowns always work on the child’s terms, and in co-operation with the staff. A happy memory of the clowns visiting the hospital goes a long way. It also helps the child to deal with the hospital experience afterwards.
Our work is is established and regular. The organization is national, and it operates in all the university hospitals across Finland. The clowns also occasionally visit other hospitals in the country. Hospital clowns also take part in procedures. We are continually trying to improve our operation, so that our work supports the child-centered approach in nursing as well as possible.
The clown doctors all have backgrounds as professional performers. They are trained in working in the hospital environment. They have the same hygiene and confidentiality rules as the other staff members. Almost 50 clown rounds are done per month, and our activities reach over 50,000 people annually. What a great number of silly and funny moments together!
THL’s evaluation – five stars!
The Hospital clowning has been peer-reviewed by the THL’s (Finnish Institute of Healt and welfare) evaluation of the evidence-based practices in health and well-being promotion (HYTE-toimintamallien arviointi), also called the “Finnish best practice portal”.
An evaluation report can be found on:
THL’s website -> LINK
Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture
Study project / Impact of Hospital Clown work
A 2018 project by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture enabled a new type of study and impact assessment of hospital clowns. The experiment funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture reinforces the role of artistic and cultural activities in health and social services. The video below about this project is in Finnish with subtitles in English.
Support us
Grants and donations make our work possible. Let’s keep the clowns in hospitals. It is a JOY to be a part of it!
You can support our activities by donating to our fundraising account or by becoming a member.
Thank you for your support!
Donation Account
IBAN: FI2680240710119921
BIC: DABAFIHH
Address: Kaasutehtaankatu 1/4, building 8, FI-00540 Helsinki, Finland
www.sairaalaklovnit.fi | toimisto@sairaalaklovnit.fi
