Finnish Sairaalaklovnit healthcare clowns work regularly in elderly care homes nationwide. Clown visits are targeted especially at elderly people in need of support or otherwise in vulnerable situations, such as people with dementia. Through shared play and connection, the aim is to brighten up the mood, strengthen functional capacity and support social participation.
Collaboration with nursing staff plays an important role. Nursing staff benefit from the expertise of clowns, and clowns can facilitate everyday situations in the nursing home. “The clowns have increased the activity of the residents and brought us joy and laughter”.
Sairaalaklovnit has deepened the collaboration with nursing staff in the PCP-project (Personal Clowning Plan). In the beginning of a project cycle, the clown-artists collaborate with the nursing staff to come up with a plan to use the clowns in a personalized way with each elderly person. For example, if they need more physical activation, company to talk to, music in their lives or socialization with other elderly people in their care home, the clowns can provide that according to their personal plan.
The methods and tools to work with people with dementia have been developed together with experts from different fields and other European healthcare clowning organizations as part of the Creative Europe project called ClowNexus (2020-2023).
Go to member's website
