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To the Operating Room! Positive Effects of a Healthcare Clown Intervention on Children Undergoing Surgery

In the present study we examined the positive effects of a healthcare clown intervention on children undergoing surgeries, and the role parent-child relationships may play in their effectiveness. Children between 5 and 12 years, who were scheduled to undergo elective surgical procedures in a large u...

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Autores principales: Markova, Gabriela, Houdek, Lukas, Kocabova, Zuzana
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8093515/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33959583
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.653884
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author Markova, Gabriela
Houdek, Lukas
Kocabova, Zuzana
author_facet Markova, Gabriela
Houdek, Lukas
Kocabova, Zuzana
author_sort Markova, Gabriela
collection PubMed
description In the present study we examined the positive effects of a healthcare clown intervention on children undergoing surgeries, and the role parent-child relationships may play in their effectiveness. Children between 5 and 12 years, who were scheduled to undergo elective surgical procedures in a large university hospital, were randomly assigned to an intervention group (IG; n = 35) that was visited by a healthcare clown, and a control group (CG; n = 27) that received treatment as usual (i.e., company of parents before the surgery). Children in both groups were videotaped and the videos were later used to rate their activity, arousal, emotional expressivity, and vocalizations. Additionally, children and parents rated their mood and perceived quality of life at several points during the procedure, and parents reported their perceptions of the relationship with their children. Results showed that children in the IG showed more positive emotions and vocalizations than children in the CG. Parents of children in the IG also reported more positive mood than parents of children in the CG. In contrast, children in the CG reported higher quality of life than children in the IG. Importantly, analyses showed considerable effects of the parent-child relationship on all outcome measures. Results of the present study demonstrate that a healthcare clown intervention had some positive effects on behaviors and mood of hospitalized children and their parents. Importantly, our findings also suggest that we need to consider the pre-existing “relationship microcosmos” that the clowns enter when assessing their effectiveness in the hospital.
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spelling pubmed-80935152021-05-05 To the Operating Room! Positive Effects of a Healthcare Clown Intervention on Children Undergoing Surgery Markova, Gabriela Houdek, Lukas Kocabova, Zuzana Front Public Health Public Health In the present study we examined the positive effects of a healthcare clown intervention on children undergoing surgeries, and the role parent-child relationships may play in their effectiveness. Children between 5 and 12 years, who were scheduled to undergo elective surgical procedures in a large university hospital, were randomly assigned to an intervention group (IG; n = 35) that was visited by a healthcare clown, and a control group (CG; n = 27) that received treatment as usual (i.e., company of parents before the surgery). Children in both groups were videotaped and the videos were later used to rate their activity, arousal, emotional expressivity, and vocalizations. Additionally, children and parents rated their mood and perceived quality of life at several points during the procedure, and parents reported their perceptions of the relationship with their children. Results showed that children in the IG showed more positive emotions and vocalizations than children in the CG. Parents of children in the IG also reported more positive mood than parents of children in the CG. In contrast, children in the CG reported higher quality of life than children in the IG. Importantly, analyses showed considerable effects of the parent-child relationship on all outcome measures. Results of the present study demonstrate that a healthcare clown intervention had some positive effects on behaviors and mood of hospitalized children and their parents. Importantly, our findings also suggest that we need to consider the pre-existing “relationship microcosmos” that the clowns enter when assessing their effectiveness in the hospital. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-04-20 /pmc/articles/PMC8093515/ /pubmed/33959583 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.653884 Text en Copyright © 2021 Markova, Houdek and Kocabova. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Markova, Gabriela
Houdek, Lukas
Kocabova, Zuzana
To the Operating Room! Positive Effects of a Healthcare Clown Intervention on Children Undergoing Surgery
title To the Operating Room! Positive Effects of a Healthcare Clown Intervention on Children Undergoing Surgery
title_full To the Operating Room! Positive Effects of a Healthcare Clown Intervention on Children Undergoing Surgery
title_fullStr To the Operating Room! Positive Effects of a Healthcare Clown Intervention on Children Undergoing Surgery
title_full_unstemmed To the Operating Room! Positive Effects of a Healthcare Clown Intervention on Children Undergoing Surgery
title_short To the Operating Room! Positive Effects of a Healthcare Clown Intervention on Children Undergoing Surgery
title_sort to the operating room! positive effects of a healthcare clown intervention on children undergoing surgery
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8093515/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33959583
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.653884
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