A Lifetime of Play: Group Medical Clowning with Older Adults

Abstract

Play is fundamental to a person’s well-being. However, cultural norms and ageism have negatively impacted this practice among older adults. This study explored to what extent medical clowning promotes play among older adults. Qualitative data were collected in weekly group sessions of medical clowning in an Israeli retirement home. Group medical clowning offered participants a new sort of playground, which combined body play, cognitive play, and role-play. The clown created an ambience that legitimized older adults’ loosening-up, expanding their space, feeling happy, and developing new creative interactions. He enabled participants to get involved in free play, thus freeing them of social constructions regarding older adults. The medical clown created a community of play and legitimized play among older adults, thereby breaking rules based on social stereotypes, the convention that older adults should not behave nonsensically and challenging the accepted social norms of the retirement home.