TY - JOUR
T1 - A Lifetime of Play
T2 - Group Medical Clowning with Older Adults
AU - Korin, Orly
AU - Babis, Deby
AU - Ben-Shalom, Uzi
AU - Gruber, Alejandro Alex
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Orly Korin et al.
PY - 2023/4/24
Y1 - 2023/4/24
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85173924846&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1155/2023/8815548
DO - 10.1155/2023/8815548
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SN - 0966-0410
VL - 2023
JO - Health and Social Care in the Community
JF - Health and Social Care in the Community
M1 - 8815548
ER -