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A funny way to treat patients

A study at Morton Plant Mease shows that laughter is good medicine.

By NICOLE HUTCHESON
Published July 6, 2007

Morton Plant Mease employee Alan Santo gets dusted off by volunteer clown Doris "Kissie" Eilermann as he moves though the cafeteria Thursday morning at the hospital.
	[Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes] Leslie Gibson, R.N. and founder of Comedy Connection at Morton Plant Mease Hospital jokes with her colleague Dr. Mark Michelman. They just completed a study on how laughter can be used as a treatment for the sick. » Fast Facts How to get involved The hospital's Comedy Connection program has been in action for almost 20 years. Through the program, patients are seen by volunteers whose job it is to lift their spirits through tricks, movies and jokes. The program's "Caring Clowns" component includes volunteers dressing up as clowns and visiting patients. To get involved, call (727) 462-7841.

CLEARWATER - To transform into Kissie the clown, Doris Eilermann slips on a pouffy pink wig, puts white paint on her face and accents the look with a bright red nose.

The outfit is to make patients at Morton Plant Mease Hospital laugh. But some medical experts say Eilermann's clown suit is also making them healthier.

Last year, Dr. Mark Michelman and Leslie Gibson, a registered nurse, conducted a study on how laughter affects the body. They used hospital volunteers like Eilermann to conduct the study. They found that giggling decreased pulse rates and increased a cancer-fighting protein called immunoglobulin.

Now, they're working to have the findings published and plan to expand the study to cancer patients.

"Laughter is really nothing more than exercise, " said Michelman, a hematologist whose office is in Clearwater. "It's like internal jogging."

The study of laughter as a viable medical treatment has been studied just minimally. One of the notable findings came out in 1964, when Norman Cousins explored the physical effects of laughter in his book Anatomy of an Illness. The book examined the mind-body connection to healing, including laughter.

Morton Plant Hospital is one of the few hospitals regionally exploring laughter as an approach to health care.

"Our hope is to expand on the literature and hopefully have it so that humor treatment can be added to patients' orders, " Michelman said.

Michelman teamed on the study with Gibson, founder of the hospital's Comedy Connection program, which includes a group of volunteers who dress in clown outfits and visit patients.

To conduct the 12-week study, researchers used two groups of 10. Once a week, each group met. The pilot group would change into clown make-up and costumes and go around and visit patients. The control group had to watch a two-hour-long medical documentary sans the clown outfits.

When the study was complete, each participant's pulse, and levels of immunoglobulins and blood sugar were tested. Each participant was also asked to draw a picture that represented their mood.

The team that dressed up in clown costumes scored better overall, Gibson said.

"If you laugh regularly, even if you are in pain or depressed, you tend to forget everything else, " said Gibson, who is also a liaison with the Hospice of Florida Suncoast.

Eilermann often sees reluctant patients perk up after she or volunteers with the comedy troupe visit. All those participating in Morton Plant's Comedy Connection must first get training on how to approach patients and what to say and not to say.

"Sometimes they'll make a face like they're not sure about you, " said Eilermann, who uses practical jokes and magic tricks to cheer up patients. "But after we come in and talk to them they say they feel better."

Gibson also infuses humor in her role at the hospice. Patients are asked to focus on their most humorous memories.

When the hospital study is published, she hopes laughter will become a more acceptable treatment for the sick.

"We try to remind them that in their life there have been good times, " Gibson said. "We want to bring out the joy in the journey."

Nicole Hutcheson can be reached at nhutcheson@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4162.

[Last modified July 6, 2007, 01:02:50]