A experiência de tornar-se palhaço e a influência na relação de cuidado

Abstract

This is a study on the experience of the Clown in health care practices. We seek to know and understand how this experience is felt in care relations with the other and how it interferes with the perceptions that people have of themselves, of the care practices and of the environment. This paper investigates the experience of 4 participants who work as Clowns in institutions that offer health care services. A qualitative methodology, which focuses on the experience as a way of producing knowledge and building oneself, was used. The narratives of the participants were guided by a semi-structured questionnaire sent via email and analyzed using the Roundtable Methodology. Participants indicated their personal and professional unsatisfactory experiences on the existing care institutions and vocational training as a primary motivation to become Clowns. Further, they aim to build more humanized care practices, through a communication focusing not on the disease but rather on stimulating health capacity, joy and life. The Clown mobilizes and evokes a power that is able to generate transformative changes in the health care concept, the health professionals and those for whom they care.