Clown Doctors – Adelaide
The South Australian Clown Doctors programme treats sick children in hospital with a special kind of medicine; doses of fun, smiles and laughter.

This is the third year that UCF has been proud to support the Clown Doctors’ programme in Adelaide to help create and spread smiles where they are needed most, and to make laughter the best medicine.

The Clown Doctors use humour and play to parody the hospital routine and assist in the emotional healing, empowerment, treatment and recovery of seriously ill children. The program aims to improve the quality of life for sick children and their families in hospital, promote positive mental health and coping, facilitate a sense of control, and enhance psychological well-being during times of serious illness, trauma, anxiety, injury, fear and stressful situations.

Clown Doctors help children feel less traumatised by medical procedures. Oversized medical equipment, ‘red-nose’ transplants, ‘cat’ scans, humour checks and funny bone examinations are all part of the performance, enhanced by the essential resources and props.

A UCF grant of $2,000 helps to continue to fund the resources – such as bubble mix, hand puppets and smile-on-a-stick props, children’s mementos and giveaways – that the Clown Doctors use and provide when interacting and engaging with sick children in hospital.