Abstract

In 1986 Karen Ridd, "Robo," a freelance children's entertainer, started Canada's first therapeutic clown program as a staff hospital clown and child life specialist at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre. She demonstrated how Robo, a silent but wonderfully expressive clown, could use gentle play and humour to minimize the stresses of hospitalization for children. In this issue of Healthcare Quarterly, Nuula, a pink florescent, dancing, space-age clown with a magical green cape gives us a glimpse of the therapeutic clown program at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children that brings laughter, companionship and delight to patients and their families.

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