How therapeutic clowning injects humour for a different kind of healing

By the time sick kids reach a clinic, it can be too late. Through home visits, community health workers in Mali are spotting early signs of malaria, pneumonia, diarrheal disease, and malnutrition and providing treatment to sick kids right away. The approach shortens the time between the first signs of illness and treatment, saving lives in one of the countries with the highest rates of child mortality.

Research has found that physical movement, such as dance, can be an affective treatment and rehabilitation for people with Parkinson’s Disease. The Dance Well Initiative brings people with Parkinson’s, as well as community members, together to stage dance performances in gallery spaces as treatment and a creative response to the surrounding art.

The intensive, alert care low weight infants need is often complicated by overstressed parents and overstretched hospital workers. A bracelet that monitors an infants temperature--and gives an alert when the temperature falls to unsafe levels--provides valuable support to ensuring the safety of these vulnerable young lives.

For women working in theatre, child care remains one of the biggest barriers to advancement, but groups of mothers are working to change that and make a more welcoming work place. These solutions include work breaks long enough to accommodate breast-feeding, rooms designated for that purpose, options for babysitting during auditions, and long work hours.

Environments designed with soundscapes and visual art help to reduce anxiety and pain. In London, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has noted a marked improvement in patient experience, including decreased pain and even a reduction in the time women spent in labor, in the presence of artistic installations. Other hospitals in the UK report similar benefits.

A more diverse theater scene requires arts and culture organizations that embrace and reflect communities of color. In Detroit, Michigan, the nonprofit Black and Brown Theatre works to eliminate barriers for actors of color. The organization fosters a supportive network, casting actors, directors, and staff from communities of color in the Detroit area. Still, disparities in access to funding for arts organizations focused on racial minorities remain a challenge.

The Children Living With Cancer Foundation organizes dance parties for children with cancer, to provide them with a sense of joy, encouragement, and community during times of need. The nonprofit also organizes community events and donations and works with local pharmacies to get patients the medicines they need at subsidized rates. So far, the Foundation has supported 300 childhood cancer patients and their families.

What started as a form of therapy turned into a business venture for this group of moms. The aim was to “empower mothers through art” and now they are selling their pieces for a profit.

The Spanish-Language Community Advisory Network works with a performing arts center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, to bring in Latino audiences by showing culturally-relevant films, reducing language barriers, and even inviting the films’ cast and crew to the screenings.

The School of Superheroes brings teachers into hospital wards to work with children being treated there. The individualized lessons give the children something to focus on besides their illness and help them build relationships with their teachers and other students.