As I entered his room, Rodney picked up his head, smiled, and greeted me with a joke. It's that it is so damn lonely, depressing, and sterile. Hospitals should make you feel good to be alive, to motivate you to get well. Three weeks later, Rodney died at the age of thirty-eight. As I pondered my own medical future, I realized that he was right.
Hospitals do tend to drain energy and life out of people.
For over twenty years, researchers have demonstrated the powerful effects that laughter, play, and humor can have on healing. Not according to Patch Adams, MD, a physician and professional clown made famous by the recent film bearing his name, which starred Robin Williams. For 27 years, Adams has advocated the powerful effects that fun, joy, love, humor, creativity, and community have on healing. Adams has made a name for himself in the healing community by standing out from the crowd, challenging traditional medical models, and promoting his radical healthcare delivery system. It will be a work of art that includes all the healing arts and all healing modalities.