The practice of the art of clowning by a person with aphasia: a case report

Abstract

This study addresses the effects of the art of clowning on the quality of life and wellbeing of a woman presented with aphasia and depression. She was discharged from individual Speech-Language Therapy due to improved language skills, but she continued expressing emotional complaints associated with communicative situations. The participant joined Palhafasia, a community project that welcomes aphasics for group clowning sessions. She participated for six months in once-a-week meetings that lasted three hours each. The comparison of pre- and post-intervention measures detected improvements in her quality of life, including communication and subjective well-being of the participant. This innovative case study provides a preliminary contribution that must be further investigated. The study points to the potential benefits of the practice of clowning to promote quality of life and well-being of people with aphasia who suffer from depression.

Playing remotely in times of crisis: A program to overcome social isolation

“…We highlight the frequent initiatives of artistic performance from participants, who often spontaneously lead singing, clowning, dancing and puppetry informal presentations during group sessions of the Playful Living program. Older adults living with aphasia and dementia seem to experience joy in performing art presentations, this has been reported in studies which describe the practice of clowning, 40 musical performance, 41 and stand‐up comedy sessions 42 . Exploring the therapeutic effects of actively engaging in art performance is a promising area of investigation, and further studies should seek to obtain robust findings on the effects of such practices, as they seem to have the potential to stimulate agency and wellbeing.…”