Humor for health: a randomized controlled trial of clown visits in Palestinian hospitals

We are proud to be part of a newly published study in World Development showing that professional clown visits can significantly improve the well-being of hospitalized children in Palestine.

 You can find the full study here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/.../pii/S0305750X25003493...

Conducted by the Vienna University of Economics and Business and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis @IIASA, with financial support from the Austrian Development Agency and in collaboration with RED NOSES Palestine the research evaluated bedside clown visits in hospitals in the West Bank. Using a randomized controlled trial, the study found a statistically significant positive effect on children’s well-being during hospitalization, reinforcing the role of low-cost, non-medical artistic interventions in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

 Our sincere thanks to the researchers (Melanie Gräser, Christine Grimm and Roman Hoffmann), healthcare staff, healthcare clowns, and all participating children and families who made this study possible.