Would you believe some of the most impactful children’s doctors have no medical training? These docs are none other than the Red Nose Docs of Healthy Humor, who make “clown rounds” daily, visiting children in hospitals nationwide.
The Healthy Humor nonprofit was born 40 years ago out of the Big Apple Circus when a co-founder realized “healthcare clowning” was an unfulfilled necessity. Today, the Red Nose Docs can be found at fifteen hospitals focusing on bringing humor to hard days.
The New York City-based organization is present all around the country. Many hospitals including Johns Hopkins, Children’s National, and Yale New Haven Health, have welcomed Healthy Humor performers to visit their patients.
Healthy Humor serves around 600,000 kids with just 60 performers and has organized various community events. Performers audition, receive training, and then work locally, serving members of their own communities.
Visits from the Red Nose Docs help reduce stress for patients and parents, with many speaking out about how the silly songs and dances from Red Nose Docs help distract their children from their upcoming surgeries and provide some relief.
The performers’ wacky names like Dr. Waffles and Dr. MooChacha, will surely bring a smile to anyone’s face.
Healthy Humor CEO Dina Paul-Parks believes the actors, musicians, clowns, etc., that do this work understand it’s more than a production.“Their primary purpose in this role is to serve those who are hurting, not to ‘perform.’ They are trained to meet people where they are and transform that moment of trauma or suffering into one of lightness, joy, hope, and resilience.”
Three exceptional women founded Healthy Humor. Dina Paul-Parks, Karen McCarty, and Deborah Kaufmann, who each previously worked for the Big Apple Circus. The founders each bring different skills to the table, making Healthy Humor the great cause it is today.
Paul-Parks has a political background and even served as a senior policy advisor to Michael Bloomberg and Andrew Cuomo. McCarty has a BFA in directing and acting, and Kaufmann has her own popular character, “Dr. Dibble.”
The organization has several core values, each surrounding the idea that Healthy Humor strives to “inspire laughter in others.” Each performer is also sure to follow the necessary health protocols in place for each unique patient.
While Red Nose Docs wear white lab coats just like the patient’s healthcare workers, their colorful outfits, bright face paint, and the essential red nose let kids know they’re there to deliver laughter, not medicine. However, Healthy Humor proves laughter may be the best medicine of all.
Dina Paul-Parks knows clowns may not be the first thing you’d expect to see in a hospital. “It may look like it’s just fun and games, and some might even say frivolous. But it’s incredibly powerful work, and I can’t wait for more people to learn about how life-changing it can be.”
To learn more about Healthy Humor, the hospitals they visit, and the great work Red Nose Docs do, visit healthyhumorinc.org or follow the organization on Instagram and TikTok.
