Dr. Clown’s foundation pairs up with palliative care patients in Montreal

The St-Raphaël Palliative Care Home and Day Centre, in partnership with the Dr. Clown Foundation, recently launched a new initiative to explore the therapeutic impact of clowns in palliative care settings.

While Dr. Clown’s artists are typically associated with sick children, co-founder Melissa Holland notes this isn’t their first venture into palliative care.

“We have always operated in CHSLDs with the elderly, so we have experienced several moments of palliative and end-of-life care for people who live in long-term care settings,” she explained.

Two of the foundation’s artists sought to deepen this approach by focusing on those in palliative care who may have cognitive impairments or live in institutions.

“What is special about this reality? Is there something else that the clown can aim towards?” Holland said.

This journey began in 2018, with a pilot project involving patients in CHSLDs, which paved the way for Dr. Clown Foundation’s artists to expand their work across various establishments.

In October 2024, Dr. Clown’s therapeutic clowns made their debut at Maison St-Raphaël, where they will continue biweekly visits until June 2025, joining other institutions like the Jewish General Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital, and Marie-Clarac Hospital in receiving these visits.

“When the Dr. Clown Foundation approached us, we were really interested in trying the experience,” said Véronique Després, therapeutic services director at Maison St-Raphaël. She noted how intrigued they were by this unique approach.

Unlike with children, Holland explained, supporting adults facing end-of-life situations presents a distinct experience.

“It’s an almost sacred moment,” she said. The clowns are respectful, allowing patients to decline a visit if they wish, and they don’t arrive in elaborate costumes. “We are dressed as travelers, as if we were accompanying people who are going on the greatest journey of their lives,” she added.

Després believes clown interventions in palliative care can bring lightness and even joy to the experience.

“People often think that palliative care is a sad and dark environment, but we can laugh, even at the end of life. I would even say that there is room for joy, and I think that the clowns’ intervention brings that too,” she said, adding that just seeing clowns around the hospice positively affects both patients and staff.

Després emphasized that supporting patients nearing the end of life requires a holistic, interdisciplinary approach. “You have to imagine a guitar with several strings, and each string is important to play a melody. The clowns will be a new string on our guitar.”