Main description:

This book details results of a study that sought to understand the relationship of children who were provided palliative cancer care, their families and the palliative care unit team members with healthcare clowns of an organization that is part of this team. More specifically, the book explores the roles healthcare clowns play in an Oncology Unit and PINDA center in Santiago, Chile. With a qualitative approach, an emergent and cross-sectional design, and strict ethical considerations, data were collected between December 2019 and December 2020. In total, 36 participants were interviewed, while drawings and photographs were collected as documents, and discussion groups were held for each cluster (encompassing mothers, the clinical team and healthcare clowns) to deepen aspects revealed in the interview analysis. Within the book, the results of the research are arranged in emerging themes related to positive effects on well-being and quality of life, especially for validation and emotional regulation, the humane healthcare that the healthcare clown provides in this context, the healthcare clown as a mediator in this transition period, bonds of friendship with children and their inclusion as family members, and the complementarity of this technique with traditional treatments.