2024 Humor, Healing, and Dementia Seminar

Event Introduction

Embracing Dementia—Let Us Work Together to Build a Positive and Proactive Vision

As individuals or members of society, when we hear the words “dementia,” we almost inevitably condemn this “terrible disease” as one in which patients will spend the rest of their lives like the living dead; their memory and ability to think—things that people should have—will be taken away, leaving only an empty shell continuing to live. At the same time, we also understand that people have not yet fully understood dementia—a complex disease—and have not yet successfully found a cure.

Key Questions

Faced with this social issue, let us ask ourselves: As caregivers, what can we learn from the experiences of healing clowns?

• What if…our arrival could enrich the lives of people with dementia and establish hope for the future? And give them connection in the present: using curiosity to inspire deep listening and intuitive, pure responses. Might we be able to add more empathy, playfulness, and creativity to society?
• What if…caregivers were willing to show their vulnerability and genuine feelings? Perhaps this could dissolve the definitions and boundaries between helpers and those being helped, so that the beneficiaries would no longer be limited to people with dementia, but would also include caregivers themselves, families, and medical professionals?
• What if…we changed the old culture and perceptions surrounding dementia? Perhaps this could help society grow?

Through games and reflection; anecdotal stories and case studies; as well as scientific data and personal experience, speaker Olivier will lead us on a journey. Let us explore together, from a new perspective, the relationship between humor, healing, and people with dementia.

Roundtable Discussion

Since 2019, the Red Nose Care Clown Association and the Taipei Veterans General Hospital-affiliated You-Yi-Ju Community Long-Term Care Institution have collaborated on Taiwan’s first initiative involving professional healing clowns entering a long-term care institution to interact and perform with older adults, and this collaboration continues to this day. During these five uninterrupted years of clown performances and interactions, many valuable experiences and surprising observations have accumulated.

Through this roundtable forum, we can share with professionals in the long-term care field the practical experience our healing clowns have accumulated while serving people with dementia. This is not only a unique local experience in Taiwan, but may also be the only such experience in Asia.

Through this forum, we hope to convey the methods and concepts of humor and healing to more professionals serving in the long-term care field. Through dialogue with international professionals, we also hope to understand Taiwan’s position in the world

Organizer

Red Nose Care Clown Association (Dr. Red Nose)

Co-organizer

Taipei Veterans General Hospital-affiliated You-Yi-Ju Community Long-Term Care Institution

Sponsor

Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government

Date

August 24, 2024 (Saturday), 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Location:

Room 602, 6F, Chang Yung-Fa Foundation International Convention Center (No. 11, Zhongshan South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei) 

Participants:

1. Practitioners in medicine and nursing, rehabilitation, social work, psychology, art therapy, and related fields serving older adults and seniors.
2. Faculty and students in nursing, rehabilitation, social work, geriatric care, elderly welfare, health management, and related departments.
3. Individuals from government, industry, and academia involved in lifelong learning and education for older adults.

Fee:

The seminar is free of charge; advance registration is required.

Continuing Education Credits:

► This course is approved for 2 hours of continuing education for long-term care personnel, equivalent to 2.4 professional credits
► This course is approved for 3 hours of continuing education for social workers, equivalent to 3 professional knowledge credits
► Continuing education credits for nurses and Western medical physicians are pending application.
► Confirmed credits are subject to announcements by the respective associations

Registration Method

The seminar is limited to 70 participants. Please register through the Accupass event registration page

Notes:

1. In accordance with the continuing education credit review regulations, participants must sign in in the morning and at noon on the day of the event. Thank you for your cooperation.

2. Event information will be sent by email one week before the event. Please check your email carefully. 

3. Refreshments will be provided at the event. To support environmental protection, please bring your own reusable cup and tableware.

4. The keynote speech will be delivered in English. Interpretation equipment will be available on site; participants may rent it from the organizer according to their needs.

5. No free parking is available at the event venue. Please use public transportation whenever possible. 

Seminar Schedule

▲ Seminar Keynote Speaker | Olivier-Hugues Terreault / Senior Healing Clown

Olivier-Hugues Terreault is a healing clown, international speaker, meditation teacher, and author. He is dedicated to creating a more empathetic culture of care. Olivier-Hugues grew up in Montreal, Canada, lived in Rio de Janeiro, and currently resides in Montpellier, southern France.

The social techniques used by Olivier-Hugues make communication between people and those with dementia less difficult. He also continues to use social art to dispel public stigma surrounding aging, institutionalization, and dementia. The results of his long-term efforts led to Olivier-Hugues being nominated as an Ashoka Fellow of the globally renowned Ashoka Network, making him a celebrated social entrepreneur.

Furthermore, Olivier-Hugues is a co-founder of the Dr Clown Foundation (2002, Montreal, Canada), Canada’s most important and professional healing clown organization.

In 2012, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Olivier-Hugues and his partners co-founded a nonprofit organization, Teatro do Sopro, a social startup in Brazil. As a co-founder, Olivier-Hugues has worked with his partners to produce projects about empathy and social clowning, with highly groundbreaking results.

Since 2014, Olivier-Hugues has also been an active member of the Lab60+ team. Lab60+ is an international social laboratory that collectively creates many innovative works and activities in response to population aging and the global trend toward longer lifespans. The team also uses clown performances and empathetic perspectives to restore autonomy to older adults. Since 2020, he has collaborated with the University of Montpellier, the University of Montpellier Medical Center, and the World Health Organization, co-founding the Correct Self-Identification research center with other scholars to develop meditation programs suitable for people with emotional disorders and those unable to control their emotional fluctuations.

▲ Roundtable Moderator | Ma Chao-Chi / Founder and Secretary-General of Dr. Red Nose

Dr. Red Nose (Red Nose Care Clown Association) is Taiwan’s first professional medical clown organization. Founded by Ms. Ma Chao-Chi, it began serving in 2015 and was formally established as a civic association in 2017.

The warmth of Dr. Red Nose not only encourages patients but also eases the pressure on surrounding family members and medical teams, helping them recharge and regain their spirits as they face future challenges. Dr. Red Nose serves at 24 medical institutions, including National Taiwan University Children’s Hospital, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, China Medical University Children’s Hospital, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, and Taitung Mackay Memorial Hospital, reaching more than 160,000 people.

Since 2019, it has performed at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital You-Yi-Ju Day Care Center, Taipei Veterans General Hospital geriatric wards, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital geriatric wards, and Taipei Medical University Hospital’s Stone Soup, designing performances specifically for older adults and seniors with dementia. These performances add enjoyment to hospitalization and daily life, strengthen perception and reconnection with the community, restore self-affirmation and fulfillment, and accompany older adults as they grow old with smiles. They also help create a people-centered, friendly healthcare environment in preparation for the arrival of a super-aged society.

▲ Roundtable Panelist | Ke Li-Ju / Director of Operations and Nurse, Taipei Veterans General Hospital You-Yi-Ju Day Care Center

To support the government’s long-term care policy goal of expanding day care centers, Taipei Veterans General Hospital innovatively established a PACE-model day care center in 2018. It was the first day care center in a medical center in Taipei City. Combining local needs and characteristics and backed by an interdisciplinary professional team, it provides families and caregivers with necessary professional assistance, care, and medical services. It offers diverse activities and functional enhancement training to maintain older adults’ dignity and improve their quality of life, while preventing and delaying physical and mental functional decline.