Call for Abstracts
This is your chance to share your expertise with the world
In 40 years, healthcare clowning has changed dramatically. This art form had to adopt according to the increasing demand of the beneficiaries. Coming from the entertainment sector, healthcare clowns are professionals with a specialized training and have developed their unique skills for working in sensitive settings. The activity is now defined by quality standards and is making its way in different circles as a “non medical approach” to support people’s physical and mental well-being. Let’s take a break and contemplate what has been achieved and what the future challenges will be.
What unites all of us? What defines what we are and what we are not? What makes us different to other humanizing activities in the healthcare and social sectors?
Topics
Submissions are welcomed in the following 5 areas:
1Performing arts and clowning in healthcare
The transforming power of imagination and play
The art of clowning brings lightness, presence, and connection into the most fragile moments of healthcare. In this theme, we explore how artistic expression — through humour, storytelling, improvisation, and character work — uplifts patients, empowers healthcare teams, and transforms medical environments. This is an invitation to reflect on how imagination and play can support the healing process, even in settings of suffering, fear, or isolation. We welcome contributions from artists and clowns, trainers, and researchers who are pushing the boundaries of what performing arts can do in healthcare.
We invite proposals that explore:
- Tools and methods for creating trust, joy, and emotional release in clinical settings
- Artistic practices tailored for diverse populations (neurodiverse, elderly, multicultural)
- The role of humour, magic, music, and presence in uplifting care environments
- Mentoring and training models that sustain high artistic and human standards
- Ways of integrating healthcare clowning into the broader Arts & Health movement
2Art of connecting
Building presence, trust, and inclusive relationships
At the core of healthcare clowning lies connection: being present, listening deeply, and responding with care. In vulnerable, complex, or emotionally intense settings, how can clowns build trust — not just with patients, but also with families, care teams, and each other?
This theme focuses on relational intelligence: the invisible skills and emotional awareness that allow healthcare clowns to adapt, connect, and co-regulate in unpredictable spaces.
We invite proposals that explore:
At the core of healthcare clowning lies connection: being present, listening deeply, and responding with care. In vulnerable, complex, or emotionally intense settings, how can clowns build trust — not just with patients, but also with families, care teams, and each other?
This theme focuses on relational intelligence: the invisible skills and emotional awareness that allow healthcare clowns to adapt, connect, and co-regulate in unpredictable spaces.
We invite proposals that explore:
- Trauma-informed approaches and emotionally safe clowning
- Feedback cultures that support growth, inclusion, and collaboration
- Tools and rituals for grounding, co-presence, and authentic encounters
- Cross-cultural and intergenerational communication in diverse teams
- Meaningful partnerships with healthcare staff, families, and community actors
3Sustainable management and fundraising strategies
Staying mission-driven and resilient in a fast-changing world
Behind every moment of magic is an organization making it possible. How do we lead with purpose, adapt to change, and build structures that support long-term impact? This theme is for leaders, both in management or artistic areas, administrators, and changemakers who balance passion with pragmatism. Let’s share strategies that align vision with viability — and creativity with care.
We invite proposals that explore:
Behind every moment of magic is an organization making it possible. How do we lead with purpose, adapt to change, and build structures that support long-term impact? This theme is for leaders, both in management or artistic areas, administrators, and changemakers who balance passion with pragmatism. Let’s share strategies that align vision with viability — and creativity with care.
We invite proposals that explore:
- Ethical and adaptable funding models for long-term sustainability
- Balancing mission with growth, and values with financial reality
- Inclusive leadership and intergenerational succession planning
- Artist-administrator collaboration and shared governance
- Strategies for resilience in uncertain or under-resourced environments
4Research, impact and social sustainability
Bridging evidence and practice strengthening the field
If we want healthcare clowning to be taken seriously, we must also be rigorous in how we document and communicate its impact. This theme invites researchers, evaluators, and practitioners to explore how data, stories, and evidence can make our work visible, credible, and scalable.
From measuring emotional outcomes to shaping policy, let’s bridge the gap between intuition and evidence, and ensure that what we know from experience can also inform systems.
We invite proposals that explore:
If we want healthcare clowning to be taken seriously, we must also be rigorous in how we document and communicate its impact. This theme invites researchers, evaluators, and practitioners to explore how data, stories, and evidence can make our work visible, credible, and scalable.
From measuring emotional outcomes to shaping policy, let’s bridge the gap between intuition and evidence, and ensure that what we know from experience can also inform systems.
We invite proposals that explore:
- Research collaborations between artists, scientists, and institutions
- Evaluation tools that capture emotional, social, and clinical outcomes
- Professional standards and certification models for healthcare clowning
- Strategies to legitimize and advocate for clowning in health systems
- Making research accessible to funders, policymakers, and practitioners
5The future of humanizing care
Imagining what comes next – for patients, professional clowns, and healthcare systems
As healthcare systems become more technical, standardized, and digital, how do we ensure that healthcare remains human? This theme invites visionary thinkers, pioneers, and innovators to imagine the future of healthcare clowning — not just as an artform, but as a force for systemic change.
From AI to aging, from hospital burnout to social inclusion, let’s ask: how can healthcare clowning respond to tomorrow’s challenges while staying true to its playful, poetic roots?
We invite proposals that explore:
As healthcare systems become more technical, standardized, and digital, how do we ensure that healthcare remains human? This theme invites visionary thinkers, pioneers, and innovators to imagine the future of healthcare clowning — not just as an artform, but as a force for systemic change.
From AI to aging, from hospital burnout to social inclusion, let’s ask: how can healthcare clowning respond to tomorrow’s challenges while staying true to its playful, poetic roots?
We invite proposals that explore:
- Advocacy strategies to embed healthcare clowning structurally in healthcare policies
- New settings for healthcare clowning: digital spaces, youth centres, hybrid care models
- How healthcare clowning can support systemic change and more inclusive health cultures
- Co-creation models with patients, families, and medical teams
- Post-COVID evolution and future-ready training models
Are you ready to shape the future of healthcare?
Submission Deadline: 15 August 2025
Notification of Acceptance: 30 September 2025
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