As healthcare systems evolve, pediatric treatment increasingly takes place outside the traditional hospital setting — at home, in outpatient clinics, and via digital platforms. This shift challenges Danske Hospitalsklovne to rethink how healthcare clowning can continue to deliver meaningful, person-centered care to children and families across these diverse contexts. This session presents insights from the ClownBulance: a fully equipped, playful mobile unit co-created by healthcare clowns, clinicians, play designers, children, and their families in a Danish context.

The format of this session will mirror the ClownBulance’s mobile nature by creating a pop-up conversation salon — a temporary, outdoor, and interactive space for conference participants. This salon invites participants into a playful, reflective dialogue on the future of care and the evolving role of healthcare clowning in tomorrow’s healthcare systems. In doing so, it becomes both a participatory experience and a platform for dialogue, advocacy, and cross-disciplinary exchange. 

Framed as an exhibition and interactive dialogue, the session will demonstrate how artistic practice, play design, and healthcare partnerships intersect to co-create new modes of care delivery. In doing so, the session investigates how mobile units like the ClownBulance can expand the spatial and emotional boundaries of healthcare clowning beyond hospital walls and contribute to systemic change in pediatric care.

Learn more about the project: https://danskehospitalsklovne.dk/klovnbulance/ 

The ClownBulance, an ambulance for the soul, will also be present at HCIM 2026, right outside the main entrance. Come and discover this unique mobile care experience!