Making jokes would better convey public health messages and improve communication between healthcare professionals and patients.
- Humor can act as an effective vehicle for conveying messages that people might find frightening or threatening.
- Humor can also be used to establish a relationship between the professional and the patient.
- It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, and it can’t work with everyone and every situation.
Laughter might be the best medicine for a healthy life. In a new study, which is a meta-analysis of 13 studies published over the past 10 years, Scottish and Australian researchers say humorous interventions can be effective in influencing people’s behavior and intentions about their health. This was published on August 19 in theAustralian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.
Humor to communicate serious messages
Scottish actress and physiotherapist Elaine Miller, a member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, led the study. “I’ve seen comedy tackle the most taboo subjects on stageshe said. My field is incontinence, which is often very embarrassing for people to talk about, but because laughter is universal, it has the potential to reach people widely..”
In collaboration with Australian researchers from Monash University, Elaine Miller analyzed 13 studies published over the past 10 years in which humor had been used to communicate serious messages. This covered topics such as mental health, breast and testicular cancer self-examination, safe sex, skin cancer and excessive alcohol consumption.
Not a one-size-fits-all approach
The review of different research found that humor can act as an effective vehicle for conveying messages that people might find frightening or threatening. “Humor, if used well, can be an emotional buffer that breaks some of that fear so that the underlying messages hit the mark.“, continues the physiotherapist.
The artist moderates on the all-out use of humor which cannot work in all situations and with all people. “It’s definitely not a one-size-fits-all approachshe points out.. A misjudged joke can ruin the message of a health campaign, a therapeutic relationship, a concert, or all three. Humor is very complex and further research to examine humor and the promotion of public health is certainly warranted..”
Encourage discussion
Humor can also be used to establish a relationship between the professional and the patient. “Importantly, this review pointed out that humor can be used as a tool to encourage conversation and sharing.says Professor Helen Skouteris, who participated in the study. It’s not just a way to send a message, but actually encourages people to talk about it and be open with others, which we believe can lead to influencing societal perceptions and behaviors around important public health prevention messages.”
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