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Gold Nuggets. Gold Humanism Honor Society presents. Gold Humanism Honor Society. Recognize, support and promote values of humanism and professionalism in medicine
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Gold Nuggets Gold Humanism Honor Societypresents
Gold Humanism Honor Society • Recognize, support and promote values of humanism and professionalism in medicine • Work within and beyond medical education to inspire, nurture and sustain lifelong advocates and activists for patient-centered medical care
Humor’s Role in Medicine • Humor and Health • Humor and Patient-Physician Communication • Humor and the Health Professional • Humor in Medical Education
Humor and Health • NORMAN COUSINS, “ANATOMY OF AN ILLNESS” • Treated ankylosing spondylitis with “laughter and Vitamin C” • “10 minutes of laughter resulted in 2 hours of pain-free sleep and a drop in his ESR” 1 • IMMUNE BENEFITS OF HUMOR • Decreases immunosuppressive effects of stress 2 • Decreases cytokines in rheumatoid arthritis pts. 3 • LAUGHTER AND PAIN • Pain tolerance enhanced, need for pain meds decreased after exposure to funny movies 4 1Cousins, N. Anatomy of an illness (as perceived by the patient). N Engl J Med. 1976;295:1458-1463 2Martin, RA, Dobbin, JP. Sense of humor, hassles, and immunoglobulin A: Evidence for a stress-moderating effect of humor. Int J Psychiatry Med. 1988;18:93-105. 3Yoshino S et al. Effects of mirthful laughter on neuroendocrine and immune systems in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol. 1996;23:793-794. 4Cogan R et al. Effects of laughter and relaxation on discomfort thresholds. J Behav Med 1987;10:139-144.
Humor and Patient-Physician Communication • BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH HUMOR • Relieves anxiety, communicates caring, narrows interpersonal gaps, provides an acceptable outlet for anger and frustration 5 • Differs on a case-by-case basis • IMPROVING PATIENT SATISFACTION • Satisfaction scores increased when physicians spend a few extra minutes with patients, make a connection 6 • HUMOR AND MALPRACTICE • Physicians with no history of malpractice found to: • Spend more time with patients • Use facilitative statements more often • Relied on humor and laughter more during their patient encounters 7 5Wender, RC. Humor in medicine. Prim Care. 1996;23:141-154 6Gross et al. Patient satisfaction with time spent with their physician. J Fam Pract. 1998;47:133-137 7Levinson et al. Physician-patient communications: the relationship with malpractice claims among primary are physicians and surgeons. JAMA 1997;277:553-559.
Humor and the Health Professional • PREVENTING BURNOUT • Doctors with best coping skills find humor in situations, have highest level of job satisfaction 8 • ER, ICU, Oncology physicians, residents most frequently studied • GALLOWS HUMOR • Freudian theory – morbid humor in the face of tragedy or death 9 • Dangerous opportunity for misinterpretation 8Keller et al. Management of stress and prevention of burnout in emergency physicians. Ann Emerg Med 1989;18:42-47. 9Freud S. Jokes and their relationship to the unconscious. New York, W.W. Norton, 1960, pp 229-230.
Humor in Medical Education • HUMOR IN THE CLASSROOM • Professors who incorporate humor into presentations receive higher student ratings 10 • Comical, enthusiastic style positively affects student test performance immediately after lecture 11 • In a 14-week college statistics course, students who were exposed to humor performed significantly better than the group not exposed 12 10Naftulin et al. The Doctor Fox lecture: A paradigm of educational seduction. J Med Educ 1973;48:630-635. 11Ware et al. The Dr. Fox effect: A study of lecturer effectiveness and ratings of instruction. J Med Educ 1975;5:149-156. 12Ziv, A. Teaching and learning with humor: Experiment and replication. J Exp Educ 1988;57:5-15.
Summary • Humor has both physiologic and psychological benefits on health • Laughter can be a key element in establishing rapport with your patients and building long-term relationships • Humor provides a critical release for the most stressful of situations, but has the power to be extremely hurtful when taken out of context • Students of all ages and experience levels can benefit positively from the use of humor in their curriculum