That's where clown doctors come in. Neither medical doctors nor strictly entertainers, these performance artists, when integrated into a health-care team, work side by side with the staff at a hospital.

Bernie Warren, a professor of drama in education and community at the University of Windsor, is one of these artists. One of Canada's earliest clown doctors, he is the founder and artistic director of Fools for Health, which was created in Windsor in 2000.

Warren, who for more than 20 years has researched the use of arts and humour in health care and has worked as a clown doctor in hospitals across south western Ontario since 2001, will be speaking about his experience at a free seminar next Friday afternoon.

Warren, who originally planned to study medicine, said clown doctors work in pairs and, when they work in a hospital, visit everyone there, affecting the entire atmosphere. They start with the staff.

"We work on the principal if you start in that area, that you're lightening the load for the staff and they're less stressed, then there's a ripple effect to the health-care delivery that patients receive," Warren told This Week.

The impact of clown doctors is significant, he said. Research has shown their presence not only reduces staff stress, but also the need for pain and anti-depressant medications in patients. Patients leave with a better impression of the health care they received and are more likely to follow treatment programs.

One of the more interesting bodies of research into clown doctors involved their effect on dementia patients, he said. Patients who were unable to recognize their families remembered seeing the clown doctors and would know details such as if one came in with a different partner.

"The clowns seem to act as a bridge or a catalyst to memories," he said. "They remember things the clown did last week, which is just unheard of."

Many might associate the term clown doctor with the film Patch Adams, which starred Robin Williams and was based on a true story. Warren, who knows Patch Adams, said he was a medical doctor who used humour to humanize the then quite clinical medical system in the 1970s.

"Patch Adams' work has influenced the work of clown doctors, but he himself isn't a clown doctor," he said.

"The clown doctors work as a part of the medical team, helping with health-care delivery, helping patients improve, helping with quality of life within the hospital."

The Sept. 12 lecture takes place at 1:15 p.m., followed by a talk-back session at 2:15, in the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre at Brock.