Rx Laughter

Mission Statement:
Rx Laughter develops & implements projects that examine the positive health benefits of entertainment to reduce or alleviate the trauma of serious physical and emotional issues of children and adults. We do this through a combination of therapy, education & research in close collaboration with medical experts

While laughter is certainly part of our work, the majority of our work examines the overall benefits of humor -- and humorous interactions -- as a force in healing & recovery.

What we Actually Do - and What Sets us Apart:   (Accomplishments & Our Projects):
We serve children, teens and adults in cancer support groups, hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, mental health clinics, isolation units, intensive care, nursing homes and home rehabilitative care. People of all ages who are suffering from neuromuscular problems and chronic pain find our work helpful. Many who are not able to afford psychotherapeutic care are especially interested in our service. (explained below).

Examples of the classic & contemporary upbeat entertainment that we include in our projects are: romantic comedy films, situation comedies, memorable humorous short segments in films or television shows, musical events, rock concerts, Internet comedy clips, and "dark" comedies that address sensitive issues. All are age-appropriate and are chosen to meet the needs of each person or group of people who are participating in our projects or workshops.

Through Rx Laughter, this upbeat entertainment becomes a powerful force in medical care in these innovative ways:

Research & Therapeutic Entertainment:
We research how upbeat, engaging films and television can be used as part of medical care to reduce the effects of chemotherapy (nausea, lack of appetite), reduce the pain of chronic illness and offer therapeutic companionship and comfort to people who are very ill.

Education:
In addition, we develop entertaining educational workshops tailored to the needs of people who are coping with anger, depression, hopelessness, addiction, isolation and anger due to various kinds of emotional and physical trauma.

The goal of these educational workshops is to offer humorous films and television as a rich resource to illustrate positive ways of thinking about difficult issues that can lead to positive behavior change,

For instance, under our direction and in collaboration with clinicians, Rx Laughter introduces humorous films and television into support groups for people who are coping with serious physical or emotional issues. Here, this form of entertainment, developed and tailored to each group, serves as a new catalyst for exploring shared feelings within the group, with the goal of reducing loneliness and alienation.

Evaluation & Replication:
We develop, implement and evaluate each of our projects carefully and collaboratively, asking for feedback from everyone involved and then analyzing our findings on a continual basis so that we can fine-tune each project as we continue. Once completed, Rx Laughter educates people about what we have learned so that people can use our findings in practical ways.

The Importance of Entertainment for Better Health:
Uplifting, enjoyable, funny Entertainment is a low cost, accessible form of pain management and stress reduction and can greatly improve our physical and mental health. It is enjoyable, the cost is minimal and the benefits are enormous.

It is available to us any hour of the day through many forms of technology: In Theaters, on Television, on DVD players, Cell Phones, IPods, and on our computers. We can watch our favorite video clips or we can enjoy full performances.   It is always waiting for us to use it as a very important component in improved health for all of us.

This is especially beneficial for those who are homebound, lack the financial resources for more expensive forms of psychotherapeutic care, do not have a strong support system, or live in areas far from pain clinics and mental health outpatient clinics.

Furthermore, addiction to painkillers and antidepressants is common for those who are clinically depressed or have chronic pain conditions. By incorporating enjoyable television and film entertainment into their lives as a "prescription," dependence on costly and addictive drugs are reduced.

More about our Values & Methods:
We work collaboratively with academics, neuro-oncologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, pain management specialists and cancer researchers. We work together to design, implement, oversee and evaluate projects that are pilot studies, mid-size or long term.

Rx Laughter views everything carefully before selecting it as part of our various projects. Whether it be video clips on the Internet, classic and contemporary Films, or full episodes on Television, we make sure that it is age appropriate and uplifting!

Leadership:
The Leadership Team of Rx Laughter is rooted in practical management experience, scientific knowledge, direct patient care, and the belief that uplifting entertainment can have a profound effect on our quality of life. Many of our Advisory Board members guide us and collaborate with Rx Laughter.   For more information about our leadership, continue to read this Home Page.

Who Started Rx Laughter and Why?
Rx Laughter was founded in 1998 by Sherry Dunay Hilber, a then-primetime network programmer, because of her belief in the importance of television and film entertainment in our lives--and the need for more positive forms of help for people who are coping with difficult emotional and physical problems.

Ms. Hilber wanted to use what she learned about the power of entertainment to help people who were suffering in hospitals and clinics worldwide, and actually research the health effects of entertainment so that scientists and health care providers could see the credibility of entertainment as a powerful "prescription." Ms. Hilber continues to oversee the mission and vision of Rx Laughter.

Is Laughter always the best medicine?
Originally, our focus was on the medical benefits of laughter in entertainment. As we continued, however, we became very interested in learning if a wider array of funny, comforting entertainment can also be emotionally and physically helpful --whether or not laughter was involved.

So, we began to include a larger selection of humorous entertainment videos and we learned an interesting fact: Through our collaborative research with the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center & Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA, we discovered that children undergoing a painful medical procedure had less anxiety and tolerated the painful medical procedure better when they watched a funny, enjoyable, engaging film or television show --even though they did not always laugh out loud.

As a result of this, it is our hypothesis here at Rx Laughter that perhaps a smile, a soft chuckle or a grin might be medically effective in their own unique ways - perhaps even more so than laughing out loud in some instances.

So take heart if you do not laugh out loud easily: You might still be reaping important medical benefits from the sheer enjoyment of watching your favorite shows or films!

Accomplishments:
In addition to several therapeutic and education projects, Rx Laughter has already completed 2 large studies that proved the benefits of entertainment for improved health.

1. We have completed a multi year study with UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center and Neuropsychiatric Institute & Hospital for pediatric patients undergoing painful medical procedures.

      Results: Pediatric and teen patients who watched humorous classic and contemporary television shows and films during a painful procedure tolerated the pain better and longer, proving humorous and engaging videos to be a valuable distraction for patients in specifically used ways during painful medical procedures. This has significant potential benefits for us such as: Less anxiety in anticipation of the procedure and more of a chance for our immune systems to do the work of healing.
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2. Rx Laughter collaborated with The National Cancer Institute in Thailand with academic support from Graduate Students at the Yale University School of Public Health on a pilot project at the NCI Thailand Cancer Center for adults. Funny Thai films and television were integrated into cancer support groups for several months. The effectiveness for these patients vs. the patients in the control group who did not have entertainment were evaluated.

     Results: Improved sleep and reduced pain for the patients and greatly improved morale for the nursing staff. This is especially important for under-served patients such as these who do not have access to psychotherapeutic care due to lack of financial resources. These types of uplifting support sessions are easily integrated into health care at minimal cost and with proven benefits to clinicians, patients and families.
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For specific information about each of these large projects, please click on the 2 links
immediately above the Mission Statement on this Home Page.

A word about support:
Hospitals and academic institutes do not have the funds to support our work. They offer their volunteer services to our partnerships because they want to work with Rx Laughter.

So, In order for us to be able to collaborate with them and to continue to help people, we must seek support for our part in our partnerships. We need support like any other charity.

We write grant proposals, try to raise awareness of our organization thru media and other website links and through word of mouth. We rely on caring, supportive individuals, foundations, philanthropists and corporations who believe in the power of positive mind/body approaches as part of health care, and who understand the power of uplifting entertainment to reach across cultures to help people.

We do not have a clerical or administrative staff nor do we use funds for travel or other frills. Everything is carefully used so that we can move our work forward.

Please help us if you can with any donation from $5.00 and up. We are a 501c3 tax exempt public charity. Therefore, all donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law. Donations can be made through paypal or by regular mail. Thank you so much.

Check out our website!
For specific information about Rx Laughter, you can click on any of the links at the top of this page. We have videos and photos of patients, doctors, nurses and performers who are involved with Rx Laughter.

To quickly learn how to be part of our work, please click on Supporters, How to Donate and Contact Us.

Thank you!

-No reproduction or other usage of any text, photos or other materials that are on this website are allowable without the permission of Rx Laughter Inc.

-Website designed by Daniel Simkins.

Rx Laughter is a 501c3 tax exempt nonprofit corporation.