Rx Laughter

Mission Statement:
Rx Laughter is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that improves the quality of life for seriously ill pediatric and teenage patients and their families. We relieve the stress and pain of medical procedures and decrease trauma, depression and anxiety. We do this by carefully designing initiatives in close collaboration with oncologists, psychiatrists and nurses.

Rx Laughter "Prescribes" Funny Movies & Television Shows:
We do this by showing classic and contemporary films and television episodes to patients during their medical procedures in collaboration with doctors and nurses. We research the effectiveness, treat the patient, and educate the family & the entire medical team about the benefits of movies and tv for pain & stress management. See the "How We Do This" section below for more information.

Who We Help:
We help children and adults through chemotherapy, bone marrow aspirations, immune deficiencies, neuromuscular illnesses, intensive care, critical isolation, and post surgical medical care to reduce pain and stress within these frightening, bewildering, complex, noisy and sterile environments.

Relaxing the mind can relax the body which can then give patients of all ages a much healthier and better chance to recover from the emotional and physical effects of exhausting and painful medical procedures.

This is available to the families of inpatients who often sleep at the hospital for days or weeks, especially when their child is in isolation or intensive care. As a result, the entire family unit benefits from our therapeutic care during these critical periods of time.

How We Do This: (Our Methods & Our Collaborators)
Rx Laughter teams up with doctors, nurses, child/life specialists, social workers,
psychiatrists and scientists. We integrate entertaining film, television and internet viewing into medical care in the most caring and compassionate way to improve immune function, reduce pain and anxiety and improve mental health.

We design these initiatives on a project-by-project basis, tailoring it to the needs of the patient & family at each specific hospital or clinic in consultation and collaboration with everyone involved.

We work with medical teams who value the mission & proven success of our work and who want to be a part of a more compassionate and humanistic treatment model in healthcare.

We believe that Laughter is NOT always the best medicine:
Rx Laughter does not believe that laughter is a cure-all for what ails us. (You have come to the wrong website for that!). As a matter of fact, in our research with the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center, we discovered that the children who watched humorous videos did NOT even have to laugh out loud to reap the benefits of pain management during their medical procedures.

Sometimes people who are in pain do not feel well enough to laugh, or are too sad to laugh. Nor has laughter proven to be scientifically effective, regardless of some of the research that has been done thus far in this regard. Yes, laughter can be helpful -- but it is not a cure-all, nor is it beneficial for everyone in all situations by any means.

When we started Rx Laughter, we were indeed focused on the role of laughter as a healer. As we grew and learned more about the role of comedy in health care, we became more convinced of the broader benefits of positive and humorous entertainment.

This can be in the form of artistic performances, relaxing videos, or any of our favorite movies and television episodes that make us smile and warm our hearts.

These are equally-- and perhaps even more important -- than the act of laughter as part of a healthier lifestyle and a stronger immune system.

We respect and tap into these individualized preferences in every project that we do -- for patients and families of all ages. We carefully research the results of our work, and we connect the dots --building upon our past and current findings into our future therapeutic and educational initiatives.

Our Successes:
We have three components: Research, Therapeutic Treatment, and Education. We apply our Research findings into actual Treatment plans for patients. Rx Laughter educates the general public on our progress through this website, media publications and in presentations to corporations.

We have completed a multi year study with UCLA School of Medicine for pediatric patients, and have also completed a separate pilot project with the National Cancer Institute in Thailand with academic support from Graduate Students at the Yale University School of Public Health.

These findings indicate that patients who are able to watch humorous videos as part of their medical procedures 1) are able to tolerate the pain and fear better, 2) can sleep better, and 3) are more comfortable and relaxed overall. There is also improved morale among the nursing staff and caregivers.

For specific information regarding each of these studies, please click on the links at the top of this page.

We bring these findings to real-world usage -- implementing them in our current initiatives and refining them -- so that we can help more people to cope with illness and trauma in even better ways.

Leadership:
Rx Laughter was founded in 1998 by Sherry Dunay Hilber, a management executive for primetime network television. Ms. Hilber continues to oversee the development and implementation of our initiatives.

We attract and collaborate with the very best in medicine, science, entertainment and corporations. The Leadership Team of Rx Laughter is rooted in practical management experience, scientific knowledge, direct patient care, and the belief that positive emotions can have a profound effect on pain management, quality of life, mental health issues, and immune functioning for patients of all ages.

More:
For more information on our work, please visit Our Projects.

-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.