Do Your Jokes Stink?

We would be beyond remiss if we went through Colon Cancer Awareness month without mentioning Fart-Fart.com ! Let’s face it: after you’ve worked the gastro-intestinal gig for a while, you’ll start hearing the same fart jokes over and over and over again. Mix it up with some of the great jokes from this site — and don’t miss the fart research! (Yes, really!)

And if you download a fart ring tone to covertly install on your least favorite doc’s phone…well, that’s simply not the type of thing we’d advocate. Laugh at like crazy, sure. Advocate, no. :-)

FCAN

This week’s resource comes from Debra Joy Hart , a dear friend of the JNJ team. She wrote to us about FCAN, and here’s what she said:

Near and dear to my heart is FCAN. I have been with this organization since 1996. I volunteered as ” Daisy the Clown.” and, 14 years later, I am still with them.

Every spring and summer and sometimes in between, FCAN puts on Red Ribbon Trails, a camp just for Illinois families infected and/or affected with HIV/AIDS. The families and individuals that come to this camp are some of the most courageous people I have ever been privileged to be with. Whether I am quietly holding the hand of a small child, clowning adult humor with a parent or camped out with the volunteers, my heart sings in all these situations.

My relationship to FCAN folks extends outside of camp. One of the parents of a child that died of AIDS asked me to come as “Daisy” to the visitation and speak at the church service. Showing up to the funeral home in a clown costume was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Extended family and friends greeted me in the hallways of the funeral home. “Daisy, we are so glad you are here!” I looked around and my clown eyes welled up with tears as I saw albums and framed photos of camp, this child and I.

The volunteers and collaborators have become some of my best friends and confidants. These are the people that help make me laugh, give me a shoulder to cry on and most of all… show me daily hope and courage. This organization has made my life rich beyond belief. If so moved, please consider donating to them, in order to help this organization keep giving to others! FCAN – 53 W Jackson Blvd, Suite 304, Chicago, IL 60604 phone: 312-786-9255 and fax: 312-786-9203. FCAN’s website is www.familiesandchildrensnetwork.org

If you are interested in volunteering for FCAN, you can find out more about it here.

Comedy Cures!

The ComedyCures Foundation tickles funny bones! They focus on bringing joy, laughter, and therapeutic humor programs to kids and grown-ups living with illness depression, trauma and disabilities. Through large & small scale therapeutic comedy programs, they entertain and educate patients, families and caregivers about the power of a comic perspective and the positive benefits of laughter on the body, mind, and spirit. “Yes, laughter is great medicine!” Love, laughter and hope are communicated in every aspect of our unique programs.

To learn more about ComedyCures, including the inspiring story of founder Saranne Rothberg, a cancer survivor, you’ll want to visit their website!

Get A Life by Loretta LaRoche

Over the years a myriad of books about the differences in male/female behavior have been published. Women in particular have driven the sales and the continued interest in how to deal with the male species.

Men have always found women to be somewhat unpredictable, mysterious, and hard to understand, but seem to have very little interest in discovering the reasons. They are happy to share and validate some of what they feel in male bonding situations while watching football games or talking over a backyard fence while spraying weed killer but I’m sure they don’t share or recommend the latest research or books on how to handle their mates.

We women on the other hand think that somehow we can fix who we’re with so they can become the person we thought they were when we first met them. It’s hard for us not to try improve everyone or everything that crosses our paths.

Believe me I have spent a lot of energy doing this myself and I was left exhausted . I am certainly not an expert on how to create the perfect relationship, but I have come to the conclusion that men have a hard time with  us because we tend to confuse them.  Our conversations are often labyrinthine, whereas they seek to get the facts and get on with what they’re doing.  

We often ask questions that if answered incorrectly could mean hours of intense interrogating on our part until we get the answer we’re looking for.  Have you ever asked your partner the following: “Do I look fat in this outfit?” This is a no win situation. If he answers “You look great” we will inevitably respond with “You’re just trying to make me feel good, what do I really look like?”

If, God forbid, he stated that we looked like we gained a little weight, hell might be his next stop.

How about when you cook something and you ask “How did you like this”? If I heard “It’s good” or “Not bad”, my inner twisted sister made a solemn oath to never make the particular dish again. My grandmother would storm out of the room and pout for hours.

Perhaps real equanimity between the sexes comes as we get older and we finally realize that acceptance and the ability to laugh at oneself is a far better choice. It certainly leaves more time for fun and frolic.

Loretta LaRoche writes the Get A Life Column for the Patriot Ledger.

Humor & Health Courses for Nurses

The following two courses were set up in the fall of 2009. They are up to date in terms of research relating to humor and health. The contact hours earned are 9.6 for course one and 13 for course two.

For additional courses for nurses, go to www.corexcel.com.
Both of these courses were designed by Paul McGhee, PhD.

Their content was extracted from my 2010 book, Humor: The Lighter Path to Resilience and Health ($17.95 at www.AuthorHouse.com and $21.95 at Barnes & Nobel & other major bookstores). Note: The book is available now at the publisher’s website, but may not be in bookstores for a couple of months.

Paul McGhee
Humor and Nursing I:
Impact of Humor and Laughter on Physical Health
(9.6 Contact Hours)
___________________________________________________________________

To earn contact hours for this course, read the course content online or in the downloadable PDF and complete the online examination and course evaluation. After passing the test and completing the evaluation, you will be able to print your certificate instantly.

The price of this course is $49.00. You will only be asked to pay for the course if you decide to grade the Post Examination to earn a certificate with Contact Hours.

Learning Objectives

After completion of Humor and Nursing I the participant will be able to:
1. Identify specific general mechanisms through which humor contributes to physical health and wellness.
2. Identify specific disease conditions for which humor and laughter have been found to support improved health.
3. Identify specific components of the immune system known to be strengthened as a result of humor/laughter.
4. List possible causes for the reduction of pain resulting from humor/laughter.
5. Discuss the impact of negative emotion upon heart health.
6. Discuss the ways in which humor/laughter contribute to heart health.

Course Outline
Part I. General Influence of Humor on Physical Health
I. Muscle relaxation
II. Reduction of stress hormones
III. Strengthening of the immune system
A. Immunoglobulin A
B. Natural killer cells
C. Other immunoenhancement effects
D. Increased free radical scavenging capacity
E. Duration of humor-induced immunoenhancement
F. Sense of humor and immunity
G. The role of mood
H. Which is more important, laughter or the experience of humor?
I. Immunotherapy
IV. Pain reduction
A. Humor and experimentally-induced pain
B. Humor and chronic pain
C. Using humor to ease painful medical procedures with children
D. What causes the pain reduction associated with humor and laughter?
1. Mental distraction
2. Release of endorphins?
3. Muscle relaxation
4. Activation of pleasure centers in the brain
5. Lower blood pressure

Part II. Impact of Humor and Laughter on Specific Disease Conditions
I. Heart disease
A. Impact of negative emotion
1. Damage to the inner lining of arteries resulting from negative emotion starts you down the path to CHD
B. Impact of positive emotion (excluding humor)
1. Preventing heart disease
2. Facilitating recovery from heart disease
C. Impact of humor
1. Preventing heart disease
2. Facilitating recovery from heart disease
D. How does humor promote cardiac health?
1. By reducing stress-linked cardiovascular reactivity
2. By supporting a healthy inner lining of arteries
3. By pulling you out of a negative mood and substituting a positive mood in its place
II. Cancer
III. Pulmonary health
IV. COPD
V. Asthma
VI. Allergies
VII. Diabetes
A. Impact of humor and laughter upon gene expression
VIII. Why it feels so good: Humor activates pleasure centers in the brain
IX. Does humor increase longevity?

Humor and Nursing II:
Using Humor to Cope with the Challenges of Nursing
(13.0 Contact Hours)
___________________________________________________________________

To earn contact hours for this course, read the course content online or in the downloadable PDF and complete the online examination and course evaluation. After passing the test and completing the evaluation, you will be able to print your certificate instantly.

The price of this course is $65.00. You will only be asked to pay for the course if you decide to grade the Post Examination to earn a certificate with Contact Hours.

Learning Objectives

After completion of Humor and Nursing II the participant will be able to:
1. Describe current trends in the “humor-in-hospital” movement.
2. Discuss issues related to the use of humor with patients in healthcare settings.
3. Describe the types of humor-in-hospital programs currently being adopted.
4. Discuss the impact of both humor and non-humor interventions in hospitals on patient outcomes.
5. Discuss the current state of research concerning humor’s effectiveness as a tool in coping with stress.
6. Understand how keeping your sense of humor on the job helps you provide quality care to patients – even in the midst of stress.
7. Explain how humor helps cope with stress.
8. Discuss numerous cautions and concerns about the use of humor in healthcare settings.
9. Identify the steps and actions required to begin improving your own humor skills in order to learn to use humor to cope with job stress and provide quality care.

Course Outline

Part I. The Humor-in-Hospitals Movement
I. Using humor to promote positive doctor/nurse-patient interaction
II. Types of hospital humor programs
III. Impact of programs on patient outcomes
A. Humor programs
1. Using humor to promote hope and a positive outlook
B. Other types of mind-body programs
Part II: Humor and Mental Health: Using Humor to Cope with Stress
I. Experimental research
II. Studies of people who have a good sense of humor
A. Experimentally-induced stress
B. Stress in current real-life situations
C. Studies not considering current level of life stress
D. A key distinction: positive (adaptive) vs. negative (maladaptive) humor
III. Hospital humor
IV. Using humor to cope with cancer
V. Humor in emergency and disaster situations
VI. How humor helps you cope and boosts the quality of your care
A. Muscle relaxation
B. Emotional release
C. The law of psychological gravity
D. Increased energy / reduced burnout
E. Maintenance of perspective
F. Substitution of a positive mood for a negative one
G. Increased sense of control
VII. Humor as a source of resilience
Part III: Learning to Use Humor to Cope: A Humor Skills Training Program
Take the sense of humor pre-test before starting the program
Step 1: Discover the nature of your own unique sense of humor
Step 2: Cultivate a playful attitude and a sense of fun – overcome terminal seriousness
Step 3: Laugh more often and more heartily
Step 4: Practice telling jokes and stories
Step 5: Create your own verbal humor: Begin playing with language
Step 6: Finding humor in everyday life
Step 7: Learning to laugh at yourself
Step 8: Find humor in the midst of stress: Using humor to cope

Helping Haiti

Looking for a way to help in Haiti? Here is a link to The American Red Cross Website. Here is a link to Doctors without Borders Both groups are collecting funds to help the situation and provide relief; additionally, both can use skilled volunteers. (At any time, but especially now!)

A great resource for Nursing Students

Brought to you by The Web Nurse, The Top 50 Blogs to Learn About Medicine With sections on Research, Medical Education, Industry Insiders, Government Health Policy and High Tech, this page is a great resource collecting lots of useful links in one place!

Ha!Ha!logy

If you thought Pasteur was a firecracker in his day, you haven’t met Jacki Kwan, the Chief of HA!HA!LOGY and experienced her effervescent, vibrant personality yet.

As a clinical social worker since 1989, she has been bringing a positive state of mind to senior communities, long-term care facilities and hospitals. She’s been teaching her practice of good humor to healthcare providers, illness-specific organizations, philanthropic groups and corporations. In 2000, after traveling to China with Patch Adams, she began focusing on her sub-specialty, working with Alzheimer’s patients and those in their final stages of life.

And, yes, she’s a clown. A Caring Clown.

Jackie is the author of Almost Home; a book about changing the world one HA! at a time. You can find out more at her website!

The HUMOR Project

Making The World Happier One Smile at a Time

The HUMOR Project, Inc. is the first organization in the world to focus full-time on the positive power of humor. Our mission is to make a difference by being a unique, pioneering, and cutting-edge organization that touches the lives of individuals, organizations, and nations. We seek to help people get more smileage out of their lives and jobs by applying the practical, positive power of humor and creativity.

You can learn more about The Humor Project on their website.

Scholarships Available for AATH Conference

The Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor is the recognized authority and the primary membership organization for people with a common interest in applied humor and laughter.  Its mission is to serve as the community of professionals who study, practice and promote healthy humor and laughter.

AATH is including a Research Poster Session during its 2010 Annual Conference, April 22-25 in Anaheim, California.  Please click here for details about the Poster Session submissions.

AATH is excited to announce that 5 Scholarships are available for the 2010 AATH Annual Conference.  For more information on these Scholarships, please click here.

PLEASE NOTE: All Scholarship applications and Research Poster Session submissions must be submitted by January 15, 2010.

The AATH 23rd Annual Conference
“Biology of Hope/Healing Power of the Human Spirit”
A Tribute to Norman Cousins
Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel
Anaheim, California
Thursday, April 22 – Sunday, April 25, 2010

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