Pediatric & Senior LIVING Program

The Good Medicine Specialist Program

the signature program.
Good Medicine's signature program serves pediatric facilities and nursing homes in central Ohio with programming rooted in improvisational and comedic performance. Professional comedic performers work in pairs to provide one-on-one entertainment to children and elderly with a goal to empower patients in environments where they often feel powerless and to use humor and parody to reduce anxiety, sadness and isolation in the medical environment.

good medicine specialists.
Good Medicine Specialists are professional performers in comedy and improvisation. This is not a hobby, but a job they take seriously. Performers undergo extensive and ongoing training in artistry, infection control, hospital protocols and in special issues related to interacting with hospitalized children and issues related to dementia care. Good Medicine specialists are experts at reading a room and bringing their whimsical, nuanced characters into situations in organic ways. Good Medicine Specialists always ask permission to interact with the patient. Regardless of a yes or no answer, the question is the first gift of empowerment.

testimonial
"When the performers came to the hospital, those were the best days, I was suddenly in a world of laughter. I learned quickly that laughter was the BEST medicine. The performers helped to distract me. They helped me keep my childhood alive while I was fighting brain cancer. They were the best part of treatment! I will never forget them or how they helped me to face my fears and put me at ease when I was scared." - Rosie Colucci (now age 12)

"When they come, it brightens everybody’s day. That spontaneity as staff, as family, as residents...to every person reminds us that there’s still a lot of joy left in everybody.” – Christy Shoenwald, Dir. Senior Memory Unit, Norwood Crossing