The Positive Effect of Humour and Amateur Dubbing on Hospitalised Adolescents

This study focuses on the use of humour and amateur dubbing as a non-pharmacological technique to help children and adolescents who have had to be hospitalised during their development. The project was developed and carried out at Meyer Children’s Hospital in Florence, Italy. Its main objective is to involve patients in a playful, social and creative activity like dubbing and put them at the centre of this process to elicit humour and foster positive emotions, thus also distracting them from the difficult moment they are facing. In this chapter, we describe the activity, the rationale behind its organisation, the professionals involved and, most importantly, the feedback of six adolescents who took part in a semi-structured interview regarding their experience as amateur dubbers. The adolescents’ comments confirm the effectiveness of this approach, and their insights and suggestions will be taken into account to enhance the future development of this non-pharmacological therapy.