The purpose and function of humour in health, health care and nursing: a narrative review.

Full Abstract

AIM:
This paper is a report of a review conducted to identify, critically analyse and synthesize the humour literature across a number of fields related to health, health care and nursing.

BACKGROUND:
The humour-health hypothesis suggests that there is a positive link between humour and health. Humour has been a focus of much contention and deliberation for centuries, with three theories dominating the field:
the superiority or tendentious theory, the incongruity theory and the relief theory.

DATA SOURCES:
A comprehensive literature search was carried out in January 2007 using a number of databases, keywords, manual recursive searching and journal alerts (January 1980-2007) cross-referenced with the bibliographic databases of the International Society of Humor Studies. An inclusion and exclusion criterion was identified.

REVIEW METHODS:
A narrative review of evidence- and non-evidence-based papers was conducted, using a relevant methodological framework with additional scrutiny of secondary data sources in the latter. Humour theories, incorporating definition, process and impact constituted a significant part of the appraisal process.

RESULTS:
A total of 1630 papers were identified, with 220 fully sourced and 88 included in the final review. There is a dearth of humour research within nursing yet, ironically, an abundance of non-evidence-based opinion citing prerequisites and exclusion zones. Examination of physician-patient interaction and the humour-health hypothesis demonstrates that use of humour by patients is both challenging and revealing, particularly with regard to self-deprecating humour.

CONCLUSION:
Nurses and nursing should adopt a circumspect and evidenced-based approach to humour use in their work.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: McCreaddie, May (M); Wiggins, Sally (S);

Affiliation: University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. May.McCreaddie(-atsign-)ed.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Review

Journal: Journal of advanced nursing (J Adv Nurs), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Mar; vol 61 (issue 6) : pp 584-95

Dates: Created 2008/02/27; Completed 2008/06/03;

PMID: 18302600, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Laughter - psychology
Laughter Therapy - psychology
Nursing Care - psychology
Physician-Patient Relations
Wit and Humor as Topic

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.