Dr. Patch Adams’ idea about a healthcare system that has been dramatically changed came when he was studying to become a doctor in the early 1970s. After graduating in 1971, he and his colleagues, who had become frustrated with the impersonal and profit-driven side of the healthcare industry, joined forces and took a different path (Adams, 2012). They settled in a large six-bedroom house and, using it as a hospital, offered free treatment to patients 24/7, irrespective of their financial ability(Adams, 2012).
During the next 12 years, Dr. Adams and his team provided home visit medical aid and care to thousands of patients. The approach in the environment was such that it created a feeling of a warm and welcoming centre, where personal connections and compassion came at the forefront. They adopted many healing arts, including performing arts, arts and crafts, nature, education, recreation, and social service, in their treatment. According to Dr Adams, mainstream medicine ignored the fact the fact that joy, humour, creativity, and human relationships contributed to healing. He believed that the healthcare model needs to address this issue and provide a sense of community where patients feel loved.
From the beginning of his unconventional medical practice off of his home in the early 1970s with his peers, Patch Adams’ compassion towards those on the margins who could not afford to access quality and affordable healthcare services was profound. He was giving free medical treatment 24/7 and had a more holistic approach, the centre point of which was the care for the whole man. This is how he brought together performing arts, nature, education, and human interaction into the healing process. This kindness by Adams spread beyond the local community as he started what he called the “clown trips” to war zones, refugee camps, and other situations of need around the globe(Adams, 2012). The purpose was to provide healthcare through laughter and joy and to be there for people during those hard times.
Dr. Patch Adams was compassionate towards outcasts and marginalized from early in his life due to certain life events. Participating in the civil rights movement as a young man opened his eyes to the everyday injustices in disadvantaged communities (Adams, 2019). He was deeply moved and could not understand why people ignored that cruelty. Moreover, his troubles with mental health and suicidal thoughts made him more understanding and compassionate to the suffering people and those who feel like outsiders in society.
His turning point was during his third hospitalization when he dedicated his life to offering patient care. He ignored the existing institutionalized care system to help the disadvantaged, the foundation upon which the Gesundheit Institute was built. Dr. Adams attempted to provide compassionate care to everyone, regardless of their situations or societal affiliation, by integrating different healing modalities, emphasizing human relationships within the hospital, and creating a welcoming environment. His firsthand experience of injustices and tribulations gave birth to a profound understanding of the misfit or marginalized ones. Toge, with the aspiration to provide a positive change in their lives, decided to pursue a lifetime of holistic care.
Compassion is considered an inherent human quality and something that can be acquired and cultivated with time (Fotaki, 2015). Others believe humans are born with the natural capacity for Empathy and compassion toward each other. However, most scholars believe compassion must also be fostered and cultivated, especially in professionals and work environments where it is critically needed. Parents and teachers are expected to play the primary roles in transforming their children or their students into compassionate personalities from a very early age.
According to Patch Adams, humour is not merely an element that makes healthcare more complete but also a tool that can forge an emotional connection between the patient and the caregiver (Mayo Clinic, 2014). His Gesundheit Institute was founded to intentionally bring in performing arts, including humour, clowning, and arts and crafts, as a part of treatment. Adams traverses the globe, propagating this exclusive method of viewing laughter as a tool for expressing love and care and easing patients’ minds. He maintains that establishing a loving connection between the patient and caregiver is the most critical healing aspect. Instead of just medical data or extensive qualifications, patients look for doctors who can listen, possess confidence, and carry on human interaction with a friendly approach.
There are very few medical practitioners like Patch Adams. Many medical schools focus on scientific knowledge, clinical skills, and disease treatment with pharmaceuticals and procedures. Adams says that no medical school in the world has a specific curriculum of compassion, which is a part of the course from the first day until graduation (Mayo Clinic, 2014). Compassion is hardly looked upon as the basis of being a good physician. Therefore, doctors may tend to be dismissive, ruthless, or formal as such intimate skills were not a part of their medical training. Furthermore, western society relies on biomedicine that cures chronic illnesses and diseases using medication, surgeries, and other medical treatments. Practices featuring comedy, arts, natural environment, community, and personal development should be considered a better approach to offering patient care.
Dr. Patch Adams is an outgroup in medicine. Adams challenged healthcare standards by founding the Gesundheit Institute, a home-based medical centre that provided free care, never charged fees, and rejected malpractice insurance and third-party reimbursements. Unlike most hospitals and clinics, his concept included performing arts, nature, recreation, and social services alongside medical treatment. Adams’ primary view that human connection, love, humour, and compassion are essential to healing is the most significant deviation from standard medical education, which emphasizes clinical detachment, credentials, and disease treatment over health. He has fought for decades to include compassion in medical education, challenging conventional scientific and skills-based teaching. Dr. Patch Adams has been an outgroup outlier in a profession still steeped in institutional procedures by rejecting profit incentives, adopting unorthodox remedies, and valuing emotional factors over pure biology.
References
Adams, P. (2019, June 11). Patch Adams presents Empathy. Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmoctZ4KhPk
Adams, patch. (2012, May 9). Patch Adams Humor for Health. Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hnampopp2o
Fotaki, M. (2015). Why and how is compassion necessary to provide good quality healthcare? International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 4(4), 199–201. https://doi.org/10.15171/ijhpm.2015.66
Mayo clinic. (2014, September 10). Mayo Clinic – YouTube. Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/@MayoClinic
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