Health, Heartache, and Humor: A Practical Framework for Approaching Humor in Serious Illness
A study published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine examines the role of humor in interactions between people living with a serious illness and their health care providers. This article discusses the impact of humor in clinical interactions, historical categorizations of humor, and proposes a practical framework for guiding clinicians to clinicians assess and respond to humor in real time. While humor remains highly personal and often unpredictable, the research findings emphasize the importance of clinician self-awareness and communication skills to sensitively engage with humor and use it as both a relational tool and a reflection of the complexities of serious illness.