This cafe is dedicated to laughing
Whoever said laughter is the best medicine must have been right, and we expect the seniors of Washington’s Sibley Memorial Hospital’s “Laugh Cafe” would agree.
Created in conjunction with the Sibley Senior Association, the Laugh Cafe is a haven next to the cafeteria where senior patients can go to – you guessed it – laugh.
After opening in August, 2012 the cafe now hosts hour-long laugh sessions each month. The first price of admission is $40 US, followed by a joke upon entry from there on out.
“I had heard about the health benefits of laughter yoga so I informally surveyed my favorite jokester members,” Marti Bailey, Senior Association director, told The Huffington Post. “The overwhelming reaction was that they wanted a reason to laugh and rejected laughter simply for laughter’s sake.”
And so was born The Laugh Cafe.
According to Bailey, not all of the jokes submitted are PG: “People often ask if the jokes are censored or if there is a standard for what kind of joke might be acceptable. I respond that the members are all adults and as a club have elected to be self-governing and open about the types of jokes offered.”
“So far members have provided jokes that are generally clean, sometimes word play that produce audible groans, and sometimes a little ‘racy’ or edgy. Everyone has a different sense of humor. All have laughed and none have complained. And people keep coming back.”
As studies have often shown the de-stressing benefits of laughter, we think this hospital might be on to something.
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