Celestina, SUS and Sertão: a therapy clown experiment in popular education in health

Abstract The scope of this paper is to elicit reflection on therapy clowns in the realm of Popular Education in Health. It describes and analyzes interventions conducted between October 2020 and December 2021 between civil service workers and patients in the Sertão Central hinterlands. Therapy clowning paved the way as a potent technology for humanized care treatment by the resident nurse. As an intermediary between scientific and popular knowledge, in its scenopoetic approach, it dealt creatively and humorously with taboo subjects for community health, promoting a light-hearted interaction experience with its audience. The experience revealed some points about the scarcity of investment to make projects like this viable, thereby empowering the institutionalization of Popular Education in Health. For this reason, we advocate the implementation of training sessions and workshops on concepts, challenges, and potentialities in Popular Education in Health. Therapy clowning, as a proposed action, is a transformative technology that inspires a proactive approach in the community through knowledge, loving care, and art.