MagicAid

MagicAid Inc.
Founders
  • David Elkin
  • Harrison Pravder
  • Tony Wan
Type
Key people
  • David Elkin (President)
  • Harrison Pravder (Vice President; Research Director)
  • Justin Willman (Magic Director)
Websitemagic-aid.org

MagicAid is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and program that uses magic to improve the hospitalization experience for pediatric patients and encourage the delivery of compassionate healthcare.[1] MagicAid teaches health professional students to perform magic tricks within a hospital setting at the bedside.[2] They then facilitate the ability of these students to perform for pediatric patients in the hospital. Their goals include building the patient relationship, promoting patient empowerment, facilitate patient coping, and encouraging psychological and physical improvement.[3][4] They also conduct research to evaluate and improve their magic programme.[5][6]

MagicAid's origins trace back to Stony Brook University School of Medicine[3] where the group's founders were medical students. They created a student interest group at the school that developed into the current non-profit organization. MagicAid currently services 8 medical centers in the United States,[7] mostly serving the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area.

  1. ^ "Dr. Magician uses magic to make patients' fear disappear". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b David J Elkin; Harrison D Pravder (March 31, 2018). "Bridging magic and medicine". The Lancet. 391 (10127): 1254–1255. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30707-4.
  4. ^ Ramaswamy, Divya (2019-11-04). "Magic Therapy Program Alleviates Anxiety in Pediatric Patients". International Business Times. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  5. ^ "Magic Therapy Program Helps Reduce Pediatric Patient Anxiety |". SBU News. 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  6. ^ Harrison D. Pravder; Amanda Leng-Smith; Andrew I. Brash; David J. Elkin; Michael Attard; Brooke Rose; Catherine R. Messina; Maribeth B. Chitkara (December 2019). "A Magic Therapy Program to Alleviate Anxiety in Pediatric Inpatients". Hospital Pediatrics. 9 (12): 942–948. doi:10.1542/hpeds.2019-0212.
  7. ^ Goldberg, Jodi (2019-11-13). "Using magic tricks as therapy for sick children". FOX 5 NY. Retrieved 2020-03-06.