Amateur dubbing as a healthcare activity in the pediatric hospital setting: a pilot project

Dubbing is a mode of audiovisual translation (AVT) usually performed by experienced dubbing actors for professional purposes. Nowadays, thanks to advances in technology, everybody can create personal dubbed versions of audiovisual content for humorous and parodic as well as therapeutic and pedagogical purposes. The aim of this pilot project was to investigate the potential and applicability of amateur dubbing within the hospital setting, targeting children and adolescents.

The project was carried out at Meyer Children's Hospital in Florence (Italy). Like other non-pharmacological activities, amateur dubbing was designed to make hospitalization a less traumatic experience for young patients and promote their general well-being. A research team (including psychologists, dubbing actors and a linguist) developed a theoretically sound and replicable set of procedures that combine new technologies with traditional pain management methods.

The amateur dubbing workshops, carried out from January 2017 until the end of December 2019, involved 297 children and adolescents (male=29.8%; female=70.2%), aged 6-17, from different wards (i.e. Oncology, Neuropsychiatry, Pediatric Unit, Diabetology, Neurology, Surgery, etc.). This pilot project has proven to be a positive experience for all the patients and their families, in terms of the children's well-being, quality of life and socialization (i.e. expression of emotions, distraction and reduction of distress).

Amateur dubbing as a healthcare activity has resulted in interesting recreational and psychological implications and benefits. Clearly, its implementation as a type of non-pharmacological technique needs to be further refined.