MEDICAL
INFORMATION
FOR KIDS
INFORMATION
FOR KIDS
LATEST NEWS
15 Sep 2010 | Press Release
Too often, they are expected to carry on as normal between treatments, but experts insist children cannot leave worries about their health problems at the school gate each morning and concentrate fully on their lessons.
Some will lose confidence and become isolated, while others face even more serious health problems as they stop taking their medicines, purely because they do not understand the consequences of their actions.
As a result, with the help of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Medikidz is launching in London tomorrow to help address the problem.
The organisation, founded by paediatricians Dr Kim Chilman-Blair, who's worked in orthopaedic surgery, and Dr Kate Hersov, is introducing a series of new educational medical resources for children.
The doctors have created graphic novels covering 26 illnesses, including Type 1 diabetes, epilepsy, leukaemia, HIV, autism, cystic fibrosis, haemophilia, eczema, depression, food allergies, being overweight and asthma.
Around 27,000 copies of What's Up With Bridget's Mum? Medikidz Explain Breast Cancer have already been ordered by the American Cancer Society. And more books are planned, covering even rare diseases, until there is around 300 - all written by medical experts in their field. Aimed at children aged ten to 15, they cost £5.99.
Each book features Medikidz, a gang of five superheroes from space - Axon, Chi, Pump, Skinderella and Gastro - who each specialise in a different part of the body. The characters live on Mediland, a living, moving planet shaped just like the human body.
In each book, they take a child suffering from a condition or illness on a tour round Mediland to explain what is happening in their body. A younger range is also being launched in six months, called Meditots, aimed at five to nine-year-olds, using the same characters in the picture books.
Dr Chilman-Blair said: "When studying, I found there was plenty of information to describe medical illnesses to parents and care-givers, but none for children. Nothing that says: "What is chemotherapy and why does my hair fall out? Why do I feel sick? What do I do if I miss a dose? How does my medicine work?" Not even the drugs manufacturers explain to children how the medicines work, but we expect children to take these drugs every day.
"The main purpose is not only to explain the condition to the child in their own language, but also to increase their compliance to the treatment regime."
"We want to be there at the start to keep children healthier, let them live longer and stop all the complications that come with not understanding the treatment", she added.
Medikidz has also produced information pamphlets for children to be distributed at GP surgeries.
And its website lets youngsters explore a 3-D human body and access MediHealth, an A-to-Z guide to illnesses. There's also a social network, so children worldwide can make contact with others with similar conditions.
CHILDREN will also be able to go online and contact a specialist paediatric pharmacist with specific questions.
Dr Chilman-Blair said: "Everyone knows, when you go to a doctor, sit down and they explain something to you, they speak really fast and you don't understand and feel a bit frightened. If you can imagine you feeling like that as a patient, imagine a child. It's that frightened feeling multiplied by 1,000."
She added: "Medikidz doesn't try to "sugar-coat" serious problems. We want information provided to empower children with the knowledge they need to take ownership of their disease, providing them with skills for self-management."
For more information about Medikidz, or to buy a graphic novel from tomorrow, visit: www.medikidz.com
THE British Institute for Learning and Development is to hold an advice clinic at the World of Learning Conference and Exhibition, the must-attend event for professionals with a role in learning, development and human resources. World of Learning is held at Birmingham NEC on September 30 and October 1, and to book visit www.learnevents.com or call 020 8394 5171.