Tuesday, June 30, 2009

In a time of healthcare spending cuts, a Newton doctor is writing award-winning songs about health.

NEWTON, MA—In the wake of a Massachusetts proposal to cut $115 million in healthcare spending, Dr. Machelle (Mache) Seibel, MD, has devised a new method for spreading health information.

Dr. Seibel, a nationally recognized women's health expert, is a professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of the Complicated Menopause Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is also the founder of a Newton-based company called HealthRock, where he writes and sings songs about health.

According to Dr. Seibel, "The goal of HealthRock is to increase health literacy. We do this by using music to package health information in such a way that people can take it with them and use it whenever they need it."

Indeed, HealthRock employs a technique that advertisers have relied upon for decades: using music to make ideas memorable. "In addition to being easy to remember, music can be used to reduce patients' fears or feelings of embarrassment about medical topics," Dr. Seibel explained.

In order to make the widest possible public health impact, HealthRock songs are tailored to specific demographic groups like kids, teenagers, and women. The songs, available at healthrock.com and on iTunes, cover topics ranging from hand washing to zits to colonoscopies.

The HealthRock approach has received growing accolades. Today, the 2009 Creative Child Awards Program honored HealthRock with three awards: a 2009 CD of the Year award for the Preschool Edition CD, a 2009 Preferred Choice Award for the Kid's Edition CD, and a 2009 Seal of Excellence for the lullaby CD.

In addition to CDs and downloadable songs, HealthRock's offerings have grown to include live performances, blogs, ebooks, online forums for medical questions, and games. Each offering provides a vehicle for providing the public with health information.

The need for HealthRock is clear: in a time of great uncertainty about the future of healthcare, the public needs a new way to learn about health. As Dr. Seibel says, "it's better to stay well than to get well." HealthRock is well on its way to improving health literacy and, as a consequence, public health.

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