Recently I had the privilege to attend the 3^rd annual Sex::Tech conference hosted by ISIS, inc. The conference was held in San Francisco, CA which is appropriate given the amount of work they have done in the area in regards to sexual and public health. For those of you who aren’t familiar, Sex::Tech (now, now – don’t blush too hard) is a meeting of the minds surrounding issues related to sexual health, technology/new media and young people. It was absolutely mind blowing to listen to the current state of sex education and related issues straight from the mouths of the young people that are being affected. Not from adults who think they know what’s going on – definitely a difference there. I mean seriously, I just turned 28 and I felt like I was a senior citizen with the things I was hearing. With all due respect, no 300 page CDC report could touch this kind of community/demographic insight.

Day one of the conference kicked off with a panel discussion consisting of college age students discussing their experiences with sex education growing up and relevant issues of how to reshape sex education in the classrooms of the future. Topics ranged from mixing boys/girls together for classes to incorporating attention to the growing number of openly identifying LGBT teens. No matter where you sit on the spectrum of acceptance – you cannot ignore the statistics and the issues taking place with our young people today regarding HIV/AIDS and other STD infections. The mere fact that many young people don’t consider oral sex as…sex….is a problem. As my college human sexuality professor would tell us: “Anything you can put something, you can get something”.

The rest of the day consisted of breakout sessions and a plenary session from sponsoring organizations discussing what they do and the relevant issues they are working hard diligently on. One of the organizations I was really proud of was MTV for becoming part of the engagement and conversation surrounding an issue that affects their core audience. Jason Rzepka, VP of Public Affairs at MTV Networks, (who also won a PopTech award that morning) was there to discuss their collaboration with the Kaiser Family Foundation (also in attendance) on their GYT (Get Yourself Tested/Talking) campaign. The day ended with an awesome wine tasting meet and greet at the Press Club in downtown SF. I hung out with one of my favorite people, Amy Jussel of Shaping Youth for most of the conference – this is definitely a relevant conference for her as she focuses on the effects of marketing and media on young people. Check out her three part interview with Deb Levine, Director of ISIS, Inc.

Alongside my friend Leslie Bradshaw, I gave a presentation looking at online engagement strategies for public health:

I was also really excited to get Deb on camera as she closed out the conference with some great thoughts.

And finally an interview with ISIS’ Youth Marketing Manager who is very into public health and new ideas, Margaret Lucas:

I thought the event was well organized with great opportunities to learn about fantastic campaigns and projects that are impacting the landscape of public health through sexual education innovation. I’m glad that this conference is moving forward because for alot of sexual health education and prevention initiatives, we have not been paying attention to the people that are in the middle of the problems. Sex::Tech allows an opportunity for those working in the field to hear about the experiences of young people and how to better shape programs for the future.

Two campaigns about Diabetes, each made for a different audience and therefore a different approach.

The first one is the video above (NSFW). Made by Serve Marketing and is meant to go viral.
This is a web-only PSA designed to catch parents off guard and let them know about the devastating consequences of diabetes and encourage them to find out the steps they can take to help prevent it.
The campaign is running during November, which is American Diabetes Month, also contains a website Diabetes Is No Picnic.
“Everyone is aware of diabetes, but few people understand how devastating the disease can be,” explains Serve Founder, Gary Mueller on why his organization took such a provocative approach in their communications on this issue. “We believe people need a wake-up call on this issue. If we want people to change their unhealthy behaviors,  they need to see this disease in a different light. We need to make people uncomfortable with their inaction.  Focusing on educating  people about the devastating consequences of diabetes is the best way  to do that.”

Half The Care

The second campaign is made by Better World Advertising for New York State Health Foundation. Entitled “Half The Care” is running as print ads in medical journals and internet collateral, (including a website) and the target audience is Doctors. The campaign is running state-wide in New York, where Type 2 Diabetes rates are shockingly high, and patients are receiving less than half the quality of care they do in other U.S. states. This is especially remarkable because New Yorkers like to think they are so ahead of the curve in areas like education, healthcare and other social policies. The Health Foundation is also producing some educational collateral to give to doctors to assist their approach to patients who have or are at risk for Type 2 Diabetes.

“Diabetes is a life-altering disease, and patients first line of defense against its devastating complications is their doctors. We have a critical responsibility to ensure that people get the care they need to live a full life,”said Neil Calman, MD, family physician, President of the Institute for Family Health, and Campaign Director. Pointing to the fact that the number of New Yorkers with diabetes could fill Yankee Stadium more than 34 times, he added, “We play a role in this figure, and we can do better. When doctors provide proper treatment and care, we can save lives, organs, limbs, and vision. These ads are designed to connect clinicians with the resources and support they need to do exactly that.”

“Because of the flood of patients and the complexity of treating diabetes, many providers are overwhelmed,” said Wanda Montalvo, RN, MSN, Clinical Director of the Campaign. “We are partnering with the state’s leading medical professional and health care trade associations to provide training, technical assistance, and support to help physicians provide the best care possible.” The Campaign, for a limited time, is paying the fees for providers to participate in national programs that recognize physicians and nurse practitioners as “diabetes providers of excellence.”

More campaign images here.

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Marc van Gurp is the founder of Osocio which examines the world of advetising in the social change/non-profit landscape. Marc resides in Amsterdam.

Tired of those yawn-inducing PSAs that simply aim to inform you about an important health matter but do nothing for your creative side?

Well you’re in luck. I recently stumbled across something that might put a smile on your face.

Secretary of Health Sebelius is encouraging you and anyone you know, to put together a PSA that creatively helps spread the word of flu prevention. As she mentions in the video below, H1N1 has become the dark horse catalyst to remind all of us to take better steps to stay healthy from the flu.

The Prize

• One grand prize of $2,500 cash
• Top video(s) will be featured on broadcast TV and on government Web sites

I’m diggin this HHS!

For more details on contest rules,visit the official entry site here. Hurry, deadline is August 17th!

Well, the constant thunderstorms and sweltering weather can only mean one thing, folks – summer is here. To me summer is one of those seasons that you either really like or really don’t like. For a variety of reasons I enjoy the summer – mainly if I have constant access to some cold lemonade and air conditioning. With that said, another way that plenty of people choose to enjoy the summer as well as cool down is with the vast expanse of water known as the swimming pool.

The source of failed cannonball attempts and swimming lessons, the pool is at the top of the list for summertime locations. But before you take a dip, dive or leap into the refreshingly cool waters, let’s take a look at some health concerns that you may want to be aware of before you take the family.

According to a recent survey by the Water Quality & Health Council (WQHC), 84 percent of Americans believe their fellow swimmers participate in unhygienic pool behavior and almost half (47%) admit to actually doing one or more behaviors that contribute to an unhealthy pool. Unclean water can lead to recreational water illnesses – diarrhea, respiratory illness, and ear and skin infections. Children, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems can suffer from more severe illness if infected.  According to the CDC, these illnesses are on the rise.  Between 2005 and 2006, 78 outbreaks were reported in 31 states – the largest number of outbreaks ever in a two-year period.

Swimming is a fun and healthy activity for old and young alike.  Proper water chlorination helps protect swimmers from germs that can make swimmers sick,” said Michele Hlavsa, Epidemiologist in the Division of Parasitic Diseases for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “But swimmers also have role to play in maintaining a clean and healthy pool.  Unhygienic behavior brings germs into the pool and makes it harder for chlorine to do its job.

Last month, CNN had an article regarding the issue of urination in pools and you wouldn’t  believe which swimming idol also admits to doing the same! Ok, well maybe you would believe it but nonetheless, this is no laughing matter.

For more information on identifying and maintaining a healthy pool, as well as healthy swim behaviors, please visit www.healthypools.org and www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming.

Remember what I mentioned regarding the importance of competition for health innovation? Well the good folks over at Humana are definitely aware of this and have recently unveiled a new competition focused on healthy gaming. No strangers to the health games arena, the Humana and their Insert Coin challenge are asking you: “Got a GREAT idea for a healthy game?”

The contest started last Thursday (June 11) but don’t fret – you have until September 9th to get entries in! Keep in mind, the games to be submitted can range from those geared toward little kids to those focused on the elderly – so the canvas for creativity is huge!

Speaking of creativity, my buddy Naimul (one of the awesome people at Humana) turned his swag on with this hilarious rap music video promoting the Insert Coin challenge as well as giving tribute to his love for 8-bit video games.

You can also peek into the minds of some pretty innovative folks from Humana at the Crumple It Up blog.

Photo credit: Patrick Frost

AIDS.gov, one of the leading credible sources from HHS on all things HIV/AIDS related, is once again making use of innovative tools in new media to increase awareness and building community around National HIV Testing Day (NHTD). On June 27, we in the public health world want to make sure as many people as possible know about places to get tested and the importance of getting it done.

Last year I had the most awesome opportunity to partner up with the AIDS.gov team to put on a webinar for NHTD consisting of some great professionals. This year they are stepping it up a notch and have created an embeddable video widget to go along with a new story telling initiative. Throughout the month they’ll be changing the video in the widget. The team (as well as myself) is encouraging people who want to help increase awareness to embed the widget on their sites and to share what getting an HIV test meant to them through the comments section on their [AIDS.gov] blog.

Time and time again, the AIDS.gov people demonstrate dedication and in depth knowledge of the importance in using social media and innovative communication tools to impact the community. To learn about some other ways to make the initiative a success, including Twitter hashtag to organize tweeting about NHTD, check out their promotional page.

Hey folks, it’s no secret that after I was inundated with extensive creativity and innovation at the last San Francisco based Health 2.0 conference, I was bright eyed about games for health. Well, over the past few months I have become an avid fan of one of the companies that demo’d their products – Playnormous. After the conference I had to look them up and was happy to see that their target audience were young kids – helping them to learn healthy habits and ideals in a society where the opposite bombard them constantly through television, the Web and yes even through video games.

I’m always interested to see what new technologies and tools of interactive engagement are being used to further health initiatives and right now the healthy gaming industry is molten lava hot. I don’t have to tell you how well the Nintendo Wii is doing with making huge strides in changing the way people think about exercise. But who’s to say that I don’t want to continue telling you how well things are going?

Which leads me to the reason I wrote this for all of you.

A new blog has been unveiled to the public from the great people behind Playnormous, to bring you fresh, current and interesting points of view on the growing applications of the healthy gaming movement. The blog, healthGAMERS, is focused on taking a look at some of the innovations around game-based technology to improve public health. One of the coolest parts of the blog launch is that Playnormous got in touch with me and asked me to be a co-author! Of course I was thrilled and couldn’t turn it down.

So check out healthGAMERS for those of you interested in how the video/computer/interactive game world is makin waves to improve our health and the health of our kids. For some added coolness, check out a clip of Playnormous being featured on the local ABC news recently. If you are interested in writing for healthGAMERS, please feel free to contact me!

Finally, here is a video of the Playnormous presentation from the Health 2.0 conference breakout session last year. I took this on a Flip camera so it isn’t best quality (will have to turn up the volume) but it’s pretty cool.

Remember when Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) was all the rage when it first came out several years ago? People seemed to gravitate toward the flashing lights, the hypnotizing beats and the opportunity to get your groove on without dancing lessons! Well over the past few years the idea of applying gaming interaction to benefit health and wellness has all but exploded onto the scene thanks to innovative products from the likes of Nintendo (e.g. Wii, Wii Fit, Nintendo DS puzzle games). Others are quickly gaining momentum and Pulse + Signal will regularly cover these advances in healthy gaming.

One of the most recent initiatives that I’m excited about is Humana Games’ Horsepower Challenge. Basically it’s a new program from Humana Games that combines the use of video games and exercising. This “exergaming” program aims to increase the activity levels of children to combat rising obesity rates. The Challenge involves 20 members of Congress and 2,000 fifth and sixth graders nationwide as they “race” across the country in a Web-based game where each student and congressional member powers a cartoon horse avatar by taking steps with a pedometer.

The initiative was launched on March 31st in Washington (check out media from the launch event here). During the launch event, Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) had some words to say about the current state of health in America:

We have an explosion of obesity, as far as Americans are concerned. We’ve only increased our caloric intake about 100 calories over the past 25 years. What has changed is our lifestyle. There are more time on videos, there is more time being schlepped to school, there are more opportunities for people to avoid simple common sense activities that make a difference. This is what is so great about the challenge is that it engages young Americans to do something that young Americans of a generation or two ago did, for example, walking to school.

When I talk about how it’s time to get the wheels turning on new and innovative ways to engage people to better their health, this is the sort of thing I’m talking about! Think about the great ways that this will engage the minds of youth – to start them off on a path where healthy living isn’t a separate chore to adhere to but something that’s already integrated into their lives. Right now the Challenge is going on in the UK but later on in the Spring it will kick off here in the States!

Don’t think that the smart folks over at Humana aren’t making use of new media either. Quite the opposite! They’ve made it possible for you to stay connected with their activities with Facebook, Youtube and of course Twitter. Definitely looking forward to more great stuff from Humana – revolutionizing how we innovate in health.

It’s January and with the start of the year comes certain things that folks might either like or dislike. Many people enjoy the feeling of a fresh start, newly made resolutions to lose weight or to accomplish a goal – others may not like the cold weather or possibility of snow/ice. But I think there is one thing that everyone can be on the same side about during these winter months: hatred for being sick.

Something that I’ve talked about and highlighted in the past – cold and flu season is here folks and the germs are having a ball. And if you think that you have it rough with the co-worker who you just saw coming out of the bathroom sneezing into their hand and wants to shake yours moments later – think about parents of young children! We’ve all seen it. Riding on the train or bus and little Jonny seated comfortably next to Mom or Dad, effortlessly decides to unleash a series of hacking coughs or sneezes into the open air. The parent might either shrug it off or firmly tell him to cover his mouth with his sleeve next time and then proceed to furiously wipe down his hands with a Wet Wipe (I’ve seen both happen). The fact is, parents of little kids are constantly battling colds and fevers with their young ones. How many of the old wives’ tales actually work? Does going through a container a week of Lysol Wipes do any good? Don’t antibiotics help cure everything?

Those are probably questions that go through the head of every parent and recently I was sent a video offering some help on those issues. Should the parent just let the child “be a kid” and roll around in the dirt?  Or should they be ultra-vigilant on the war on germs? In this MicrobeWorld Video piece that I was happy to receive from my friend Chris Condayan – Dr. Harley Rotbart, author of Germ Proof Your Kids: The Complete Guide to Protecting (without Overprotecting) Your Family from Infections gives us candid insight into the world of keeping our kids healthy.

Dr. Rotbart, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at The University of Colorado and The Children’s Hospital of Denver, has practiced, researched, and taught germ defense for the past 25 years. His new book serves as a resource for parents and health care providers to help put science back into the discussion of protecting kids from microscopic dangers. In addition to evaluating the traditional approaches to infection prevention (vaccines, antibiotics, etc.), Dr. Rotbart also analyzes the science behind Mom’s advice about the effects of hygiene, nutrition, sleep, stress, exercise, and even wearing boots in the rain. It turns out Mom was right most of the time.

This is one of the many reasons why I love public health communications. The importance of clearing up common misconceptions in order to improve the health and well being (and sanity of parents) is priceless. I truly hope this video helped ease some worries or at least create a curiosity to find out more information.

All about you being empowered to learn more.

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Reader Question:

What are some ways that YOU have prevented getting a cold or getting sick at all? I’m going to try to collect some thoughts and put it into a blog post – we definitely have more time with this weather!

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Chris Condayan works with a great team over at Chocolate City Media to create in depth and high quality audio/visual solutions on the Web, such as the video you just saw. Be sure to check them out!

Since recently relocating to North Carolina, my time has basically been spent finding essential locations (grocery, shopping malls, Blockbuster, etc.). Between all the personal items that need to be addressed after making a move, we get a new list of items to take care of when we start the new job: benefits. Now I don’t know about you, but one of the main items related to your benefits is the medical care. Who will you go to when you are sick, injured or need a regular check up? What are the OB/GYN professionals in my area that can help me through this pregnancy? Is there are a good pediatrician in the area to take care of Junior?

These are all questions that get asked when thinking about our medical care and even more so when you are starting from scratch to find answers, like yours truly. So recently I came across something that might not only help me but many others in the search for compatible and great doctors. Vitals.com is a new service that allows you to not only search for doctors in your area, but also to rate and review them.

As you can see from the home page, you are given pretty much three choices on where to go from there:

• Check up on your (existing) doctor;
• Find a doctor;
• Figuring out what TYPE of doctor to find based on your physical ailments (NOTE: it is not telling you what your medical condition is, but helping to clarify what type of doctor to look for to treat it)

I was pretty happy to see that there were quite a few options for doctors based on your gender and what parts of the body are troubling you. So with that added feature, this definitely isn’t a one time search resource. There are other aspects of the search process that I am hoping to explore more of on the Vitals website. One thing that I think is important and probably beneficial for the site is that they are looking to create a community – you can even sign up to be notified of when you can become a Vitals community member!

Lastly, and this is the part that really hooked me into checking it out, there is a free eBook on the whole process of finding a doctor and what many people should look for when doing their research. The ebook helps readers figure out things like what kind of doctor should you be looking for, what are quality measures, what questions are important to ask when looking for a doctor and a dictionary of different doctors and what they specialize in (like “What is an Otolaryngologist and what do they do?”). You can get the eBook by going to www.vitals.com/ebook, and there is also a link to it from the main Vitals.com homepage.

Pulse + Signal may have the opportunity to interview Mitch Rothschild, the CEO of Vitals.com – would you be interested in asking any questions to him about the site or about the search for a doctor? Go ahead and leave the questions/comments in the comments field!