Wednesday, September 9, 2009

NEWTON, MA—As students return to school this fall, the H1N1 virus has parents understandably concerned. One medical doctor, Mache Seibel, MD, has taken an unusual approach to preventing the disease: he writes and sings songs about how to stay healthy.

A professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Dr. Seibel believes "it's better to stay well than to get well." Although he still sees patients, he has shifted his focus from curing medical problems to preventing them.

Dr. Seibel's passion for keeping people well drove him to found his company, called HealthRock. Through HealthRock, he writes songs that cover topics as divergent as healthy eating and cancer screening. His current priority is preventing additional cases of H1N1.

Dr. Seibel is a man on a mission. A few weeks ago, he presented his musical approach to health education at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The following week, he sang songs about hand washing at an elementary school in Houston. Today, he is seeing patients at the University of Massachusetts.

Dr. Seibel, whom children know as DocRock, has songs that cover a variety of H1N1 prevention techniques. For example, one song teaches children when and how to wash their hands: "When you cough, When you sneeze/ Both your hands can spread disease/ Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands…" The song proceeds to discuss the importance of using soap. An accompanying cartoon is available for viewing at http://www.healthrock.com

Another song encourages people to get the flu shot. Still other songs teach proper coughing and sneezing techniques. Additional H1N1-inspired songs are in the works, as are translations into Spanish.

According to Dr. Seibel, songs make medical topics understandable and enjoyable. He says: "If you can sing about it, you can talk about it. If you can talk about it, you can act on it." And that, he feels, is the secret to preventing H1N1.

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