MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
March 13, 2013
LHSC Child and Youth Advisory Council teach peers the importance of proper hand washing
LONDON, Ontario – “Be Wise, Sanitize”. It is not just a catchy slogan; it is also the name of a new video produced by the Child and Youth Advisory Council at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) aimed at helping younger audiences understand the importance of good hand hygiene, particularly when in hospital.
The Child and Youth Advisory Council (CYAC) is a group of youth, aged 10-17, who have been a patient at LHSC’s Children’s Hospital, or who have a family member who has been treated at LHSC. Their goal is to help enhance family-centered care by looking at the health care experience through the eyes of young patients.
CYAC members are acutely aware of the importance of good hand hygiene in protecting health, but weren’t sure that their peers were as informed as they should be. Wanting to help educate, while still keeping the subject fun and light, the group decided to write a song outlining the steps involved in proper hand washing.
“We wanted to create a video that was memorable. Our hope is that we can help people form healthy hand washing habits that will stay with them throughout their lives, not just while they’re in the hospital”, said CYAC member, seventeen-year-old Mackenzie Babinsky.
The video, set to the tune ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’, was filmed by a friend of the CYAC, grade twelve student Ted Linden from Beal Secondary School. Linden was inspired to help the group on this project after his father experienced a hospital stay recently. “While my father was in the hospital, it became very clear to me how important proper hand sanitization is. I think this video will resonate with patients and visitors alike, because it is a catchy tune with fun lyrics, presented in a unique way.”
Val Rousom, Director of Children’s Care at LHSC is thrilled with the video, and views it as an important tool to help educate a population who might otherwise not think about this key infection prevention method. “The work done by the CYAC in creating this video is outstanding, and will provide a great resource for teaching patients and visitors the proper way to wash your hands. Our goal is to make our patients healthy, and ensure our visitors remain healthy. The best way to do that is to encourage frequent, thorough hand washing, and this video is a great way to do that.”
The video will be available to patients and visitors through LHSC’s Children’s Hospital website and the Children’s Health Foundation website, and will be placed on television units at the bedside. The ‘Be Wise, Sanitize!’ video is also available on the LHSC YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/LHSCCanada.
Media interviews:
Val Rousom and members of the CYAC will be available for interviews on March 13.
Song lyrics and CYAC committee members can be found on the attached backgrounder
About London Health Sciences Centre
London Health Sciences Centre has been in the forefront of medicine in Canada for 138 years and offers the broadest range of specialized clinical services in Ontario. Building on the traditions of its founding hospitals to provide compassionate care in an academic teaching setting, London Health Sciences Centre is home to Children’s Hospital, University Hospital, Victoria Hospital, the Kidney Care Centre, two family medical centres, and two research institutes – Children’s Health Research Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute, a joint research initiative with St. Joseph’s Health Care London. As a leader in medical discovery and health research, London Health Sciences Centre has a history of over 65 international and national firsts and attracts top clinicians and researchers from around the world. As a regional referral centre, London Health Sciences Centre cares for the most medically complex patients including critically injured adults and children in southwestern Ontario and beyond. The hospital’s nearly 15,000 staff, physicians, students and volunteers provide care for more than one million patient visits a year. For more information visit www.lhsc.on.ca
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For media inquiries contact:
Kathy Leblanc
Corporate Communications and Public Relations
London Health Sciences Centre
519-685-8500, ext. 74772
kathy.leblanc@lhsc.on.ca
After-hours assistance:
Call LHSC Switchboard at 519-685-8500 and ask to page the communication consultant on-call
Visit the LHSC Media web site at www.lhsc.on.ca/media
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Backgrounder
Members of the Child and Youth Advisory Council are:
Juliana Pierotti
Mackenzie Babinsky
Shawn Cormier
Melanie Eus
Hashir Imtiaz
Samantha Mascotto
Jill Versteegh
Jessie Grenier
Stephanie Singeris
Song lyrics: “Be Wise, Sanitize”
Now this is a story
all about washing your hands
keepin’ them fresh and clean
and I’d like to take a minute
just sit right there
I’ll tell you the importance
of takin’ good care
In London Ontario
born and raised
on Paeds is where I spent
most of my days
In Ashley’s backyard
maxing and relaxing all cool
getting visit’s from all my friends
when I wasn’t in school
when a couple of germs
they were up to no good
started making trouble and I misunderstood
I got one little cold and my mom got scared
she said “You better start washing
your hands so your immune system can get repaired!”
I called for a nurse and when she came near
she said “You gotta keep your hands fresh
and wash them lots while you’re here!”
If anything I could say that this really made sense
gotta keep my hands fresh to keep up my immune systems defence!
So I told all my friends, about seven or eight
I said, “Yo this washing hands thing’s really great!”
Looked at Paeds and it was finally clear
Everyone was washing their hands up here
