World's First Spinal Cord Injury Educational Comic Books For Children Launched

Being told you have a spinal cord injury is a frightening occurrence if you're all grown up.

But what if you're only a child? What do all the big words really mean? How can you understand all this information, and then explain clearly and easily what is happening to family and friends?

On the eve of Spinal Injury Awareness Week (9-15 November), The SpineCare Foundation in collaboration with Medikidz is launching two world-first educational comic books designed to explain complex medical information about spinal cord injuries in a format that children will understand and engage with.

The comic books - 'Medikidz Explain Spinal Cord Injuries" and 'Meditotz Explain Spinal Cord Injuries" - are based on real life stories of three Australian children who live with a spinal cord injury (SCI). The books were written by the Medikidz team of doctors and reviewed by Australian paediatric spinal cord injury medical specialists.

Dr. Adrienne Epps, SpineCare Foundation Board Director and Head of Rehabilitation at Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, says the comic books will not only benefit children living with spinal cord injuries but also their peers, families and friends.

'Being diagnosed with a spinal cord injury is a scary time not only for the child and their family – especially siblings - but also for their friends, as they might not fully comprehend the medical condition nor the associated investigations, treatments and procedures. This initiative puts intimidating situations and confusing medical jargon into a light-hearted and engaging format without trivialising the serious nature of the diagnosis."

One of the Australian children appearing in the comic books is three-year-old Evander Conroy who was born with a spinal cord injury as a result of spinal cord compression from a neuroblastoma tumour.

Evander underwent chemotherapy during his first 6 months of life and has had frequent hospital trips ever since. He uses a wheelchair most of the time because the condition has significantly affected his mobility and other medical issues have resulted including respiratory, bowel and bladder problems.

Evander's mum, Clare Conroy, is proud her son can tell his story in the comic books: 'It has been good to be able to share what Evander enjoys in his day and then see those appear as part of the story."

'The comic is simple enough for young children to understand and fun at the same time. It will be a very useful tool for Evander, and other children who can take it to school and share with their class or with their brother and sister. Children naturally have a lot of questions about why Evander is in a wheelchair and it will help to have a comic that answers these."

The comic books are available free of charge in Australia. Digital versions can be downloaded at www.northcott.com.au/spinecare and hard copies are available by emailing The SpineCare Coordinator, or from The Northcott Building, 1 Fennell Street, North Parramatta.

The Northcott PSOS (Paediatric Spinal Outreach Service) team will actively use the comic books with their clients and the books will also be distributed to SCI clinics, libraries and schools.

 

Medikidz Fact Sheet

What: Medikidz was set up by a group of doctors and is the first global children's healthcare education brand which exists to ensure that all children can access medical information – including conditions, investigations, diagnoses, and treatments - in a language they can understand and via a comic book format which is familiar and engaging.

How: Using the Medikidz superhero characters, a series of comic books have been created to explain medical information to young patients. All content is written by doctors, and peer reviewed by leading specialists in their field, and then co-authored by graphic novelists.
Medikidz collaborates with key opinion leaders, leading patient associations and professional bodies who come on board to officially endorse the comic books. Medikidz works closely with healthcare professionals, families, children and patients to produce unique learning material in an interactive, powerfully-visual comic book format, thereby helping to educate children about their own health as well as the health of those around them.

Why: Millions of children worldwide are diagnosed everyday with conditions that even their parents may find difficult to comprehend. Many children don't understand medical conditions, or associated investigations, procedures and treatments, and are often scared by what is going on around them. Medikidz comic books aim to make a scary time less so.

Who: The Medikidz comic books are beneficial not only to children living with a medical condition, but also their peers, families and medical practioners who are involved in the process. As well as the 60 current comic book titles on paediatric conditions (such as epilepsy, scoliosis, leukaemia and diabetes), Medikidz has also produced books on adult conditions, ensuring that a parent/loved one faced with a diagnosis has somewhere to turn to where they can find help in explaining their illness.

Where: Over 3,500,000 Medikidz comic books have been distributed globally, involving over 400 leading physician peer reviewers and 100 endorsing partners worldwide. The Medikidz comic books are easily accessible to children, their peers and families every day from leading health care practitioners and most hospitals. The comic books can also be downloaded at www.medikidz.com.