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Blue Monkey Planet and TeleHealth Services Partner to Offer Innovative Pediatric Patient Education Content

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 December 2008, 07:18 CST

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. and RALEIGH, N.C., Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- TeleHealth Services, the nation's leading provider of healthcare on-demand patient and staff education solutions has partnered with Medcalm, the leader in audio-visual wellness solutions, to release a revolutionary pediatric channel, Blue Monkey Planet. Blue Monkey Planet is the first pediatric channel providing wellness education content as a part of an innovative series of family-friendly video programs.

Medcalm worked with best-selling authors, sound healing musicians and pediatric psychologists to create the programming that is designed to help children and their families prepare for surgery, lessen their pain and support their recovery process. The content transforms waiting rooms and patient rooms into positive, healing environments by bringing holistic, mind-body medicine to these areas. The series will cover a range of topics and is designed to aid healthcare partners in their efforts to enhance services, quality financial performance and pediatric patient satisfaction.

The partnership with TeleHealth Services allows Medcalm to deliver original and licensed programs to patients via TeleHealth Services' TIGR family of innovative on-demand, patient education systems. The agreement gives Blue Monkey Planet access to more than 400 of TeleHealth's patient education systems in such top hospitals such as Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic, Children's Memorial Hospital, and Children's Hospital of Atlanta.

"Blue Monkey Planet's creative team has developed an incredible new concept for child and parent education and relaxation," states Amy Gordon-Fisher, founder and chief executive of Medcalm. "Each video incorporates a variety of messaging and education catering to the pediatric wards. The goal of the content was to provide family centric education across a broad foundation of techniques, allowing facilities to meet their educational needs and, thus, provide optimal health care for children information. Additionally, the programming has been structured for a truly integrated experience, allowing families to work independently with the programming at home after discharge."

The Blue Monkey series covers a range of topics, including:

• Feel Happy by Dr. Roxanne Daleo -- This program is a visual relaxation journey by MindWorks for Children, helping children help themselves be happy, calm and confident.
• Healing Music for Children by Steven Halpern and Medcalm -- Soothing sounds mixed with creative, impressionistic video will calm and assist in the healing process. This original program has been produced specifically for children in the hospital environment.
• Tickle Monsters Are Robots and Other Stories by the Story Pirates -- The Story Pirates are a group of actors and teachers who transform kids' stories into songs, sketches and movies.
• The Relaxation Station, Relaxation Techniques for Kids, by Children's Hospital of Michigan and Sue Marx Films, Inc. -- The Relaxation Station combines spectacular scenes of wildlife, gentle music and simple exercises in relaxation to teach children the basic techniques of breathing, imagination and meditation- skills that they can use for the rest of their lives.
• Visions of Africa by Earth VideoWorks -- Children can experience African Wildlife right in their room. Over 100 wildlife photographs hand selected by Alan Morgan the master photographer come alive with music by Stephen Pike composed while communing with animals.
• Once Upon a Time by Earth VideoWorks -- The Art of James Christensen and Music by Richard Searles combine whimsical art and sounds with magical fairies, elves and mystical creatures.
• Dreamscapes by Earth VideoWorks -- Your screen becomes an art gallery synchronized to music that is ideal for relaxation.

"This partnership will strengthen our offering in pediatric patient education efforts in order to facilitate a safe and comfortable hospital stay for the children and their families," stated George Fleming, President and CEO of TeleHealth Services. "A need was expressed during our 2008 TIGR User Conference for a more engaging and balanced pediatric-specific educational resource for staff to utilize during their clinical course, as well as post-discharge. Medcalm has always been dedicated to delivering innovative technologies and original and licensed programming to empower patients, so the partnership was a natural fit to TeleHealth's vision in enhancing hospital experiences countrywide and proactively engaging patients and families in their healing process."

TeleHealth's TIGR System assists Pediatric units with additional educational and entertainment resources, and provides a greater assurance that parents and children have the best opportunities to achieve the most successful transition from the hospital to the home environment. The TIGR System's evidence-based educational content is delivered directly to the bedside, empowering the patients throughout their recovery and increasing quality and patient satisfaction while addressing objectives from the Joint Commission and Institute for Healthcare Improvement. TeleHealth Services' TIGR interactive education systems also provide efficiencies to aid in workflow management, providing hospitals the optimal healthcare setting.

About TeleHealth Services:

TeleHealth Services is the nation's leading provider of integrated communications solutions for the healthcare market: bedside access to entertainment; education and services; patient and staff video-on-demand education systems; hospital-grade televisions and accessories; education and entertainment content; system installation, maintenance and financing services. TeleHealth Services is a division of Telerent Leasing Corporation, which has been headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, since it's founding in 1957. Telerent is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITOCHU International, Inc., a U.S. company based in New York City and Global 500 Corporation.

For more information on TeleHealth, call 800-733-8610, or visit at http://www.telehealth.com/.

Contact: Matt Barker Director of Marketing TeleHealth Services 919-772-8604 matt.barker@telehealth.com

SOURCE TeleHealth Services

Source: PR Newswire

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