While young people do not have a high risk for stroke, when you think about the age you begin forming life-long habits, it makes a lot of sense to teach children about their health and well-being at an early age. That is why we created Hip Hop Stroke – a free and fun standards-based health education program that teaches children how to recognize the signs and symptoms of stroke, appropriately call 911 and prevent a stroke through healthy lifestyle changes.
How it Works
Hip Hop Stroke educates children in an interactive way using cartoons and music featuring hip-hop icons like Doug E. Fresh and motivates them to share the information with their parents. Endorsed by the New York State Department of Health, the program was designed for 4th and 5th graders and meets the Health Education National Learning Standards 1,3,4,5,7 and 8 as well as the Physical Education National Learning Standards 5.
The Hip Hop Stroke online portal is now available for all schools around the globe and staff may register their school for the program at any time. Hip Hop Stroke consists of 3 modules, each about 25 minutes long and there is also an optional student questionnaire at the beginning and at end of the program. Responses to the questionnaire are kept private and publicly unidentifiable, consistent with privacy protections and ethical standards approval of the program obtained from Columbia University’s Institutional Review Board.
The Impact
Remarkably, children participating in Hip Hop Stroke have saved the lives of their parents and grandparents. One such story is about a young boy named Daniel who immediately called 911 and saved his father’s life after our animated musical cartoons helped him remember what to do when his father suddenly had a stroke.
Evidence supporting the effectiveness of Hip Hop Stroke was developed via NIH-funded research conducted at Columbia University and stories like Daniel’s are reflected in the research from our Hip Hop Stroke program which was recently featured in the American Heart Association’s Stroke Journal, PubMed and more. Nearly 60% of the children who participated in the program now have optimal stroke knowledge (compared to 2% before the program) and 24% of them retained the information even after three months. Moreover, not only were the kids able to identify stroke symptoms but they went on to teach their parents as well.
Visit the Hip Hop Stroke Portal to register your school for free, view a demo of the program or ask us your questions.
