Profile:
Ira F. Combs,
R.N., B.S. |
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When was the last time your doctor broke out in song to tell you how to stay healthy?
If your answer is “never,” then you haven’t met Dr. Jesse. Dr. Jesse and his crew called “The Prevention Gang” are puppets created by Ira Combs, the community liaison nurse coordinator at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He also is the voice of Dr. Jesse.
Dr. Jesse and The Prevention Gang have their own local cable show in Omaha, Nebraska. They teach people of all ages about important health issues in a way that is easy to understand.
“Dr. Jesse can say things that I couldn’t say. He gets people to listen. He jokes around and makes health fun,” says Combs.
Dr. Jesse talks about topics on a basic level. He tells people to write a list of questions before visiting the doctor. He talks about healthful eating, blood pressure and prostate cancer.
Combs thought of the idea five years ago. He wanted to find a new way to reach people with his health information. His coworkers at the medical center told him to do a talk show or create a brochure. But he thought those ideas were boring and stale.
“The important thing is to get people to listen to the message,” says Combs. “I could make a brochure with great information in it, but no one would read it because it’s boring and black and white. Unless your message stands out, people won’t listen to it.”
So Combs created Dr. Jesse. Today, other characters such as Prevention Man and Medical Dude join the jewelry-wearing doctor. The characters visit health fairs, schools and community events. They have comic books as well as “rap” videos on YouTube.
“Whatever the message, it must be tailored to the audience. You don’t talk to a 3-year-old the same way you talk to a 10-year-old. That may seem basic. But sometimes when doctors talk, they talk down to people. That turns off people,” says Combs, who is a former schoolteacher.
Combs says teaching people to be more health literate is much more effective than the alternative.
“Helping people learn how to take care of themselves is so cheap and so effective,” he says. “It’s much better to stop childhood obesity or prostate cancer before they develop than to pay for their treatment — both with money and with quality of life.”
It’s safe to say Dr. Jesse would agree.
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