2007 Aesculapius Award Recipients Announced
Texas Heart Institute website honored by Award of Excellence
BETHESDA, MARYLAND (December 3, 2007)—The North American Menopause Society, Cleveland, OH, received the Annual Aesculapius Award for websites. Cooney/Waters Group, New York, NY, received the Annual Aesculapius Award for Public Service Announcements (PSAs). The 2007 Aesculapius Awards were announced today by Dr. Peter G. Goldschmidt, President and Founder of the Health Improvement Institute.
The North American Menopause Society received the top honor for their menopause website, www.menopause.org. This website contains information on menopause, perimenopause, early menopause, menopause symptoms and the long-term health effects of estrogen loss, as well as a wide variety of strategies and therapies to enhance health.
The American Lung Association received the top honor for their TV PSA, Faces of Influenza. This TV PSA is aimed at helping Americans to understand the seriousness of influenza and to seek vaccination throughout the fall, winter and spring. It is designed to help Americans put a “face” on this serious disease, to see themselves among the groups recommended for immunization, and to get themselves and their loved ones vaccinated every year.
Winners of the Award of Excellence for health-related websites included:
• American Association for Clinical Chemistry – www.labtestsonline.org
• Diagnostic Accreditation Program of British Columbia – www.DAP.org
• The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network’s - www.faanteen.org and www.faankids.org
• Medical Education Institute for Home Dialysis Central – www.homedialysis.org
• Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital – www.texasheart.org.
Winners of the Award of Excellence for health-related Public Service Announcements included:
• Perinatal Foundation, Madison, WI – Madre, hay esperanza™ (Mother, there is hope) (Radio PSA)
• Premier Community Health, Dayton, OH – Test for Life (TV PSA).
"People need reliable information about lifestyle and health care choices presented in an appealing way. The Aesculapius Awards are designed to promote and encourage excellence in the communication of good information about healthy lifestyles, disease prevention, and health care treatments," said Dr. Goldschmidt. “This year's winners continued the very high standard of creativity and quality that we have seen since the awards began. We are delighted by the wide variety of organizations that choose to submit entries this year.”
A panel of judges, representing the health care, web publishing, and multimedia fields, evaluated entries. The annual award is named for the ancient Greek god of healing, Aesculapius. This award was established by the Health Improvement Institute, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization based in Bethesda, Maryland, to promote informed consumer lifestyle choices and health care decisions.
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Health Improvement Institute is a non-profit, tax exempt, 501(c)3, charitable organization dedicated to improving the quality and productivity of America's health care. The Institute's principal program objective is to provide information to enable people to make informed health care choices. The Institute has established expertise in evaluating the quality of health information on the Internet, conducts forms and workshops, and sponsors national awards programs to recognize excellence, including the Aesculapius Award for excellence in health communication. For more information, visit www.hii.org.
