Ervin Milner (right) with his original partner Robert Fenwick in 1958.

Milner-Fenwick's road to patient education

Prior to Milner-Fenwick's focus in patient education in 1975, the company produced a variety of films, documentaries, commercials, and training programs for corporate and government clients. Under the direction of founder Ervin Milner, the company produced over 200 films from 1955 to 1975 including Academy Award nominee Beyond Silence, a film profiling the deaf students of Gallaudet College. Milner-Fenwick's specialty was technical animation, instrumental in crossing over into the medical field and helping patients understand complex medical processes. At the age of 87, Erv still comes to work every day and stays active in the company.

Customer reps Jodi Bates and Myra Lublinsky.

Home Video Client Support

We've restructured our Sales Department to provide even more specialized service to our clients. If you have an interest in home videos for your patients, two of our long standing customer representatives, Myra Lublinsky and Jodi Bates, can provide in-depth service. Both offer many years of experience on all facets of project planning and implementation from program selection to customization and personalization for your facility. Call either of them at (800)432-8433.

Expanded Personalization Service

You can now personalize VHS and DVD patient giveaways more easily than ever. Milner-Fenwick has purchased new equipment that offers greater flexibility in adding your logo and other custom information about your facility to video sleeves. This new technology allows you to include these services at lower purchase quantities as well. Find out more.

Diabetes and the AADE

Here are the newest resources we've developed with the American Association of Diabetes Educators.

• The newest unit of our PowerPoint slide series, The Diabetes Epidemic, is ideal for diabetes education presentations to community groups, individuals at increased risk for type 2 diabetes, or health care decision makers. This 64-slide unit covers epidemiology, high risk ethnic groups, risk assessment and reduction, and children and teens at risk. Each slide is designed to stand alone, allowing you the flexibility to create your own presentations or combine them with slides from other sources. View sample slides from The Diabetes Epidemic.
• Many people are living with pre-diabetes, a warning sign that they're already on the path to diabetes and heart disease. But patients can at least prevent or delay the onset of Type 2 Diabetes. Based on results from the Diabetes Prevention Program, new video Pre-Diabetes emphasizes that healthy lifestyle choices are the best prevention plan. It explains what pre-diabetes is and outlines a plan that includes working with a healthcare provider to monitor blood glucose, making healthy food choices, getting regular physical activity, possibly taking oral medications and getting support.
• Patients will benefit by having The Diabetes Home Video Guide: Skills for Self-Care, 2nd Edition in their home library. This updated edition contains information patients will feel comfortable referring to over and over again. Color-coded chapters, containing follow-up questions and activities, reinforce classroom instruction, and make it easy for patients to access specific information quickly. The interactive DVD format allows patients to quickly target smaller subchapters. Priced affordably for use as a give-away, this product is only sold in bulk. Also available in VHS and in Spanish.
• We've responded to your requests for audio resources for visually-impaired patients by releasing The Diabetes Home Audio Guide: Skills for Self Care. It is adapted from the new version of The Diabetes Home Video Guide. It's also useful for well-sighted patients interested in listening to the program in their cars, or on portable audio players while exercising. Available on both audiocassette and CD-ROM, the packaging is enhanced with Braille titling.

Childhood Obesity

Everywhere you look, children are faced with unhealthy food and activity choices. Young and Overweight: Helping Yourself Change gives young people the tools that will help them get to a healthy weight, from calorie counting and using the nutrition facts label to adding physical activity to their daily routines. Guiding your Overweight Child: Getting Healthy Together, gives parents the help they need to make healthier daily lifestyle changes for their entire family. The importance of making healthy food choices, calorie counting, incorporating physical activity in the daily routine, and being healthy role models are emphasized. Both programs introduce the “10,000 steps program” as a way to get active.

Managing Stress

Milner-Fenwick has added an entire line of stress related programs to its library.

• Adding our newly acquired Relax Channel™ (produced by Audiovision) to your current CCTV system provides over 6 hours of stress-reducing programming. Offering education as well as entertainment, patients can learn what stress does to the body, relaxation and coping techniques, and view relaxing, scenic images. Purchase includes unlimited rights for broadcasting over CCTV in a single facility.
• Three new programs produced by Audiovision, also help patients learn stress management techniques. Balancing the Stress of Life uses dramatic vignettes to teach four cognitive techniques. Well, Well, Well… A Comedy About Wellness presents the issue in a light-hearted way. Short Circuiting Stress uses Albert Ellis' ABC theory of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.

Heart Failure

The updated second edition of Living with Heart Failure: A Home Guide to Self-Care is now available in video cassette and DVD. It illustrates all the self-management tools available to your CHF patients. In less than one hour, this home reference reviews pathophysiology, the importance of following a treatment plan, medication management, keys to healthy eating, staying active, and coping techniques. Low unit pricing for bulk purchases.

Heart Health

Milner-Fenwick has acquired two outstanding programs produced by State of the Art, Men Managing Heart Disease and Women Managing Heart Disease. These programs provide ethnically diverse profiles of people living with heart disease and examining the important lifestyle changes they are making. Download the free 48-page companion booklet for men or companion booklet for women (PDF format) that include a wealth of information, outside resources, and an extensive glossary of terms.

From Hospital to Home

Milner-Fenwick is releasing Heart Surgery: Beginning your Recovery and Heart Failure: Basics of Better Care, the first two programs in our From Hospital to Home discharge recovery series. The series was produced to help hospitals fulfill JCAHO discharge requirements and to help patients “bridge the gap” between hospital discharge and their first follow-up appointment. Patients are encouraged to watch these programs in the comfort of their homes with family members and other caregivers. These low-cost DVD's are sold only in bulk quantities, and may be easily customized with your facility logo.

New Baby Care

First Days Home: Keeping Your Baby Healthy and Happy has been revised and updated. It's available in VHS and DVD formats. To discover how one Connecticut hospital has used this video for the past seven years as an integral part of its discharge program, read our feature article Helping Parents Care for Newborns with “First Days Home” Video.