The cartoon character Beanie has a headache and goes to the doctor.
He has lots of tips on what you can do to prevent headaches from occurring in the first place. With humor and charm, the sympathetic figure “Mütz” takes young people on a journey of discovery: Where do headaches come from? What role do medications play? What does “prevention” mean and who can help prevent headaches? But the comic also motivates headache-free readers to get smart and prevent it. “Mütze is fed up with headaches” was developed by pain specialist Prof. Hartmut Göbel and teacher Karin Frisch. The project is aimed at children and young people between the ages of 9 and 16 and their families. The “Hat Campaign – Childhood without Headaches” provides free teaching materials for headache prevention to seventh graders.
Headache at school 2016
21 health insurance companies are supporting the project nationwide as part of their statutory prevention mandate. The results of the accompanying scientific survey show high case numbers and inadequate care for children and adolescents affected by headaches. With a new comic film, the initiators are creating an offer that provides students with contemporary information about the development and treatment of headaches. “73.9 percent of seventh graders complain of primary headaches. The most common forms are migraines and tension-type headaches,” reports Prof. Dr. med. Dipl. Psych. Hartmut Göbel, director of the Kiel Pain Clinic and scientific leader of the study. “Over 50% of those affected report symptoms of migraine - this is significantly more than previous studies suggest.” 78.7 percent of children with tension headaches and 62.1 percent of those affected with migraine-typical symptoms have not been to the doctor and have not professional knowledge.

Class 7b of the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Gymnasium Wernigerode takes part in “Mütze is fed up with the headache”. Here, in biology lessons, students learn essential information about dealing with headaches, as well as their prevention and therapy.

Class 7b of the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Gymnasium Wernigerode takes part in “Mütze is fed up with the headache”. Here, in biology lessons, students learn essential information about dealing with headaches, as well as their prevention and therapy.

Prof. Hartmut Göbel from the Kiel Pain Clinic and Karin Frisch from the non-profit Center for Research and Diagnostics in Implants, Inflammation and Pain (ZIES gGmbH) are countering this development with a campaign to prevent headaches in children and adolescents, which is already being implemented in 15 federal states.
They have developed three school lessons with all the necessary work materials. “Through the teaching unit, which seventh graders can order free of charge, students, teachers and parents learn how they can effectively prevent headaches by making changes in the everyday lives of those affected. “The school lessons show the risks of unreflective medication use and emphasize the benefits of targeted advice and prevention,” says the teacher, explaining the concept of “Aktion Mütze – childhood without headaches”. The initiators of “Aktion Mütze” don’t just want to strengthen the health skills of individuals.
The situation of children and young people affected by headaches can only be sustainably improved if many relevant actors take part. “That’s why we deliberately involve school management, teachers and parents in our campaign and seek discussions with ministries and authorities,” emphasizes Karin Frisch. Prof. Hartmut Göbel, who helped develop the International Headache Classification, sees a need for further training among doctors: “Only 29.9 percent of those surveyed with symptoms typical of migraine know their diagnosis and have no name or concept for it Headache. Among students with tension headaches, the figure was even slightly lower at 26.3 percent.” The data is based on a written survey in the 7th grades participating in “Aktion Mütze”.
A two-stage representative sample (N=1,102) from the questionnaires returned by June 2016 was evaluated. The survey will continue until July 2018. The next, more differentiated evaluation of the data is planned for May 2017. “Aktion Mütze – Childhood without headaches” is currently being carried out in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig -Holstein and Thuringia.
The following ministers/senators have taken on patronage for the implementation of the campaign in their federal state: Social Minister Cornelia Rundt (Lower Saxony), State Minister for Social Affairs and Consumer Protection Barbara Klepsch (Saxony), Senator for Health and Consumer Protection Cornelia Prufer-Storcks (Hamburg), Senator for Science, health and consumer protection Prof. Dr. Eva Quante-Brandt (Bremen).

Contact:
ZIES non-profit GmbH: Karin Frisch, 0171-198 65 90, info@zies-frankfurt.de
http://www.aktion-muetze.de/
Pain Clinic Kiel: Prof. Dr. Hartmut Göbel, 0431-20099150 hg@ pain clinic.de
https:// pain clinic.de/