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Table of Contents
Recent
Article in JHC:
Volume
13 Issue 6 (September 2008)
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on the title to purchase the article!
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News
Coverage of Cancer in the United States: A National Sample of Newspapers,
Television, and Magazines
Michael D. Slater; Marilee Long; Erwin
P. Bettinghaus; Jason B. Reineke
A content analysis of cancer news coverage in a sample of local and
national newspapers, television, and magazines was conducted for the
years 2002 and 2003. Analyses compared proportions of mentions of
cancer sites with proportional contribution to cancer incidence and
mortality based on available epidemiological estimates. Analyses also
examined relative attention provided to prevention, detection, treatment,
causes and outcomes of various cancers. Results indicated that coverage
reflected incidence rates more closely than they did mortality rates,
but in both cases coverage under-represented the contribution of lung
cancer to morbidity and mortality and over-represented the contribution
of breast cancer. Of greater public health concern was the limited
coverage of prevention and detection even for highly preventable or
relatively easily detected cancers. Implications of findings are discussed.
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Applying
the Common Sense Model to Measure Representations of Arsenic Contaminated
Well Water
Dolores J. Severtson; Linda C. Baumann; Roger L. Brown
Severtson, Baumann, and Brown describes their novel application of
the Common Sense Model of Self-regulation (CSM) to measure personal
understandings of an environmental health risk. Both the CSM and the
mental models risk communication approach propose that information
shapes beliefs that, in turn, influence their decisions and actions.
While the mental models approach proposes a process for eliciting
lay and expert mental models, it does not provide a conceptual framework
to support building generalizable knowledge. Leventhal's CSM posits
that people understand illness in terms of how an illness threat is
recognized and labeled (identity), along with beliefs about cause,
timeline, consequences and control -- and that their beliefs are inter-related
with emotional feelings. We applied these concepts to develop measures
of representations, akin to mental models, for the environmental health
risk of arsenic contaminated water. Survey items were derived from
the literature and key informant interviews to create an instrument
that included generalizable and context specific items. Exploratory
followed by confirmatory factor analyses were used to develop valid
and reliable multivariate measures of representational dimensions.
The resulting dimensions were similar to CSM illness dimensions suggesting
that the CSM has utility for conceptualizing and measuring environmental
health risk representations. Further research is needed to determine
whether these methods can be replicated for other environmental health
risks, how these measures vary across risks and contexts, and the
degree to which other elements of the CSM apply to environmental health
risks. Representational measures foster communication research to
understand how information works. Our findings, supported by years
of CSM research, suggest that people need environmental risk information
regarding each dimension to inform working models of cause and effect
that support informed decisions and actions.
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MyStudentBody-Stress:
An Online Stress Management Intervention for College Students
Emil Chiauzzi; Julie Brevard; Christina Thurn; Stacey Decembrele;
Sarah Lord
College students who have high stress levels tend to experience an
increased risk of academic problems, substance abuse, and emotional
problems. Surveys indicate that the level of student distress has
been increasing in recent years and that stress plays an important
role in retention in school, academic performance, and use of college
counseling services. Because college students are the most "wired"
of all demographic groups, the provision of an online stress management
tool for college campuses offers a reasonable and valuable extension
of college health services. This report describes the development
and testing of an interactive, online, multimedia program called MyStudentBody.com
Stress (MSB-Stress). College students at six U.S. colleges were randomized
to one of three conditions: MSB-Stress, a control health information
website, or no intervention. The differences between groups on stress
control and health behavior measures were compared at baseline, and
at one, three, and six months after baseline. Although there were
no between-group differences on primary outcome variables, secondary
analyses indicated that MSB-Stress participants were more likely to
increase weekly physical activity, use specific stress management
methods, and exhibit decreased anxiety and family problems. These
findings indicate some potentially beneficial effects of online stress
management programming for college students. In addition, online stress
management programming extends the reach of college health services
and addresses the needs of students who are hesitant to seek formal
services.
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Physicians
Who Do and Do Not Recommend Children Get All Vaccinations
Deborah Gust; Deanne Weber; Eric Weintraub; Allison Kennedy; Fatma
Soud; Adam Burns
Gust, Weber, Weintraub, Kennedy, Soud, and Burns examined the characteristics
of physicians who do not recommend that children receive all vaccines
(11% of the physicians included in the analysis). Results showed that
these physicians were more likely to be neutral or agree that they
have some concerns about immunizations, to be family practitioners
versus pediatricians, and work in a smaller versus larger practice.
A higher proportion of physicians who do not versus do recommend all
vaccines indicated they trust Internet sites.
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Perspective:
The Role of Numeracy in Health Care
Russell L. Rothman; Victor M. Montori; Andrea Cherrington; Michael
P. Pignone
Rothman, Montori, Cherrington and Pignone have written a comprehensive
perspective article on the role of numeracy in health. This article
provides a thorough examination of the current definition of numeracy,
current numeracy measures, and the important and unique role of numeracy
in health. The article provides critical appraisal of current work
in the field of numeracy and outlines future challenges that need
to be addressed. Numeracy, the "ability to understand and use
numbers in daily life" is an important but understudied component
of literacy. Numeracy-related tasks are common in healthcare and include
understanding nutrition information, interpreting blood sugar readings
and other clinical data, adjusting medications, and understanding
probability in risk communication. While literacy and numeracy are
strongly correlated, we have identified many patients with adequate
reading ability but poor numeracy skills. Better tools to measure
numeracy and more studies to assess the unique contribution of numeracy
are needed. This research can contribute to developing interventions
to improve outcomes for patients with poor numeracy.
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Can
Movie Theater Advertisements Promote Health Behaviors? Evaluation
of a Flu Vaccination Pilot Campaign
K. Michael Peddecord; Isabel Gomez Jacobson; Moshe Engelberg; Lisa
Kwizera; Violet Macias; Kathleen W. Gustafson
Each day millions attend the movies. These individuals become a prime
market segment that advertising vendors refer to as "a captive
audience." This audience presents an opportunity for health communicators.
To evaluate this communication channel it is important to ask: Does
anyone remember any of this content? What do they remember? Are these
ads an effective use of limited advertising budgets? A three month
communication campaign targeted parents and all adults over 50 alerting
them that healthy children and all those over 50 would benefit from
an annual influenza vaccination. Data was collected via intercept
interviews from more than 550 movie goers about half of whom were
exposed to the campaign advertisements. The survey measured aided
and unaided recall and recognition of the advertisements as well as
their specific messages. We also describe a method for estimating
valid recalls and the cost per valid exposure. While this study focused
on just one aspect of a multi-faceted health communication campaign,
we believe that our results provide an important contribution to the
very limited body of empirical research on advertising in movie theaters.
An implicit goal of this report is to motivate other researchers to
ask the same questions thus stimulating additional studies of movie
advertising as a potentially useful health communication channel.
Related
Articles
Volume
13 Issue 7 (October/November 2008)
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Effects
of Program Exposure and Engagement With Tailored Prevention Communication
on Sun Protection by Young Adolescents
Kim D. Reynolds; David B. Buller; Amy L. Yaroch; Julie Maloy; Cristy
R. Geno; Gary R. Cutter
Few family-based interventions to increase sun safe behavior among
adolescents have been evaluated. The present study tested an intervention
that included tailored and non-tailored print communications delivered
by mail to adolescents (age 11 to 15) and their parents who were also
participating in an evaluation of an in-school intervention. The use
of sunscreen, protective clothing, and avoidance of the sun were promoted
and family communication and environmental change strategies were
fostered. Adolescents and their parents were pretested in May of 2002
and posttested from August to October. Adolescents (N=599) were stratified
on experimental condition in the in-school study (in-school intervention
vs control) and were randomly assigned from within strata to receive
(N=288) or not receive (N=311) the summer intervention materials.
No statistically significant effects were found for adolescents between
the randomized experimental conditions. Parents' had increased knowledge
(F=5.52, p<.05) and propensity to have their child wear sunglasses
(F=4.07, p<.05). Greater program exposure/engagement led to enhanced
sun protection behavior (e.g., fewer sunburns) and psychosocial factors
among adolescents and parents. Greater exposure/engagement led to
improvements in family interaction and home environment (e.g., shade
audit completed). Future research is needed on exposure/engagement
with family-based health messaging and on family-based sun safety
programs for adolescents.
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Perceptions
of Health Care Provider Communication Activity Among American Cancer
Survivors and Adults Without Cancer Histories: An Analysis of the
2003 Health Information Trends Survey (HINTS) Data
Haean Ok; Ray Marks; John P. Allegrante
Provider communication is an important determinant of health outcomes,
in general, and in the context of cancer prevention and intervention
strategies, in particular. However, little attention has been devoted
to investigating how patients perceive their primary health care provider's
health communication skills across what constitutes the continuum
of cancer care from prevention to treatment. Nor has research adequately
illuminated the variations in communication, or what effect such variations
may have on the optimal medical management of cancer or acceptance
of primary prevention and screening approaches. To explore these issues,
Ok, Marks and Allegrante examined the frequency with which five key
communication activities were perceived by cancer survivors and adults
without a history of cancer to have been performed by their primary
care providers. They analyzed data on over 5,000 adults drawn from
the 2003 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), a public
dataset of the National Cancer Institute to determine the extent to
which patients reported that their doctors were: 1) listening carefully,
2) explaining things, 3) showing respect, 4) spending enough time,
and 5) involving the patient in joint decision-making. In addition,
they compared responses among demographic sub-groups. Their results
showed that regardless of health status or demographic characteristics,
respondents reported less than optimal rates of their providers "always"
performing these key communication activities. Being Hispanic and
having no usual provider or health insurance were associated with
a significantly lower frequency of reporting that providers "always"
performed the five communication activities (p < .05).
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Myths
and Attitudes that Sustain Smoking in China
Shaojun Ma; Mai-Anh Hoang; Jonathan M. Samet; Junfang Wang; Cuizhu
Mei; Xuefang Xu; Frances A. Stillman
China has the largest population of smokers in the world, approximately
350 million, and the immense market afforded by the 66% of men who
smoke and the 96% of women who do not smoke represents a prize target
for the multinational tobacco companies. The progress in tobacco control
in China has been slow and hindered by the deeply entrenched culture
of smoking, lack of funding for tobacco control and insufficient capacity
for delivering effective interventions. This paper presents results
from 80 focus groups and 30 in-depth interviews on the salient myths
and misconceptions concerning active and passive smoking for the purpose
of developing appropriate tobacco control policies and intervention
strategies to reduce tobacco consumption and second hand smoke exposure.
For China to curb its current smoking epidemic, tobacco control efforts
will have to persuasively address and counter prevailing misconceptions
and social norms surrounding smoking. the myths and misperceptions
identified in this study present challenges for implementing tobacco
control policy and programs necessary to reduce the death and disease
caused by smoking in China. It is thus necessary to develop comprehensive
tobacco control programs that include anti-smoking public education
campaigns to effectively counter these myths and help to educate the
population to prevent illness and premature death.
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Interrupting
a Narrative Transportation Experience: Program Placement Effects on
Responses to Antismoking Advertising
Sarah Durkin; Melanie Wakefield
It is thought that "transportation" - absorption into the
narrative flow of a story - may play a role in influencing resistance
to persuasion. Durkin and Wakefield hypothesised that advertising
that disrupts the experience of narrative transportation may be adversely
appraised by audiences. This study aimed to explore the influence
of two types of television programs: narratives (dramas, comedies
and soaps) versus non-narratives (light entertainment, sports, documentaries
and news), on smokers' reactions to anti-smoking advertisements. In
pre-exposure interviews, daily smokers (n = 779) were asked to watch
a particular television program they usually watched. Post exposure
interviews were conducted within 3 days of exposure. Results indicated
that placing an anti-smoking ad within a program in which the viewer
is focused on the narrative flow of a story may lead to reduced immediate
cognitive and emotional impact of the ad and reduced intentions to
quit, especially among those for whom the ad is most relevant, such
as those preparing to quit smoking. Placing anti-smoking advertising
in light entertainment, sports, documentaries and news programs may
make scarce public health dollars go further.
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Reproductive
Health Information for Young Women in Kazakhstan: Disparities in Access
by Channel
Cynthia Buckley; Jennifer Barrett; Kristen Adkins
This study explores young women's reliance on reproductive and sexual
health information channels, examining the relationship between information
sources and reproductive health knowledge. Utilizing 1995 and 1999
Kazakhstan Demographic and Health Surveys, we investigate access to
reproductive health knowledge among young women (ages 15-24) during
a key period in the development of wide-scale reproductive health
programs in Kazakhstan. Despite reproductive health campaigns throughout
the 1990s, we find consistently high proportions of young women without
family planning information access. Among young women with access
to information, few received information from channels most strongly
linked to knowledge and behavioral changes (family and medical professionals).
Mass media sources and peer information networks remained the most
often utilized channels. Urban residence, non-Kazakh ethnicity, older
age (20-24) and higher education significantly increased the odds
of accessing family planning information among young Kazakhstani women,
and these same factors were especially important in terms of the relative
odds of accessing medical and parental channels. While overall contraceptive
knowledge and prevalence rose in Kazakhstan during the 1990s, we find
knowledge varied by the information channel accessed. Findings also
indicate that young women, regardless of marital status, possessed
consistently low levels of reproductive health knowledge at the decade's
end.
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Health-Related
On-Line Forums: What's the Big Attraction?
Martin Tanis
This study investigates what motivates people to make use of health-related
online forums, and how people feel that using these forums helps them
in coping with their situation. Results are based on an online questionnaire
(N = 189) among users of a variety of health forums. Findings show
an overall positive effect of using forums on the degree to which
people are better able to cope with the situation they are facing,
both socially and with their condition. This especially holds for
people who find forums a convenient tool for inclusion or gathering
information. A negative effect on coping, however, is found for people
who primarily use forums for discussion. The study also shows that
features that often are mentioned in literature on computer-mediated
communication (i.e., the anonymity it affords, its text-based character,
and the possibility it offers for network expansion) are recognized
but appreciated differently by users. Users who feel stigmatized especially
appreciate the anonymity of online forums, while people who are restricted
in their mobility appreciate the possibilities for network expansion.
Related Articles
-
The
Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS): Development, Design,
and Dissemination- David Nelson; Gary Kreps; Bradford Hesse;
Robert Croyle; Gordon Willis; Neeraj Arora; Barbara Rimer; K. Vish
Viswanath; Neil Weinstein; Sara Alden. Volume 9, Issue 5, 2004, Pages
443 - 460
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Exploration
of the Construct of Reliance Among Patients Who Talk with Their Providers
About Internet Information- Carma L. Bylund; Christina M.
Sabee; Rebecca S. Imes; Amy Aldridge Sanfor. Volume 12, Issue 1, 2007,
Pages 17 - 28
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Women
Connect! Strengthening Communications to Meet Sexual and Reproductive
Health Challenges- Barbara Pillsbury; Doe Mayer. Volume 10,
Issue 4, 2005, Pages 361 - 371
Volume
13 Issue 8 (December 2008)
Click on the title to purchase article!
- Systematic
Review of Public Health Branding
W. Douglas Evans; Jonathan Blitstein; James C. Hersey; Jeanette Renaud;
Amy L. Yaroch
Brands build relationships between consumers and products, services,
or lifestyles by providing beneficial exchanges and adding value to
their objects. Brands have often been measured through associations
that consumers hold for products and services. Brands can apply at multiple
levels, from individual products or behaviors, to lifestyles, to large
organizations. Branding has been used in social marketing and public
health for decades, but it has only recently begun to be applied strategically.
It now represents the primary means by which commercial marketing techniques
are translated into the public sector and public health applications.
This paper presents a systematic review of the published literature
on brands; summarizes the behaviors, places and subjects to which it
has been applied; and assesses the research methods and evidence for
the effectiveness of branding as an approach to health behavior change.
- Strengthening
the Safety Net for Online Seniors: Factors Influencing Differences in
Health Information Seeking Among Older Internet Users
Sally McMillan; Wendy Macias
The goal of this study is to identify different types of older online
Americans and examine their online health information attitudes and
behaviors. A total of 424 individuals age 55+ responded to an online
survey. Three types of users were found based on demographic and computer-use
factors: Power Users, Well-to-Do, and Older Men. Two types were found
based on health attitudes and behaviors: Health Traditionalists and
Health Technologists. Overall, search engines were the most frequently
used source of health information, but sites sponsored by educational
institutions were rated as highest in quality. But patterns of use and
quality ratings varied by user types. Health Technologists used the
most sources and rated them all as having relatively high quality. By
contrast, Older Men were the least likely to use any type of online
health resource or to rate them positively. Another interesting finding
was that the Well-to-Do were most likely to be motivated by online communication
activities while other activities such as surfing/researching, online
shopping, and online health seeking were most likely to motivate both
Power Users and Health Technologists. All of the findings are discussed
in the context of a Model of Senior's Online Health Interactions which
drives implications for both research and practice.
- Development
of vaccine risk communication messages using risk comparisons and mathematical
modeling
Allison Kennedy; John Glasser; Vincent Covello; Deborah Gust
Given the low prevalence of most vaccine-preventable diseases in the
United States, it is important to systematically assess the vaccine
information needs of parents in order to maintain or improve childhood
immunization coverage. Risk comparisons and mathematical modeling of
the potential consequences of low vaccination rates may help parents
make more informed vaccination decisions. The objectives of this study
were to obtain suggestions for the optimal presentation of vaccine-related
information and to determine if an educational intervention affected
mothers' vaccine safety attitudes. We conducted nine focus groups with
women in three U.S. cities to develop messages that were then tested
through a randomized, pre-/post-test mail survey of mothers who reported
vaccine safety concerns (n=927). Focus group themes were incorporated
into draft educational materials, including a "vaccine risk comparison"
message and a "consequences of reduced coverage" message.
The message describing potential consequences of reduced vaccination
coverage had the greatest impact on improving concerned mothers' opinions
of childhood vaccines. Further research on the vaccine risk communication
preferences and needs of other groups, including fathers, adolescents
and their parents, and adult vaccine recipients, would be beneficial.
- Occupational
Practices and the Making of Health News: A National Survey of U.S. Health
and Medical Science Journalists
K. Viswanath, Kelly D. Blake, Helen I. Meissner, Nicole Gottlieb
Saiontz, et. al.
Viswanath and colleagues led a National Cancer Institute-sponsored survey
of U.S. health and medical science reporters and editors, to elucidate
individual and occupational practices that lead to the making of health
news. News media coverage of health topics can frame and heighten the
salience of health-related issues, thus influencing the public's beliefs,
attitudes and behaviors. Until now, little was known about how health
and medical science reporters and editors initiate, prioritize and develop
news stories related to health and medicine. We surveyed 468 reporters
and editors representing 463 local and national broadcast and print
media outlets to characterize individual and occupational practices
leading to the development of health and medical science news. Our survey
revealed that 70% of respondents had bachelor's degrees; 8% were life
sciences majors in college. Minorities are underrepresented in health
journalism; 97% of respondents were non-Hispanic and 93% were White.
Overall, initial ideas for stories come from a "news source"
followed by press conferences or press releases. Regarding newsworthiness
criteria, the "potential for public impact" and "new
information or development" are the major criteria cited, followed
by "ability to provide a human angle" and "ability to
provide a local angle." Significant differences were seen between
responses from reporters vs. editors and print vs. broadcast outlets.
- Entertainment-education
in a Media-saturated Environment: Examining the Impact of Single and
Multiple Exposure to Breast Cancer Storylines on Two Popular Medical
Dramas
Heather J. Hether; Grace Huang; Vicki Beck; Sheila T. Murphy; Thomas
W. Valente
Entertainment-education - the intentional placement of educational messages
in entertainment formats - is a communication strategy that has recently
seen a resurgence of interest among health communication practitioners
in the United States as a cost-effective means to reach millions with
accurate health information. While numerous studies have evaluated the
impact of audience exposure to individual health storylines, the current
study tested whether the effect of exposure to similar health messages
on different television programs is additive. More specifically, the
current study examined the impacts of two BRCA breast cancer storylines
on two medical primetime dramas, ER and Grey's Anatomy both individually
and jointly. The evaluation used data collected from a panel of 599
female survey respondents at three points in time. The results show
support for an additive model whereby audiences who were exposed to
both BRCA storylines changed on more outcome measures than audiences
exposed to either storyline individually. These findings suggest that
an effective health communication strategy using entertainment-education
might involve multiple storylines on the same health topic dispersed
across varied media outlets.
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- Reducing
the Stigma of Mental Illness among Adolescents and Young Adults: The
Effects of Treatment Information
Daniel Romer; Mary Bock
The stigma of mental illness is pervasive in adolescents and interferes
with treatment and overall life quality for those with disorders. A
strategy for reducing stigma is to create awareness of counterstereotypes
that can undermine the perceived homogeneity of the stigmatized group
and promote help-seeking for those with the illness. This study tested
the strategy by presenting counterstereotypical information about the
effectiveness of treatment for major depression in a national survey
of youth ages 14 to 22 (N = 1258), some of whom had experienced symptoms
of depression (N = 284). The information was presented either before
or after evaluating an untreated person with major depression. Despite
the stigma of the mental illness stereotype, respondents reported lower
levels of unfavorable stereotype expectations and reduced stigma for
an individual with major depression who had been successfully treated
compared to one who was not treated. The effect was robust across differences
in beliefs about treatment efficacy and experiences with symptoms of
depression; it was even stronger when the counterstereotypical information
was presented after respondents evaluated an untreated person. The results
indicate that messages focusing on persons who have been successfully
treated are part of a promising strategy for reducing the stigma of
mental illness in young people.
Featured
Book Review
A Review of: "Ray, Eileen Berlin (Editor).
(2005). Health Communication in Practice: A Case Study Approach."
Reviewed by Heather M. Zoller
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here to read the entire review
Thank
you!
The Journal of Health Communication
would like to thank our Editorial Review Board and Guest Peer Reviewers
for their contributions to the quality of the Journal. The reviewers'
expertise has helped to advance the impact of our publication in the
field of health communication.
Feedback and ideas for content for this newsletter should be sent to Wendy
Meltzer (journalofhealthcommunication@gmail.com)
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