Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives
UP FRONTVolume 4, Number 2 Vol. 4, Num. 2: Contents | Editorial | Up Front | Abstracts From this Issue | From Other Sources | Upcoming Events and Conferences | Internet Sources | Publications | Prescriptions | Call for Information From This Issue This issue of the Journal of Health Communication opens with an examination of warnings in cigarette advertisements. For thirty years, warnings have been required in all cigarette ads to educate consumers about the risk of smoking. During this time, the warning messages have remained largely unchanged. The warning program was neither developed nor implemented with specific communication goals in mind. Instead, it was negotiated between the government and tobacco industry representatives. The warning program has served the tobacco industry by providing a key argument in tobacco litigation: "We warned you." However, it has failed as a public health strategy. Research has shown that the current warnings are ineffective. If Congress is to be effective in its efforts to educate consumers about the risks of smoking, it needs to rethink the warning strategy while making use of knowledge regarding how warnings work. Krugman, Fox and Fischer draw from current studies to develop realistic cigarette warning objectives and point out the considerations necessary to create such warnings. Krugman, D.M., Fox, R.J., Fischer, P.M. Do Cigarette Warnings Warn? Understanding What it Will Take to Develop More Effective Warnings. Continuing the smoking risk theme, the second article examines the third party effect, a perceptual bias in which individuals indicate that messages influence others more so than themselves, as it relates to pro-smoking messages and youth. Borzekowski, Flora, Feighry, and Schooler measured the association between exposure to social and informational pro-smoking environments; the perceived influence of cigarette advertisements on self, best friends, and other youth; and smoking susceptibility. A sample of 571 seventh graders from San Jose, California completed surveys on tobacco advertisements and promotions. Significant associations were found. Youth with low exposure to pro-smoking environments and youth in lower susceptibility groups displayed the classic third person effect. In contrast, youth with higher levels of exposure or in higher susceptibility groups believed themselves to be as influenced by pro-smoking messages as others. These data suggest that youth should be taught that everyone is vulnerable to the tobacco industry's strategies and given skills to resist pro-smoking advertising. Borzekowski, D.L.G., Flora, J.A., Feighry, E., Schooler, C. The Perceived Influence of Cigarette Advertisements and Smoking Susceptibility among Seventh Graders. The third article switches our focus from cigarette advertising in the mass media to the mass media discourse about breast self-exam (BSE). For close to forty-five years, BSE has had nearly uncontested support in the mass media. Recently, a number of breast cancer activists have spoken out against the practice claiming that it is oppressive and fosters victim blaming. In this article, Kline presents a critical analysis of mass media articles about BSE. She concludes that popular media rhetoric blames women who do not practice BSE for contributing to breast cancer morbidity and mortality. In addition, popular discourse deflects attention away from the external social, political, and economic factors that contribute to morbidity and mortality associated with breast cancer. The media reports do not provide much, if any substantive rationale about the benefits of BSE. Thus, BSE discourse is ultimately disempowering. Kline is quick to point out that this does not mean that BSE is an inefficacious means of early detection or that women cannot be empowered by participating in the discursive process and the act of BSE itself. The author provides suggestions for reforming the rhetoric of BSE so that it facilitates a more therapeutic and individually empowering self-help activity. Kline, K.N., Reading and Re-Forming Breast Self-Examination Discourse: Claiming Missed Opportunities for Empowerment. The evaluation and education section premiers with Tate et al.'s article that explains and evaluates The Royal College of General Practitioner's assessment of candidates' interpersonal skills via videotaped consultations of doctor-patient encounters. At present about 1,200 doctors are examined each year by the College in the only UK postgraduate qualification in family medicine. Over the last eight years, the methodology of the interpersonal skills evaluation has been developed and piloted. The candidates are required to provide evidence of their competence usually by selecting appropriate patient encounters that demonstrate the fulfillment of the required performance criteria and effectively producing a portfolio of their communicative competence. The methodology is intended to encourage the learning and teaching of communication skills by making it part of an important examination and clearly defining the competencies require to pass. Reliability has been demonstrated to be satisfactory and refinement of the evaluation process is likely to improve this further. Tate, P., Foulkes, J., Neighbour, R., Campion, P., Field, S. Assessing Physicians' Interpersonal Skills via Videotaped Encounters: A New Approach for the Royal College of General Practitioners Membership Examination. In the forum article, DeJong and Wallack analyze the "National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign" by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. This campaign is the largest public health media campaign ever launched in the United States. The strengths of the campaign include the federal government's commitment to raising the visibility of the drug issue among youth and the campaign's focus on urging parents to talk to their children about drugs. The weaknesses include a lack of support resources, such as community prevention and treatment resources; the focus on awareness and not behavior change; and the exaggerated fear appeals. The authors also discuss the role of a panel of social scientists who are to review the new advertising. Finally, the authors present recommendations for redirecting the campaign. DeJong, W., Wallack, L. A Critical Perspective on the Drug Czar's Anti-Drug Campaign. The April 2, 1999 issue of the MMWR contains the first in a series of articles highlighting public health advances over the last twenty-five years. The MMWR will profile ten public health achievements: vaccination, motor-vehicle safety, safer workplaces, control of infectious diseases, decline in deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke, safer and healthier foods, healthier mothers and babies, family planning, fluoridation of drinking water, and recognition of tobacco use as a health hazard. The first report focuses on vaccination, which has resulted in the eradication of smallpox; elimination of poliomyelitis in the Americas; and control of measles, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type b, and other infectious diseases in the United States and other parts of the world. Ten Great Public Health Achievements -- United States, 1900-1999. MMWR 48(12): 241-243. Internet: www.cdc.gov/epo/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00056796.htm. Vaccination. MMWR 48(12): 243-248. Internet: www.cdc.gov/epo/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00056803.htm. In the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, Root and Stableford evaluate the Writing for the Medicaid Market training program that addressed the lack of easy-to-read materials to educate Medicaid consumers. Post-training survey data showed the training was successful in skill building, but only reached the tip of the iceberg. The authors outline the broad scope of the national health literacy problem, share their post-training survey data, discuss lessons extrapolated from both their data and their experience, and propose a national agenda to address the mismatch between the low literacy skills of the target population and the high reading level of most health and managed care materials. Easy-to-Read Consumer Communications: A Missing Link in Medicaid Managed Care. Root, J. and Stableford, S. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 24(1): 2-26. Weiker, Edginton, and Kirpke describe an evaluation of Clean Needles Now, a needle exchange serving young injection drug users in Health Education & Behavior. Findings are presented about how a community-based agency's service delivery philosophy can affect the design and implementation of an evaluation. Lessons learned from the evaluation are presented, including the potential benefits of incorporating harm reduction principles into research activities. A Collaborative Evaluation of a Needle Exchange Program for Youth. Weiker, RL, Edginton, R, Kirpke, MD. Health Education & Behavior 26(2): 213-224. In 1996, nearly sixty percent of U.S. AIDS cases among Latinas were attributed
to unprotected sex with men. Economic disadvantage, language barriers,
and strong cultural gender norms regarding sex exacerbate the risk for
HIV infection among Latin immigrant women. A recent article in Health
Education & Behavior evaluated the impact of a multifaceted empowerment
program for Latina immigrant women on HIV risk behaviors. Women
were followed for the first six months of their participation and attended
up to nine distinct types of activities. Although the program was
not developed to specifically target HIV risk behaviors, women showed
significant increases in sexual communication comfort, were less likely
to maintain traditional sexual gender norms, and reported changes in decision-making
power. Targeting broader sociocultural issues may increase the necessary
skills for Latina women to prevent HIV infection from their sexual partners.
Sex in the New World: An Empowerment Model for HIV Prevention in Latina
Immigrant Women. Gómez, CA, Hernández, M, Faigeles,
B. Health Education & Behavior 26(2): 200-212. Upcoming Conferences and Events The 12th Annual National Prevention Network Research Conference will be held September 13-15, 1999 at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Buffalo, New York. The theme of the conference is "Charting the Course for Prevention: Using Research as Our Guide." The conference will provide knowledge from nationally recognized researchers and practitioners who have successfully translated research into practice. There will be presentations on emerging prevention theory, prevention innovations, practical prevention application, and policy and advocacy issues. The target audience for the conference is intended to be prevention practitioners; prevention evaluators/researchers; state and federal policy makers; state alcohol & drug abuse directors; National Prevention Network staff and members; program administrators; and public health practitioners. For more information, contact Sue Carlson at the Southwest Prevention Center, University of Oklahoma, 555 E. Constitution Street, Ste. 221, Norman, OK 73072-7820, E-mail: www.scarlson@ou.edu, Tel: 405-325-1447, Fax: 405-325-1444, Internet: www.ccfd.com/NPN. The 5th annual Innovations in Social Marketing Conference will be held July 18-20 in Montréal, Canada. The conference will bring together social marketing authorities from practice and academia to share ideas, theories, methods, and findings. The conference is sponsored and organized by a consortium of US and Canadian social, academic, governmental and private sector organizations working to promote excellence in social marketing programs. Presentations will address development and testing of emerging theories, innovative conceptual frameworks, and new approaches to local, national and international social marketing problems. If you have any questions regarding registration, accommodation or tours, please contact Sue Stine at the Academy for Educational Development: Tel: 202-884-8839, Fax: 202-884-8442, E-mail: sstine@aed.org. You can also register online at www.commerce.ubc.ca/ism/ The 50th annual SOPHE meeting and Golden Jubilee will be held November 5-7, 1999 in Chicago, Illinois. The theme meeting is "Celebrating 50 Years of Leadership and Vision for Health Education," focuses attention on the roots as well as the future potential of health education in advancing public health theory, research and practice. Issues to be explored in this conference include: history and future of public health education, advocacy and policy; community-based prevention, philanthropies, health education in managed care settings, and health disparities in priority populations. The conference program will include plenary presentations, short research and practice paper presentations, poster sessions, skill-building pre-conference workshops, panels, and "conversations" with experts. For more information, visit the SOPHE Internet site at www.sophe.org. The National Conference on Health Statistics will be held August 2-4, 1999, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. The conference will provide a national forum for a discussion about uses of data and data needs, present the latest information about NCHS programs and statistical resources, and explore opportunities to work in partnership with NCHS to meet data needs. The theme of the conference is "Health in the New Millennium: Making Choices, Measuring Impact." The conference will feature sessions on information technology, state and local initiatives and relationships, data standards and methods, data applications, and future data needs. The conference is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics. For more information, visit the NCHS Internet site: www.cdc.gov/nchswww/events/events.htm Prevline: Prevention Online is a multi-faceted education and information resource produced by the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. Of interest to our readers is the current campaigns section of the site. Here, the goals, theories, and results of campaigns can be found. In addition, the site includes alcohol and drug facts; resources and referrals; research and statistics; and databases, including the Prevention Materials Database. Prevline also has news, publications, online forums, a conference calendar, links to related sites, and workplaces issues. Prevline can be found at www.health.org. The American Telemedicine Association has an Internet site that promotes "professional, ethical, and equitable improvement in health care delivery through the application of telecommunication technology. The site provides general information about telemedicine, a summary of the telemedicine market, policy initiatives, and news related to telemedicine. The site also offers links to general telemedicine resources, publications, and programs. In addition, the site has a bookstore, conference programs, poster sessions, abstracts, and cassettes. The American Telemedicine Association can be found at www.atmeda.org. UNAIDS is producing a collection of best practice materials on about 50 specific topics relevant to HIV/AIDS. For each topic there will five sections of information. The first section is the Point of View, an advocacy document, aimed primarily at journalists and community leaders, listing key facts and figures; outlining the problems, myths, and misconceptions about the topic; and summarizing what needs to be done. The second section is the Technical Update aimed primarily at managers of HIV/AIDS projects and programs and providing a technical overview of the topic. The third section is the Best Practice case studies, which are detailed real-life examples of policies, strategies and projects in a specific region, country or community that provide important "lessons-learned." The fourth section is Presentation Graphics containing slides on the topic that can be used for speeches and other presentations. The fifth section is Key Materials, which is a set of written and audiovisual materials authored outside or inside UNAIDS. Visit the UNAIDS Best Practice Site at www.unaids.org/highband/bpc/introduction.html. The Pan American Health Organization's bi-annual "Perspectives on Health" magazine is now available on-line. The magazine highlights direct experience garnered through successful intervention and demonstrates health promotion strategies that can be adapted internationally. Both current and past issues are available. For the on-line version of "Perspectives in Health," please visit www.paho.org/english/DPImag/dpi01m27.htm. In their examination of cigarette warnings, Krugman, Fox and Fischer developed recommendations for what it will take to develop more effective warnings:
Borzekowski, Flora, Feighry, and Schooler examined the associations between exposure to social and informational pro-smoking environments; the perceived influence of cigarette advertisements on self, best friends, and others; and smoking susceptibility in seventh graders. As a result of their study, they recommend that researchers, health educators, policy advocates, and health campaign planners consider the following points:
In "Reading and Re-forming BSE," Kline examines rhetoric in the mass media about breast-self exam (BSE). From her analysis, she developed suggestions for how to reformat BSE discourse to make it is more therapeutic and individually empowering. She recommends that BSE discourse be reformed to:
In the forum article, DeJong and Wallack present a critical perspective of the "National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign" by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. From their analysis of the campaign, they recommend that the campaign be revised to:
The Up Front section is edited by Amy E. Chadwick, Emerson College-Tufts Medical School Program in Health Communication. You are enthusiastically invited to suggest items for inclusion in "Up Front!" Please adhere to our guidelines by providing the following information:
Please send suggestions to:
|
