ABSTRACTS

Volume 8, Number 1
January-February 2003

Vol. 8, Num. 1: Contents | Editorial | Up Front | Abstracts

The Development of an Alzheimer's Disease Channel for the Michigan Interactive Health Kiosk Project
    CATHLEEN M. CONNELL, BENJAMIN A. SHAW, SARA B. HOLMES, MARGARET L. HUDSON, HOLLY A. DERRY, VICTOR J. STRECHER

The overall objective of this article is to describe the development and implementation of an Alzheimer's disease (AD) module for the Michigan Interactive Health Kiosk Project. This project provides access to health information via 100 kiosks located in public places throughout the state (e.g., churches, senior centers, schools, shopping malls, grocery stores, hospitals) using interactive multimedia software. Because the kiosk screen was designed to resemble a television set, program modules are referred to as "channels." The AD channel is designed to increase knowledge and awareness of the disease among the general public. After an overview of the overall project, the steps involved in developing the AD channel and strategies designed to monitor its use are described, including touch-screen usage data and an on-line user survey. Finally, marketing and promotion of the channel and the implications of this initiative for disseminating information about AD are discussed.

Agenda Setting for Smoking Control in Japan, 1945-1990: Influence of the Mass Media on National Health Policy Making
     HAJIME SATO

Agenda setting is regarded as a key process in policymaking. This study first examines the trends in newspaper articles on smoking and health and the debates on the issue in the Diet in Japan for the period 1945-1990. Then relationships of those articles and debates with national administrative actions are analyzed. Although the media helped set the agenda in the Diet before the emergence of the nonsmokers' rights movement, it did not do so thereafter. On the other hand, media reports continued to be associated with various aspects of administrative policy making throughout the study period and played an important role in mobilizing administrative agencies. Effects of mass media on agencies were regarded as largely independent of the debates in the Diet. It is also noted that simple "scientific" reports on the health hazards of smoking had no association either with agency action or with Diet debates. This indicates that issue building, which consists of creating a package of ideas about the facts, the causal theories, the responsibilities, and the feasible solutions, is important when scientific facts are to be dealt with by policymakers.

The Influence of Famous Athletes on Health Beliefs and Practices: Mark McGwire, Child Abuse Prevention, and Androstenedione
     WILLIAM J. BROWN, MICHAEL D. BASIL, MIHAI C. BOCARNEA

When Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris's home run record in September of 1998, he was instantly declared an American hero and held up as a positive role model for teenagers and young adults. The extensive media attention focused on McGwire made the general public aware of his use of a muscle-building dietary supplement, Androstenedione. It also increased the public's awareness of McGwire's public service to prevent child abuse. The present research assesses audience involvement with McGwire through parasocial interaction and identification, and the effects of that involvement on audience knowledge of and attitudes toward Androstenedione and child abuse prevention. Results indicate parasocial interaction with an athlete regarded as a public role model likely leads to audience identification with that person, which in turn promotes certain attitudes and beliefs. In this case, parasocial interaction and identification with Mark McGwire was strongly associated with knowledge of Androstenedione, intended use of the supplement, and concern for child abuse. Implications of this research for featuring celebrities in health communication campaigns are discussed.

Political Ill-Health Coverage: Professional-Ethical Questions Regarding News Reporting of Leaders' Ailments
     SAM N. LEHMAN-WILZIG

While reporting on Presidential health has increased of late, there has been very little discussion of the professional-ethical issues involved from the perspective of the journalist, especially when such medical information is not disclosed voluntarily and/or the public official is someone other than the President. Within the general issue of press freedom vs. the right to privacy, and in light of relevant laws, judicial rulings, legal scholarship, and especially journalistic professional ethics, this essay raises and discusses several questions that reporters should take into account when considering whether to publish unauthorized medical information about public officials: 1) do officials have any right tomedical privacy? 2) if so, before, during, and/or after tenure? 3) what is the significance of false vs. non-disclosure by the official? 4) are there limits to informed speculation? 5) what types and degree of ill health justify reporting? 6) regarding what level of elected and/or appointed officials? Other ancillary questions are noted as well: means of newsgathering; obsolescence of news item; extenuating circumstances justifying not publishing such news; low IQ as a health problem; who is to be considered a journalist; appropriate sanctions for going over the line. The article's conclusion explains why the issue of ill health reporting of public officials will become even more problematic in the coming years.

A Case Against "Binge" as the Term of Choice: Convincing College Students to Personalize Messages about Dangerous Drinking
     LINDA C. LEDERMAN, LEA P. STEWART, FERN WALTER GOODHART, LISA LAITMAN

This article does not have an abstract.

BOOK REVIEW

Aging, Communication, and Health: Linking Research and Practice for Successful Aging
Hummert, M.L.and Nussbaum, J.F.
Reviewed by Autumn P.Edwards