Entertainment-Education in a Media-Saturated Environment: Examining the Impact of Single and Multiple Exposures to Breast Cancer Storylines on Two Popular Medical Dramas

Abstract

In the United States, entertainment-education (E-E) initiatives in primetime television that provide public health information are at risk for diminished impact due to the media-saturated environment in which they must compete. One strategy to overcome this limitation is to use multiple primetime TV shows to reinforce similar health messages in multiple storylines. The current study explores such an approach by evaluating the impact of two separate breast cancer genetics storylines featured on two different TV programs as the result of outreach to writers and producers. These storylines aired within approximately 3 weeks of each other on the popular medical dramas, ER (NBC) and Grey's Anatomy (ABC), and included information about the BRCA1 breast cancer gene mutation and the risks it poses to women who test positive for it. The evaluation used data collected from a panel sample of 599 female survey respondents at three points in time. Results show that while the individual storylines had a modest impact on viewers' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to breast cancer, combined exposure seemed to be most effective at changing outcomes. Implications of our findings for future E-E interventions and evaluations are discussed.

Representación de las enfermedades en la ficción española de médicos Hospital Central (Telecinco: 2000-2012)

“…En este sentido, esta investigación sirve para corroborar la importancia del edu-entretenimiento como herramienta para enfrentarse a retos socio-sanitarios (Moyer-Gusé, 2008;Igartua & Vega, 2014). Se sitúa así en la línea de otros estudios que recurren al análisis de los dramas médicos en su función de educación-entretenimiento (Hether et al, 2008) y, en general, señalan el potencial del entretenimiento televisivo para educar en relación a los asuntos sanitarios (Brodie et al, 2001;Sharf, Freimuth, Greenspon & Plotnick, 1996;Larson, 1991).…”

Using the transtheoretical model of behavioural change to understand the processes through which climate change films might encourage mitigation action

“…Wilkin et al, 2007) as a means to influence viewers' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour regarding social concerns. E-E has been shown to be successful in changing attitudes and behaviour with respect to a number of issues, including family planning , HIV prevention , breast cancer screening (Hether et al, 2008;Wilkin et al, 2007), domestic violence (Usdin et al, 2004), and dowry payments (Papa et al, 2000). Moyer-Gusé (2008) explains that E-E works through narrative engagement as well as the identification with and emulation of characters that is predicted by social cognitive theory.…”

“…Papa et al, 2000;Wray et al, 2004), television dramas (e.g. Hether et al, 2008), and telenovelas (e.g. Wilkin et al, 2007) as a means to influence viewers' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour regarding social concerns.…”

Do Narrative Engagement and Recipients’ Thoughts Explain the Impact of an Entertainment-Education Narrative on Discouraging Binge Drinking?

“…The purpose of the breast cancer storylines was to increase knowledge about the mutations and to encourage breast cancer screening. A study showed that these storylines indeed influenced recipients' knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors as intended (Hether, Huang, Beck, Murphy, & Valente, 2008).…”