Evaluating a Minor Storyline onERAbout Teen Obesity, Hypertension, and 5 A Day

Abstract

This study evaluates the effects of an ER (NBC) storyline about teen obesity, hypertension, and 5 A Day on knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. The storyline depicted an African American teen who presented at the emergency room with burns from a workplace injury. Upon diagnosis, the teen was discovered to have hypertension and counseled to eat more fruits and vegetables and get more exercise. The evaluation was conducted using three separate datasets, one of which provided data on a sample of primetime viewers before and after the storyline aired. Results showed that the storyline affected self-reported behavior change and had modest impacts on knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Interestingly, these effects were stronger for men than for women, possibly due to men's lower knowledge levels at baseline. Issues including identification with characters and the value of even modest effects on large audiences and the implications of our findings for future evaluations of entertainment education (EE) and other health communication programs are discussed.

Virtual Self-Modeling: The Effects of Vicarious Reinforcement and Identification on Exercise Behaviors

“…Entertainment-education efforts rooted in the principles of social cognitive theory often portray the rewards and punishments associated with health behaviors through plot lines in television and radio shows (Singhal & Rogers, 2002). For example, a recent story arc on the television drama ER addressed adolescent obesity by featuring a doctor advising an obese teen with high blood pressure to eat more fruits and vegetables and get more exercise (Valente et al, 2007). Vicarious reinforcement of these mediated models led to positive changes.…”

Sex Roles in Health Storylines on Prime Time Television: A Content Analysis

“…These scholars further described EE as a communication strategy that can be used to "disseminate ideas to bring about behavioral and social change" (Singhal and Rogers 2002, p. 117). In the public health arena, entertainment-education has been embraced as a cost-effective means to communicate health information in an engaging format to a mass audience (Brodie et al 2001;Bouman 2002;Glik et al 1999;Valente et al 2007). Within the context of popular prime time programming in the United States, an audience of millions of rapt viewers is virtually guaranteed.…”

“…With regard to health-related storylines, one of the most salient dimensions that viewers may use to evaluate their similarity to models is gender. Indeed, several studies have proposed that health storylines might have a greater impact on viewers who are the same sex as the character experiencing the health issue (Singhal and Rogers 1999;Valente et al 2007). One implication of these findings is that the gender representation of fictional characters in popular prime time television programs may have a dramatic impact on what viewers attend to, learn from, and mimic in these health depictions.…”

Medical Rituals and Media Rituals

“…This concept is in line with Gerber's cultivation theory, which states that those spending more time with watching the world presented by television programs tend more to believe social reality portrayed on television causing a misperception of what is true in our world. (Cohen, Weimann 2000) As almost all medical students watch television medical dramas based on data of a systematic research (Czarny et al 2008 ) and medical dramas can affect behavior change in the general public (Valente et al 2007), we have to investigate their role in the "informal curriculum"of health care professionals regarding ethical and professional behavior issues in practice and in research as part of medical professionalization. Some of the researchers even propose, that "students must be taught in a way that engages them and that does not ignore the potentially significant impact that cultural artifacts can have on their professional development and identity, while ensuring that their negotiation of popular culture gives them an authentic perception of the real medical world they are entering."…”